On Saturday afternoon during the interval of Scotland’s ODI with Zimbabwe, Cricket Scotland took the opportunity to formally induct Ronnie Chisholm and Paul Hoffmann into the Scottish Cricket Hall of Fame.
Ronnie Chisholm
First selected to play for Scotland in 1948 against Ireland, Ronnie Chisholm was unlikely to miss out on selection for the Scotland team to play later that season against Australia at his then home ground, Mannofield, Donald Bradman’s last match in the British Isles. However, by 1950 he had become a regular in the Scotland team, and played no less than 24 seasons as a dogged opening bat. In those days Scotland played two & three day games against Test Playing sides and English Counties. Ronnie’s talents were ideally suited to this form of cricket, scoring 3175 runs in 80 matches at an average of just under 25.
He scored 17 fifties, but surprisingly only one century. His value to the team can be gauged by the fact that he was only dismissed five times without scoring in his Scotland career of 137 innings. His leg break & googly bowling was also frequently used to break partnerships. He finished with a total of 44 wickets for Scotland.
In club cricket he played with great success for Aberdeenshire, Stewart’s FP and then Melville FP with his career as a French teacher bringing him from Aberdeen to Edinburgh.
Ronnie died several years ago and has no surviving immediate family. However, we are delighted today to welcome our second inductee, this time from the modern era, along with his family.
Paul Hoffmann
Paul Hoffmann came to Scotland from Rockhampton, Queensland as an overseas player with Uddingston. He made an immediate impact with this club & an even bigger impact when he was called into the Scotland team in 2001, taking 5 for 34 against the England Amateur XI in a Triple Crown game played in the stately surroundings of Arundel Castle.
Paul only played seven seasons for Scotland (from 2001 to 2007), but in that time he played no less than 119 matches and took 150 wickets. He was very much an integral part of the Scotland team which was at that time the best side in associate cricket, winning both the Intercontinental Cup and the ICC Trophy. His greatest Tournament was probably the 2005 ICC Trophy win in Ireland, with some destructive bowling and also some destructive batting as a pinch-hitting opener.
“Hoffy” was a legend in club cricket for Uddingston, being the bowler opposing batsmen least liked to face and a destructive batsman who could, if not always, turn defeat into victory. He therefore is a very worthy inductee to the Scottish Cricket Hall of Fame, the 23rd player out of 688 to play for Scotland who has been given this honour.
Ammar Ashraf
East Renfrewshire’s Ammar Ashraf was also congratulated by Cricket Scotland for picking up the ICC Volunteer of the Year award and also being honoured by sportscotland for their respective award. Well done to Ammar for the tireless hard work.
