Cricket around Scotland: mid-March 2010

Qasim and Ashia tie the knot

It was an impressive cricket team that assembled at the Normandy Hotel in Renfrew on Saturday to celebrate the marriage of internationalist Qasim Sheikh to Ashia Nazar, a lawyer from Yorkshire.

The event was a wonderful blend of Asian glitz and Scottish restraint, with the bride in a silver-green dress laden with glittering rhinestones and colourful embroidery, while Qasim stayed true to the land of his birth in a befitting kilt.

The actual wedding had taken place the week before south of the Border, but the Renfrew reception was for Qasim's Scottish friends - including the following 1st XI from international and Clydesdale circles, under the watchful eye of national coach Pete Steindl:

Zeeshan Bashir, Richie Berrington, Gordon Drummond, Kasim Farid, Majid Haq, Omer Hussain, Ross Lyons, Dewald Nel, Harmanjit Singh, Fraser Watts and Greig Williamson. Shazad Rafiq, sometime quick with Prestwick and/or Ayr, was 12th man - sorry, Best Man - and obliged by turning up late because he'd left his speech back at the house and had to turn back to get it!

Mr and Mrs Sheikh had laid on a fantastic evening's entertainment, and everybody, but everybody lined up to have their photograph taken with the happy couple. Qasim's supportive sister was helping everything to run smoothly - and the older of her two daughters even took to the stage to give a violin recital - of Scotland the Brave and Beethoven's Ode to Joy!

Qasim and Ashia have now disappeared on their honeymoon for 12 days - to Thailand. Then it's back to hard training for the new season. We have a suspicion it might be Qasim's year!


Ryan's on the run for nets

Internationalist and former Scotland captain Ryan Watson is appealing to cricket enthusiasts to help him raise funds for new nets for Forfarshire Cricket Club - and is determined to prove it's much more than an earnest or 'theoretical' gesture.

"I've stupidly agreed to take part in the Lochaber Marathon on April 18," he said. "And I'd really appreciate your support to make the effort worthwhile!

"It's easy to donate online with a credit or debit card - just go to my JustGiving page: http://www.justgiving.com/Ryan-Watson and the rest is easy.

"JustGiving sends your donation straight to Forfarshire Cricket Club and automatically reclaims Gift Aid if you're a UK taxpayer, so your donation is worth even more. I hope you'll join me in supporting Forfarshire Cricket Club."

Another club that's busy building a new practice net facility is Carlton, where four all-weather nets are being constructed, two of them with full-length run-ups, the other two suitable for spin and bowling machine.

Carlton have managed to attract funding from the Cricket Scotland Development Trust, as well as other sources, including a major private benefactor, and expect to have the project completed by mid-April.


Lloyd and Mallender, the new double act

The annual dinner of the Cricket Society of Scotland is, like its monthly meetings, a split affair, with the guest speakers doing the dress rehearsal in Glasgow in front of an audience of 40, and the revival in Edinburgh before around four dozen enthusiasts.

This year, there were two guest speakers, Test umpires Jeremy Lloyd and Neil Mallender, who had made the trip north even more worth their while with a a short golfing holiday.

After a nourishing repast Jeremy gravely announced that Neil wasn't going to speak, and invited the dining audience to leap in with questions at any stage in the proceedings, for which they needed no second bidding.

The trouble was, half their questions were aimed specifically at Neil Mallender, who was thereby dragged into a series of impromptu opinion statements which proved to be just as provocative and amusing as those of Jeremy Lloyd.

Once again, speaker's convenor David Sleight (pictured left) was thanked profusely for the high quality of the guests he had inveigled north of the Border for the season of talks, and everyone agreed with chairman Mike Rattray (second left) it had been one of the best winter seasons in living memory.



Aberdeenshire celebrate on YouTube

Aberdeenshire had a vintage season in 2009, of that there is no doubt... and not just their first team, which won the Premier League championship and the Scottish Cup.

After a pre-season tour to Spain, the whole club hardly loooked back all year. And Mannofield, their second team, also lifted the Strathmore Union championship.

At the end of the season, player-coach Neil McRae won the SNCL award for All-Rounder of the Year and, to nobody's surprise, Aberdeenshire was by common acclaim named the 'Team of the Year'.

Now you can share the warm feeling of good fellowship for yourself on a YouTube special that's just been posted. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDi1aTB5bCo

James Ross makes an iTunes debut

He may be a prominent member of the eponymous Ross family of Kinross Cricket Club, but eldest son James (pictured right) has just launched his music career with the release of his debut single on iTunes. It's called Right Next To You (These Days), and James plays all the instruments himself, including guitar, drums and keyboards.

As younger brother Peter (pictured left) prepares to travel to Pune in India with Craig Wright's National Academy training squad, it turns out that James has been writing his own music for several years. He has worked alongside the highly respected recording team at OffBeat Productions to produce this single, and his debut album Light September is planned for release in the Autumn.

To promote the single, James is playing live at nine venues across Edinburgh throughout March and April. In addition to the Edinburgh gigs, Red Monster Records, who are working with James on the UK and European launch, has arranged a number of concerts and personal appearances across the UK in the summer. Hopefully, you can hear him play live at some point this year.

The single is now available to download on iTunes, which includes the song and the B-side The Only Person. To listen to the single, the B-side and to find news on live shows and more, visit www.myspace.com/jjrossmusic.