The 1st XI travelled to Barnton to face RHC. We lost the toss and were put in to bat - a rarety but a welcome change. We batted with considerably more confidence and self-belief than in the early part of the season, with Oli’s return and Bismillah’s ever more capable handling of conditions providing a huge boost. The whole batting order contributed but the undoubted star was Bismillah, making a maiden century for Watsonian (136 off 81 balls including 19 fours and 5 sixes) and the first by any player for the club this season. His flair was impressive to see and a lift to the whole team. The rain set in when we were on 296/7, after 46 overs, and did not permit any further play. Another frustrating week where a solid start left the question of what might have been hanging in the damp air.

The 2nd XI hosted MDAFS at Myreside, playing an early start and a shortened 35-over game, but still couldn’t quite reach a full game. MDAFS put on a creditable 152/9, having been asked to bat, with their openers providing 69 of those runs and extras a further 30 (15 in wides alone). Xander Abbey had the best figures of 7-1-21-3, with Evan Howe and Matiullah Yar taking identical 7-2-24-2 figures. Our reply was solid, with opener Laurie Cox not out on 32 with the score at 58/2 when this game was called off after 15.4 overs, short of the 20 that would be required to make a DLS decision on a result.

The 3rd XI were given the chance of a different outcome by heading out of town, to Galashiels to play Gala 2s. The rain visited the Borders too but between breaks, there was real drama on offer. Losing the toss, we were asked to bat in a full 40 over match. The pitch was ‘lively’ and offering ‘variable bounce’. Together with some good bowling from Gala, our top order struggled to make progress, seeing us struggle to 63/5 after 16 overs. Sean Ridge came in at eight and provided enough stickability to reach 24 not out and allow the tail to mount a modest rearguard action, getting us to 119 all out after 34.5 overs. Sean headed straight back out to open the bowling with John Dew. Each was miserly in runs conceded, and Sean took 3/12 in his 5 over spell. With an extra wicket from captain Jonathan Potton, Gala were 44/4 after 17 overs when the rain arrived. This was a weak position from a DLS perspective but not enough overs had passed to call a result. After a nervous hour waiting, play was able to resume. Gala seemed galvanized by the situation and scored more quickly after the resumption, reaching 70/5 after 21 overs to be 1 ahead of the required rate. The 22nd over started badly, 16 runs being scored off the first four deliveries (including four overthrows), putting Gala in the driving seat. Daniel Bryen finished his over with two wickets in two legal deliveries, including their set batter. JP one-upped him taking two wickets in just two balls to start the 23rd over, taking the score to 87/9, clearly behind the rate. As the rain began to fall again more heavily, Gala could only add four runs to their score and we ran out of opportunity to bowl them out. Finishing on 91/9, Gala fell 22 runs short according to DLS providing us with a victory that had seemed implausible just minutes earlier. Of 94 ESCA teams (and 10 in the EPL) the 3s are one of only five to have played to a result every week of the season so far (the others being Bass Rock 1s and 2s and Edinburgh South 2s and 4s).

The 4th XI hosted Westquarter & Redding 2s at Craiglockhart, lost the toss and batted. A fairly thin batting performance saw extras comfortably top-scoring with 36 of our 112 all out after 34.4 overs. With grey clouds threatening, our bowlers set about their work with intent. Jonah Till followed up last week’s debut with two wickets in two overs for the loss of just three runs. Aryaman Apte added to his wicket tally too. After five overs, W&R were 18/3 and looking shaky but unfortunately could not be thoroughly tested as no more play was possible.

The Women visited Grange Loan to face Carlton in the WPL on Sunday in much fairer conditions. We were asked to bat first, without a number of our valuable Dumfries contingent, and found it hard going. Carlton’s opening bowlers, Maisie Maceira and Gabriella Fontenla, reduced us to 23/4 in their opening spells. Olivia Bell and Anne Sturgess added 20 before Anne was bowled, bringing Lucy Rynn to the crease. Lucy partnered with Olivia and, later, Macey Corbett-Byers, finishing on 38 not out as we fell to 101 all out in 28.4 overs (of a maximum 30). Maisie and Gabriella each finished with three wickets, having come on at the end to clean up our tail. Carlton’s batters proved harder to dislodge, despite the best efforts of our eight bowlers. Erin had success, bowling both Sarah Beith and Charis Scott, but Abbi Aitken-Drummond (29*) and Samantha Haggo (41*) helped Carlton to their target with more than eight overs to spare and eight wickets in hand.