With a good mix of Under 18s from all of our five senior teams and a few new to the game players we faced a really good Broomhall bowling attack that proved too good for us on the day. Even the experienced players were tested by all the Broomhall bowlers but particularly by Jamie Pryce and Ieuan Ward, both names familiar to Glenrothes as they have caused us problems earlier in the season when they played for the Fife Squires in the Fife T20.

So batting first the Glenrothes U18s team managed a meagre mid 30s score before being bowled out by a very good set of Broomhall bowlers who managed to seam and turn the ball with ease. Dodds Jnr got most of the runs with small contributions from a couple of others but as these games are about #development it was encouraging to see inexperianced players doing well against some awkward bowling and if we were to measure success in dot balls then I would say they performed extremely well.

What is good about the Forth Cricket Union is the spirit in which the game is played and like last week at Livingston Broomhall are very much a youth orientated club. So wanting to enjoy their day out at sunny Gilvenbank and making sure all of our young players got a chance to bowl they rounded our score up from 35ish to a more respectable 150 to make a game of it. And a really good game it turned out to be.

After Broomhall had managed to overturn the actual FCU target to win the game, the revised target proved to be a little bit harder to reach and showed that our juniors are very capable at containing teams if the batsman can set a reasonable target to defend. Daniel Graveling, Peter Pryce (guest), Dodds Jnr, Scott Lucas and Holly Wilkinson all bowled well and kept the run rate down. Nathan Salt again showed he is capable behind the stumps and Fred Culley, Scott Lucas, Jay Lewis and Leia Glading chased down a number of shots that would have normally gone through to the boundary to make sure the game stayed alive. The wickets were pretty much spread around but it was not until the big hitting Jamie Price was bowled that the 2nd game really seemed in the balance. Cameron Paton and Leia Glading were the death bowlers and subsequently conceded runs but with Broomhall requiring one run off the last ball to win Cammy held his nerve to get the last man (and his 2nd wicket) caught miraculously by Scott Lucas. Match tied.

Whilst there were again a number of highlights this week a special mention must go to 11 year old Ben Morris who managed to score his first runs in a senior Glenrothes team. He also bowled a line and length that was far beyond his years and if it wasn't for two dropped catches off his bowling he would have returned superb figures. Ben Wilkinson, Gladiators coach and umpire for the day said "it was really good to see the players playing up close today. Young Ben in particular thrived on the atmosphere created by Skipper Dodds Jnr and the senior players. One of Ben's strengths is his ability to listen and take instruction from coaches and other players and I am sure his keenness coupled with good winter training will mean he becomes an important player for Glenrothes next season in both junior and senior cricket."