Strathmore Cricket Union: the first 90 years a history 1928-2018

133 On 20th August, a remarkable match was played at Lochee Park in the Second Division. Batting first, Cliftonbank were bowled out for the small matter of 351 wth Keith Dyer striking a dominant 119. Gerard Lerpiniere toiled manfully, taking 6 for 128, possibly the most expensive figures in the history of the Union. The incident of the day, however, came while Graham Moore was plying his left-arm spin. Fed up with Scott Rodgers running down the track at him, “The Moore” saw him set off as he got into his delivery stride and lobbed the ball high over the batsman’s head in the hope of having him stumped. Instead, the ball transcribed a perfect parabola and landed smack on the top of the bails. No doubt under today’s regime it would have been called ‘No Ball!’ but back then the call was ‘Bowled! Moore’. Lawside lost the match by 310 runs! Perhaps as clear a sign as any of the travails of the Union was the problems that were encountered with sponsors. Some did a good job, but the sponsors of the Three and Two Counties Cup let then down badly with Cliftonbank, the winners of the Two Counties Cup having been promised prize money. None however materialised, until an anonymous donor gave them some! Sponsorship always has been of dubious value to cricket, one feels. 1984 was the year for which George Orwell predicted dire things for Great Britain and the world. His dictatorship did not, thankfully, materialise, but it was a dreadful year with a Miners Strike which saw unhappy sights of thuggery on TV screens. It was, in addition, an almost cataclysmic time for English cricket, beaten 0-5 by the West Indies. One recalls the number of times that captain David Gower was out to that lazy shot outside his off stump and came back with an inane grin on his face. There was also the remarkable game at Lord’s in early July when England were in a winning position, but failed to take a West Indian wicket (other than a run out) as the men from the Caribbean chased down over 300 on the final day! The England death wish was in full flow at the moment and one often felt that they took the field time after time knowing that they were going to lose. This was unedifying, but the Strathmore Union, shorn of Strathmore, provided some entertainment for the locals. There was however the sad demise of two teams. Telecoms, a 1st Division team packed in without playing a game – the first time that a 1st Division team had done this and Cliftonbank, whohad a chequeredand contentious career in the Strathmore Union, resigned from the 2nd Division in mid-season after having played