Goblin Ha Cricket Club

GGHC vs Bass Rock Cricket Club
25.08.26

Having won the toss, Gifford opted to bat, noting the fading light may not favour the tail end batters.

Confidence in our powerhouse opening pair was quickly shaken when Nikhil tried to steal an extra run, but was beaten to the crease by a superb throw from the out-field.

Chuck continued smacking away merrily, while Andy M made a brief appearance, before lofting a gentle shot to a waiting fielder.

Al M strode in, to slow the fall of wickets (and the score rate), and as Chuck retired, Ian briefly graced the crease with his presence, before falling to a killer straight-ball delivery.

Johnny stepped in, and he and Al continued to steadily (slowly?) add to the run tally. Al fell to yet another straight ball from a young wipper-snapper, and was briefly replaced by Max H, before he too was sniped.

In came Joe, to add some pace to proceedings, rapidly running out Jonny, and almost Bertie who followed.

Bertie faced down the Bass Rock skipper and ex-Goblin Alex, before he was beaten by a very pacey delivery.

In came Father Cope, steadying the ship, and notching up a fairly rapid 20, including a lovely 6, allowing Douglas to visit the crease, to face off the last overs, including several evidently un-hittable deliveries from the youngest Bass Rock member.

A (slightly surprising) target of 121 was set.

As the Bass Rock innings began, the dust storm from the neighbouring harvest continued.

Douglas’ first over snagged a nice high shot straight to a waiting Chuck, who took it easily and elegantly, having clearly inherited his mother’s catching prowess.

The opener’s replacement only stuck around until the next over, when they blasted a superb shot to cow-corner – an easy 4 on any other day, but Bertie C tracked it, and covered the ~100m distance like a greased whippet, taking the catch, and probably the crown for ‘the catch of the season’.

The scoring rate became pretty bogged down in the next few overs, with Ian (over #6) taking a nice C&B, before Nikhil (over #10) won a clear LBW.

With the switch of ends came a new level of ruthlessness from the Goblins, as Douglas dispatched the first of the Bass Rock youngsters. Bertie promptly skittled young Chris, and while the formidable Gus retired, he left in his place the equally big-hitting Alex.

Max M arrived, and took some nice shots before Ian resorted to distracting the batter to allow Bertie to take another wicket – disallowed, but eventually repeated.

As Alan C joined the strike, he was fairly quickly run-out, leaving the nightmare pairing of Alex and Gus, hoping to pepper the boundary for the remaining 5 overs, with the target creeping worryingly into reach.

Thankfully, the oppo’s dreams were snuffed out, by an unquestionable LBW from Andy M.

Final result – Win for the Goblins

MAJOR credit to all the youngsters, notably:

Cope brothers bowling and in the field

Young Chris C – superb wicket-keeping

Max M – Solid batting performance, even in the face of utter confusion

And the Bass Rock lad Ewan – with genuinely terrific bowling.

GGHC vs Woodcutters CC
24.08.26

Match report
- they bowled well with very few weak bowlers
- scratchy innings for Gifford with solid contributions from Callum and Eoghan. Captain Baillie got bogged down at the crease. Nice cameo from Nikhil at the end including an unexpected reverse scoopy thing for four.
- we were 20/30 runs short of a competitive total
- but on a positive note the Gifford bowling was very tight and I think I saw that they were only c55 off the first 10 overs. A number of bowlers were going for

GGHC vs Manderston Cricket Club
17.08.26

The return fixture (sub plot: that Manderston aim to seek retribution)
The teams met under a heavily clouded sky, befitting of the brooding contest of leather v willow.

Skipper Hemsley won the toss and decided to take full advantage of the shortening light to bat first and run the gauntlet.

Openers R Grenfell and M Mepham strode out with the intent to bash a few runs. Unfortunately the wiley borderers took Meps out early but Grenfell and the incoming A Murray flashed their bats to good use and put on healthy runs.
Hemsley swashed his blade to make his 20 retired, along with A Murray.
Steady batting saw the Goblins post 124. A reasonable score on a spicy wicket that saw some balls popping up at head hight off a length.
Manderston lacking some of their big guns but bolstered by 2 Goblin juniors on this occasion started their reply.

