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

37 Another idea, some 40 years or so ahead of its time, came from Mr Luke of Montrose who proposed that time games should be abolished, and that a game should be 50 Overs per side, and that the winner would be the side which scored the most runs, irrespective of wickets falling. To 21st century eyes, this seems eminently sensible, but in 1936 this motion failed to find a seconder. It would take cricket a long time to realise that time at the crease does not really matter; what is crucial is the amount of balls that a batsman can face. Even in the 1930s, there were complaints about deliberate time wasting, and it is rather surprising that no-one saw this motion as a way to stop that form of cheating. One suspects however that the real problem lay in that fact that Montrose’s motion would have meant the abolition of a draw. It was still reckoned to be one of the necessary skills of the game that a team facing a huge score could “shut up shop” and play out for a draw with spinners on at both ends to save time, all the fielders clustered round the bat and the crowd and batsmen anxiously watching the pavilion clock. This often led to a thrilling and tense conclusion to a game, but in any case, there was in 1936 no lack of interest in the game with crowds of four figures often reported at games between Arbroath and Brechin, and buses being hired to transport away supporters on occasion. If anything the approach and even inevitability of war created even more interest. 1937 saw the Championship of both Divisions being shared and Brechin had a share in each – the 1st Division with Mannofield XI and the 2nd Division with Meigle 2nd XI. The rise of Mannofield was rather unexpected, and cricketers being cricketers, there were more than a few grumblings about men who should have been playing for Aberdeenshire given a game for their 2nd XI to help them win the League, but at the AGM, Charlie Moir of Brechin, now the Secretary of the Union was magnanimous in his praise for what they had done. He also however congratulated his own side, Brechin, “whose record since the inception of the Union had not been surpassed”. The end of the season was exciting. Brechin finished their fixtures by 4th September with 20 points from 14 games, but then Mannofield XI finished off by beating Meigle on 11th September to tie with them and on the same day Arbroath beat Blairgowrie at Davie Park. A three way tie was now possible if Arbroath managed to dispose of Blairgowrie at Lochlands the following Saturday in a re-arranged game. The Courier states categorically