Ross County looking to go on the runs against Nairn County
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Ross County Cricket Club captain Graeme Carney hopes he will be able to get back in among the runs when his side travel to Nairn on Sunday.
Cricket returned to Castle Leod for the first time in a full year last weekend with the visit of 2019 champions Highland, who ended up claiming victory by two wickets with 10 balls to spare.
With each innings lasting a maximum of 30 overs, County’s score of 136 was competitive – Daryn Lucas and Duncan Scott leading the way for the Strathpeffer outfit with scores of 39 and 38 respectively.
On a personal note for Carney, it was not the return he would have wished for after Kacy Clement sent his stumps flying just four balls into his spell at the crease.
With games against Nairn generally quite high scoring though, he will be aiming to get back to form with the bat at The Links on Sunday.
“After waiting months for a game of cricket I only lasted four balls before all my stumps got knocked over,” Carney said.
“There aren’t any faster bowlers in north cricket than Kacy. I managed to dig out a very fast yorker on my second ball, my third was a bouncer that I managed to avoid, and then the fourth was on a good length and did a little bit off the pitch.
“I got a little edge on it, and it took all my stumps out of the ground. Fair play, it was a very good ball.
“We normally have quite high-scoring games against Nairn, and quite close games.
“They narrowly beat us away last season despite us putting on a good total, so I’m expecting something quite similar.
“They’ve got some pretty good players, both bowlers and batsmen, so it really depends on what kind of side they get out.
“The emphasis is very much on getting everybody involved, but I think if we bat well and take our chances in the field then we’ve got a good chance of winning.”
There will be an obvious area for improvement for County as a whole at Nairn though, after several catches were dropped against Highland.
“As is quite often the case, it was our fielding that let us down,” Carney said.
“We dropped several catches off key men, and I think if we had taken one of those catches then the end result would have been different.
“Having not played competitively and maybe not practising the fielding like we would normally do because of practice, everybody’s hands were cold.
“Catches went down from players that you would normally fancy to take them, so if we can hold on to a few of them then we’ll be going in the right direction.”
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