SPARE a thought for poor, pilloried Poloc CC. Keith Sheridan, 82 times capped, and Keith Young are able administrators. They are honourable men. They genuinely believe their Shawholm wicket was fit for purpose, and the Scottish Cup derby against arch-rivals Clydesdale should have been played on the date scheduled.
Clydesdale disagreed, and after much public prevarication the umpires called it off. These, though, are very murky waters. Cue officialdom. Cue shenanigans and skullduggery. Was it honourable conduct for one of the adjudicating umpires who had decree
d against Poloc on alleged pitch safety grounds then to forward to Cricket Scotland an e-mail supplementary to his official match report intimating that "it was painfully obvious Clydesdale did not want to play – could it have been (they] were more interested in seeing the T20 Final?" Was it also appropriate for this same official to refer to the Clydesdale skipper as "(Greig] Williamson's puppet?"
The plot thickens. Another Cricket Scotland official, a Competitions Committee member and a Grade 1 umpire, then sent an e-mail to the governing body's administration manager stating that "Clydesdale are also culpable as it does appear they were less than prepared to play… (and] the umpires could have handled it better in that they should have ensured they were speaking with one voice".
It is abundantly clear that the authorities were well appraised by their own officials that both Clydesdale and the umps have cases to answer. Notwithstanding that knowledge, Poloc alone have been singled out for censure, "hereby reprimanded and warned as to their future conduct". No such prosecutory zeal has been directed towards Clydesdale or the umpires. Is that in any way fair and just?
Bemused Poloc have replied that "the inconsistencies in Cricket Scotland's decision-making and attitude are staggering". They feel they've been "victimised and backed into a corner, leaving us with no option but to withdraw from the 2009 Scottish Cup competition. This decision has not been made lightly".
They have a very valid case. Their disengagement has in turn prompted a knee-jerk threat of further sanctions by Cricket Scotland, who allude darkly to "an instance in the past where a club has been excluded from the following year's competition for failing to fulfil a fixture."
This is not an issue about the suitability of a cricket pitch – although independent received wisdom suggests there wasn't too much wrong with it. Rather it raises some very serious questions of integrity right at the heart of Cricket Scotland's management.
End of an era for FloppySO IT'S 'Farewell Floppy'. Colin Smith's retirement from the Saltires arena after 181 matches, 205 catches and 55 stumpings marks the end of a glorious era. But it's always been about more than the stats. It's been about the man and his methods. At 6'5" the Aberdeenshire polisman is exceptionally tall for a keeper, but his agility, glovework and work ethic redefined the art of the possible. A deep thinker on the stumper's art, 'Floppy' also produced and marketed along with his fellow Neil MacRae the revolutionary 'Katchet' keeper's training tool – now deployed by all the leading Test teams.
"I remain astonished that an amateur cricketer like me can have the opportunity to play against most of the game's great players on some of the world's most beautiful grounds," signs off Smith. "I have been greatly privileged by the experience."
So have we, buddy, watching you.
The full article contains 578 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
