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

149 CHAPTER TEN FIN DE SIECLE The decade of the 1990s began with something rather unusual as England (once!) beat the West Indies in February 1990. This was not enough to win the series which finished predictably 2-1 for the Windies, but there was now a certain steel about the England side under Graham Gooch rather than the laid-back, perpetually smiling and distinctly uninspiring David Gower. It was also the year in which Scotland managed to lose to Costa Rica in the football World Cup, the game which finally destroyed any credibility that we might have had on the football field. The Strathmore Union continued bravely even though some of the better players were attracted to play in the Scottish Counties – Thomson, Cooper and Paterson, for example, were now with Strathmore County rather than Brechin – and good cricket was played throughout this summer when the weather was a great deal better than it had been for some time. 1990 was a good season for Aberdeen Grammar School FP who lifted both the 1st Division Championship and the Three Counties Cup. Their success was to a very large extent due to the gigantic twins Jerry and Dallas Moir who measured 6 feet 8 inches each, and the Union Handbook for the following year states that “they caused some trepidation amongst the League’s tea ladies as their appetites seemed to match their substantial frames”. They took 56 wickets each as well as eating clubs out of house and home. This was no mean feat in a summer when the wickets tended to be hard and true with no fewer than 18 centuries being scored. The Union’s tea ladies also, as always, rose to the challenge, and there were no reported cases of malnutrition. The Union’s long-standing seasonal batting aggregate held by Nigel Hazel with 1159 runs in 1955 was finally beaten this season. Dene Hills, a nineteen year-old Tasmanian scored 1223 runs at an average of 111.18 with six centuries. He went on to have a successful career with his home State If all the glory went to the city of Aberdeen (Gordonians were second) as far as the 1st XI were concerned, it was the other city, Dundee which did well in the 2nd XI domain. Forthill XI won the Second Division and Lawside the Two Counties Cup. Strathmore won the Under 18 League again without very much bother and might have retained the Scottish Cup