7 May 2022
Ferguslie do double over Ayr
It was double trouble for Ayr on Saturday as Ferguslie defeated both senior teams. At Cambusdoon captain Andi McElnea won the toss and put the visitors into bat and they were soon in trouble as Ayr’s opening bowlers claimed the first two wickets without any runs on the board. Hamza Tahir in his first match against his old club, having Hussain caught at slip by Neil Flack and Scott McElnea trapping Pretson-Jones lbw. This brought Ferguslie captain Riyad Henry (122) and Tamoor Ahmad (87) to the crease and together they put on 193 to take back control of the innings as they finished their 50 overs on 289-8. Scott McElnea taking 3-64.
When Ayr batted, they lost last weeks batting hero Michael English early caught at slip by Hussain of the bowling of Ghaffar. Jefferson (26) and Flack (23) then steadied the innings, but the loss of four wickets for twelve runs put Ayr on the back foot again. With required run rate increasing a partnership of 49 between Neil Logan (50) and Michael Miller gave them a glimmer of hope and when Miller departed a brief cameo from Scott McElnea (28) and 31no from Pushkar Bhandari upped the tempo, but they still fell well short on 200-9. For Ferguslie Haroon and Daoud Tahir, brothers of Hamza did most of the damage taking three wickets each.
Ferguslie do double over Ayr
It was double trouble for Ayr on Saturday as Ferguslie defeated both senior teams. At Cambusdoon captain Andi McElnea won the toss and put the visitors into bat and they were soon in trouble as Ayr’s opening bowlers claimed the first two wickets without any runs on the board. Hamza Tahir in his first match against his old club, having Hussain caught at slip by Neil Flack and Scott McElnea trapping Pretson-Jones lbw. This brought Ferguslie captain Riyad Henry (122) and Tamoor Ahmad (87) to the crease and together they put on 193 to take back control of the innings as they finished their 50 overs on 289-8. Scott McElnea taking 3-64.
When Ayr batted, they lost last weeks batting hero Michael English early caught at slip by Hussain of the bowling of Ghaffar. Jefferson (26) and Flack (23) then steadied the innings, but the loss of four wickets for twelve runs put Ayr on the back foot again. With required run rate increasing a partnership of 49 between Neil Logan (50) and Michael Miller gave them a glimmer of hope and when Miller departed a brief cameo from Scott McElnea (28) and 31no from Pushkar Bhandari upped the tempo, but they still fell well short on 200-9. For Ferguslie Haroon and Daoud Tahir, brothers of Hamza did most of the damage taking three wickets each.
30 April 2022
Rail halts league opener
Today saw the beginning of the Western Union with Ayr travelling to Nunholm to take on Dumfries in the opening round of fixtures. The home team won the toss and put Ayr in to bat. After a steady start openers Michael English and Lloyd Jefferson soon upped the tempo bringing up their fifty partnership for the tenth time in the tenth over. They continued on their merry way, regularly finding the boundary as they brought up their hundred partnership in the 17th over and soon after Jefferson reaching his fifty off 57 balls only to depart shortly after, caught by Bainbridge, top edging an attempted pull shot off McGrath for 56. English was next to reach fifty doing so with a lovely drive through the covers and then powered his way on to an excellent century, peppering the boundary with a wide range of shots, getting excellent support from Andi McElnea (28), Flack (23) and Grobler (27 no) before eventually falling for 180, a career best and the third highest score by an Ayr player, only former Scotland International Bruce Patterson with 185 and Don Aitcheson club pro in the 1950's ahead of him. With ten balls remaining in the innings the rain which affected most games in the country arrived, ending proceedings with Ayr on 349-4.
Michael English
Rail halts league opener
Today saw the beginning of the Western Union with Ayr travelling to Nunholm to take on Dumfries in the opening round of fixtures. The home team won the toss and put Ayr in to bat. After a steady start openers Michael English and Lloyd Jefferson soon upped the tempo bringing up their fifty partnership for the tenth time in the tenth over. They continued on their merry way, regularly finding the boundary as they brought up their hundred partnership in the 17th over and soon after Jefferson reaching his fifty off 57 balls only to depart shortly after, caught by Bainbridge, top edging an attempted pull shot off McGrath for 56. English was next to reach fifty doing so with a lovely drive through the covers and then powered his way on to an excellent century, peppering the boundary with a wide range of shots, getting excellent support from Andi McElnea (28), Flack (23) and Grobler (27 no) before eventually falling for 180, a career best and the third highest score by an Ayr player, only former Scotland International Bruce Patterson with 185 and Don Aitcheson club pro in the 1950's ahead of him. With ten balls remaining in the innings the rain which affected most games in the country arrived, ending proceedings with Ayr on 349-4.