The oppo struggled to score runs against some very solid Goblin bowling and scoreboard pressure resulted in a plethora of catches (Meps, Hemsley and Grenfell x2 plus a C&B!) and 3 run outs (Murray x2, B Cope). Only Goblin defector C Scott managed to score runs up the order and fellow Goblin Mepham Jr who was swinging the bat more like his dad. Great effort Max!

Result: Goblins skittled Manderston some 34 runs short to win by 5 wickets.
A fun game that ended with more chat, yummy food and revelry in the wonderful Tweeddale Arms. 🏏🏏

GGHC Vs Gifford Bears
03.08.26

The clouds parted just in time for the town showdown, with many familiar faces in the opposition (too many to name, in fact). The Bears won the toss and chose to bat; their openers scored steadily, but the Goblins' tight bowling held them back from going too hard. Though wicketless through the first six, the breakthrough came from the skipper as the Bears looked to accelerate. Derek followed up quickly with another wicket from tight bowling, but then the Bears settled. Two retirees, including the Bears captain, put the Goblins in a tight spot. Desperate to claw the situation back, the Goblins panicked and lost their lines and the Bears feasted. It was Callum Harvey with a good catch from Andrew that finally broke the fast-paced 6th wicket partnership. Derek snagged another with an easy catch to Robin. Now firmly in the tail, one of the Scotts (cannot remember which) tactfully ran himself out without facing a ball to bring the retirees back. Gifford defended the boundary well, and good bowling from Andy Bell was rewarded with a wicket. But the damage had been done, the Bears had made a total of 156. The Goblins had quite the challenge ahead.

The Bears were tight in the field, and relentless with the ball. Opener Derek and next in Callum Harvey were both caught trying to clear the ring in search of runs. The skipper came in and made a quick retirement to keep the Goblins in the hunt. Meanwhile, Andy Bell had chipped away at the field, finding the gaps and the boundary for a neat retirement. A rare boundaryless innings from Nick Barrat was testament to the Bears' tight bowling. A not-so-rare caught at cover followed Nick Matheson after some good boundaries. The Goblins needed a hero. Out strode Tom Pricket, who, after getting his eye in, began to make short work of the bowling, quickly advancing to 20. The Goblins still had a chance… Then disaster. Goblins' very own Charlie Scott bowled an immense over, taking first Nick B, then Stevie, then Andrew, all bowled. A hat trick. Now with only an over left and 40 runs required, the game was over. The Goblins needed a miracle, but it was not to be. They finished 30 runs short.

It was a fantastic evening of cricket with many highs and lows. Special mention to the Bears’ Rohan, who played superbly in his first-ever game of cricket, taking 3 wickets. As the light died, the Goblins retreated to the Tweeddale to lick their wounds while the Bears found the same spot to celebrate.

Looking forward to our visit to Kinross-shire Cricket Club 🏏

Sunday's match is the return fixture against Gifford Goblin Ha' at The Larder form 1pm, weather permitting!!!

See you on tour Forty Club Scotland 🏏

GGHC v Inchcolm
28.07.26

Well where do I begin, the Goblin eleven made a rather stressful start to the evening by battling through the traffic in Edinburgh to get to Edinburgh Academy’s Newfield.

Now it was kicking on for 6pm at that point and as we all began to arrive there was no opposition. Then at about 6.10pm with still no opposition, a few phone calls were made and we subsequently found out the Inchcolm team had journeyed to Gifford. After we all got back to our cars we then hastily made our way back to Pyatt’s Heugh to play a 16 over game.

We did pretty well to get back to Gifford for 7ish. Mark and Max opened the batting which was one of the highlights of tonight.

The Inchcolm bowlers however managed to break the partnership and Nick went in. The new partnership soon got into its stride and Nick got to 20 very quickly. I went in and was out for a duck. Patrick was then in and got the innings going again, Mark made it to 20. Harry secured a very speedy 20. Then Jonny showed some great timing with bat to ball by peppering the boundary a few times to again reach 20. Ian made his way onto the wicket to close out our innings. The total set was 120.