Michael English
23 April 2022
Ayr complete double over Prestwick
Ayr got the better of local rivals Prestwick in the pre-season friendly at Cambusdoon. On a bright sunny afternoon Ayr batted first and openers Michael English and Lloyd Jefferson (30) made their customary solid start to the innings putting on 92 for the first wicket. Skipper Andi McElnea then joined English and they kept up the excellent run rate with English reaching his century off 82 balls and departing shortly afterwards for 108. McElnea was next to depart retiring when on 62. Neil Flack (39) and Duanne Grobler (20) then finished the innings off with a flurry as Ayr ended their 40 overs on 268-4.
When Prestwick batted Neil Flack was first to make a breakthrough, getting Stafford caught behind with only 21 on the board. Scott McElnea was next to strike inducing one of the visitors new overseas amateur Van Dyke into a hook shot which he top edged to Nari Bhandari at fine leg. Both bowlers then struck again, Flack bowling opposition captain MacDonald and McElnea removing Chaudry thanks to a smart catch at slip by English.. Singh and McBeth soon departed before a stand of 77 between Tom Fleet (52) and Prestwick's second overseas amateur Du Randt (52) produced a slight revival before they were eventually bowled out for 175.
The Cambusdoon XI pulled off a bit of Houdini act at the Henry Thow Oval as the beat St. NinIans by one run. Batting first they were bowled out for 119 with Iyyaz Qasim (36 no) and Mikey Maxwell (22) making the main contributions. For the home team there were three wickets for Ronan Alexander and Jamie Braddock.
Despite losing early wickets St. Ninians appeared to be in complete control of the game and were 111-5 before Cambusdoon produced there great comeback claiming the last five wickets for only seven runs to record the narrowest of victories. There were three wickets each for Cammy Forsyth and Mikey Maxwell and two for Jake Woodhouse and Steve Baker.
Ayr complete double over Prestwick
Ayr got the better of local rivals Prestwick in the pre-season friendly at Cambusdoon. On a bright sunny afternoon Ayr batted first and openers Michael English and Lloyd Jefferson (30) made their customary solid start to the innings putting on 92 for the first wicket. Skipper Andi McElnea then joined English and they kept up the excellent run rate with English reaching his century off 82 balls and departing shortly afterwards for 108. McElnea was next to depart retiring when on 62. Neil Flack (39) and Duanne Grobler (20) then finished the innings off with a flurry as Ayr ended their 40 overs on 268-4.
When Prestwick batted Neil Flack was first to make a breakthrough, getting Stafford caught behind with only 21 on the board. Scott McElnea was next to strike inducing one of the visitors new overseas amateur Van Dyke into a hook shot which he top edged to Nari Bhandari at fine leg. Both bowlers then struck again, Flack bowling opposition captain MacDonald and McElnea removing Chaudry thanks to a smart catch at slip by English.. Singh and McBeth soon departed before a stand of 77 between Tom Fleet (52) and Prestwick's second overseas amateur Du Randt (52) produced a slight revival before they were eventually bowled out for 175.
The Cambusdoon XI pulled off a bit of Houdini act at the Henry Thow Oval as the beat St. NinIans by one run. Batting first they were bowled out for 119 with Iyyaz Qasim (36 no) and Mikey Maxwell (22) making the main contributions. For the home team there were three wickets for Ronan Alexander and Jamie Braddock.
Despite losing early wickets St. Ninians appeared to be in complete control of the game and were 111-5 before Cambusdoon produced there great comeback claiming the last five wickets for only seven runs to record the narrowest of victories. There were three wickets each for Cammy Forsyth and Mikey Maxwell and two for Jake Woodhouse and Steve Baker.
16 April 2022
Ayr win season opener
Ayr got their season off to an excellent start with a convincing victory over Uddingston at Cambusdoon. Batting first Ayr lost Lloyd Jefferson early before a partnership of fifty between Michael English and Lewis Lilley steadied the ship. Lilley was next to depart, mistiming a drive and being caught at mid on. Shortly after English (38) was out to a terrific bit of fielding from Ben Wilmot when going for a quick single, the direct hit leaving him well short. Ayr's two debutants, South African amateur Duanne Grobler and former Greenock all rounder Neil Flack both departed quickly along with the returning Michael Miller before a stand of 65 between Neil Logan (65) and Puskar Bhandari (28) and quick cameo from Iyyaz Qasim saw them finish their 40 overs on a respectable 213-9.
When Uddingston batted Qasim struck early getting Martin caught at second slip by Flack for two. Western Warrior Mo Awais then showed his class hitting a rapid 35 before he was drawn into a false shot and was caught behind by Grobler off the bowling of Michael English. Once he departed the visitors innings crumbled with only Ramzan (30) offering any resistance as they were bowled out for 103. There were three wickets each for English, Baines and Flack.