After a quick turnaround, Inchcolm went into bat and Tom despatched one of their openers. In came their number 3 batter and he started to hit the ball and made it to 20 and as you will see from the scoresheet a few of the rest did aswell.

But there was periods in the match where we batted and bowled really well, picking up a few wickets. The last phase of play just highlighted it wasn’t going to be our night. Andy caught an absolute beauty of a ball, but landed just over the boundary .

It just wasn’t our night. But I am sure we will sort that out over the rest of the season.

On a separate note Nick unfortunately, hurt his hand. Get well soon and hopefully see you behind the stumps before the end of the season.

Thanks everyone,
Chris

GGHC vs Forty Club Scotland (aka XL, in case you were wondering).
27.06.26

Mud, Blood, Sweat, and Honey Laundering.
Summary: A game on a wicket that looked ready to churn up more butter than Yester Dairy, and despite a heroic mid-game fightback, the Goblins got caught in a tight spot (sticky wicket?), falling just short in an almost dramatic finish.

Preparation is key in life and cricket, however this skipper’s pre-match routine left a lot to be desired. Attempting to juggle work, childcare, and "honey laundering" out of Nick’s car boot, all alongside captaincy duties, he managed to make two precise deep incisions into the tips of both index fingers at work—just as he was about to leave for the day. Not ideal preparation for playing cricket, let alone wicket keeping. Enough about me…

Having won the toss, the Forty Club came out swinging, and took full advantage of the early condition of the pitch. Hovering at over 7 runs an over, the XL gents racked up roughly 83 runs in the first 10 overs and looked set for a monster score. The Goblins still managed to strike key blows amid the early onslaught: Callum Harvey set the tone with an instinctive, brilliant catch above his head at point to send one of the openers packing just as they looked ready to get away for good. E.Forde bowled an absolute beauty during his opening spell, producing a delivery that swung in late before clean clattering middle and leg stumps. Then came the change of ends—and a total shift in momentum. The Goblins clamped down hard on the churning pitch, mounting a brilliant recovery to restrict the XL Club to 128. Eóghan continued his superb evening, producing an LBW so completely, undeniably plumb that the injured skipper forgot to even appeal. Thankfully, Forde was switched on, gently asked the umpire how he was, and the finger went straight up. Derek bowled with superb control, inducing Mark (playing for the XL) to miss one and be duly stumped. Andy A produced the Goblins _Moment of the Match_, pulling off a sensational, sharp diving catch at gully. As a light drizzle came in and the Forty Club's retired opener returned for a frantic final push, Andy and the Goblins (apparently a great first album) delivered a masterclass in death bowling under pressure to keep the target manageable.

Chasing 129 for the win on a surface rapidly deteriorating, the Goblins suffered an early and heavy blow. Callum S-D was caught right on the boundary rope —a moment of pure bad luck, as a couple of yards either side would have yielded six and set a completely different tone and possibly result. Despite that early loss, the Goblins got right back on track. Andy, Joe, and Charlie all took the attack to the XL bowlers before retiring to keep the chase nicely poised and at 7/over. However, as the pitch deteriorated further, the runs dried up against a rallying Forty Club attack. Despite keeping it tantalisingly close right down to the last few overs, the Goblins fell just short of the finish line, (or perhaps that should be popping crease) as the last wickets were all run-outs (5!) with our heroes trying desperately and selflessly to get just that bit closer to the total (who cares about averages… 😉).

In all it was a relatively tight, entertaining, and largely good-humoured contest (wide!). We look forward to the rematch and revenge. Thanks everyone.
Next time…

GGHC vs Humbie
21.07.26

On a sun baked wicket Gifford and Humbie rekindled old rivalries. Electing to field Giffords bowling was steady and with pace off it proved difficult for Humbie batters to get the ball away.

Chasing a target of 100 Gifford batters made a strong start with I Hemsley, N Matheson and C.S.D. all reaching their 20's and in doing so broke the back of the run chase. It left the middle order to complete the run chase in the 18th over. A cracking night for cricket, the Humbie cup remains with Gifford!