Forthill, Broughty Ferry, Dundee

Scotland v Namibia

26th July 2024

Scotland completed their second four-match round of the 2024/26 Cricket World Cup League 2 tournament with a record of three wins and a draw, taking them to the top of the league.  Debutant Michael English who scored a century was the star turn, although aided and abetted by captain Ritchie Berrington's 89.  The pair between them put on a partnership of 170, which took Scotland from 61/2 to 231/3.  The home side eventually posted an impressive 301 tally for Namibia to chase down.

However, a couple of quick lbw decisions soon saw the back of Namibians Jean-Pierre Kotze and Jan Frylink.  And when Brandon McMullen had Michael van Lingen caught in the sixth over that was sort of that.  Visiting captain Gerhard Erasmus offered up a modicum of resistance, grinding out a half-century before leaving us, but the rest of his team-mates tamely capitulated.  Namibia were all bowled out in the 41st over, still some 139 runs shy of their to-win target.

As stated earlier, this match was Michael English's debut for Scotland.  That a 29-year old can make a century on his first appearance for his country, does reinforce my view that this cricket business can be an odd sport for a semi-casual observer like myself to make sense of at times.  Although, I do appreciate, this was perhaps not the strongest of opposition, I nevertheless found myself asking "where has this chap been hiding for the last ten years?"  Ayr, appears to be the answer.

Forthill is the home of Forfarshire Cricket Club, and has been
sporadically hosting Scotland matches since 1924

Magic Michael English

Forthill Cricket Ground

Scotland's next round of matches in the Cricket World Cup League 2 takes place in October 2024 in the United States, where they will face the hosts and Nepal twice each.

2024 Open

Royal Troon

Day Two - 19th July 2024

Today I spent £100 (plus a further £15 on parking) to remind myself of just how poor a spectator experience golf really can be.  One generally can take one of two approaches.  Either to queue to get a seat in one of the many temporary grandstands which have been erected, where you can sit and watch a parade of participants putt on your chosen green.  Or you can choose to attempt to follow a particular golfer (or group) around the course.  Neither approaches are truly satisfying, and TV does things so much better.

I initially chose to sit overlooking the 13th hole, but the novelty of witnessing golfer after golfer failing to hole a birdie soon palled, so I decided to spend a bit of time following current competition leader Shane Lowry around.  But the problem with this approach is, whilst you generally do get to witness the chap teeing off, (which is fun), your target then strides off down the fairway via a dedicated and cleared-by-stewards route, whilst you generally find yourself stuck in a slow-moving wildebeest herd trying to catch up.  

So, by the time I had finally reached the spot where Lowry's tee-shot had landed, he had already played his second shot and was off once more.  Thus did this increasingly futile chase repeatedly playout until Lowry finally reached the green, which was, inevitably, already surrounded by better-organised bods leaving no decent sightlines available.

A third (and less structured) approach to the day, of course, is just to aimlessly meander around the course hoping to encounter something of interest by chance.  Utilising this method I did witness Scottie Scheffler just fall short with a ten foot birdie attempt at the ninth hole and, lower down the course, saw South Korean Younghan Song perform a neat exit from the rough on one of the fairways; his female caddie giving me her best turn-milk-sour stare as I took my footage.  But this approach, again, I found unsatisfying - my experience not being helped by being stung on the back of the neck by a bee.

I thus made my way to one of the big stands at the Eighteenth Hole where I saw Tiger Woods playing what surely must be his last ever Troon Open hole.  Then a few minutes later, was impressed to witness Shane Lowry dropping a delightful twenty-footer birdie.  This shot helped the Irishman to a second round score of 69; him eventually leading the field at the end of the day by two strokes.

The route to The Open.

The 13th hole.

The 9th hole.

Cameron Smith

Shane Lowry

My plan to watch some action from the whopping stand overlooking
The Postage Stamp (8th hole) were jettisoned when I saw the size of the queue.

Scottie Scheffler

Younghan Song

I am sure this wee bridge has a name.

Tiger Woods

The sight of +14 against Tiger Wood's name after just two rounds, put me in mind of
watching Muhammed Ali losing those matches at the tail of his career.

The 18th hole.

The 1st hole.

After some grossly over-priced scran, I settled down in the stand at the 16th to watch a few bods move towards the completion of their rounds, including Justin Rose who birdied, and the ever-so-slightly eccentric Australian Jasper Stubbs (who did not).  I also watched a pair of Scots whizz by: Jack Macdonald and amateur Callum Scott. 

In hindsight, despite my initial statements, this was actually a fun-day out with the Troon weather behaving itself.  Even if the regular cheers from elsewhere frequently left me with the vague feeling of being in just not quite the right place at the right time on the course.

These guys attempting to keep this scoreboard up to date were on a hiding to nothing.
They always appeared to be a good 15 minutes behind play.

The 16th hole.

UPDATE

Shane Lowry pretty much imploded on Day Three, ending his hopes.  Whilst American Xander Schauffele carded 69 and 65 on Days 3 & 4 respectively to win the title.

Perth Racecourse

Macbet Family Raceday

14th July 2024

I am sure most of us of a certain vintage will recall that scene in George Roy Hill's 1973 movie The Sting, where Robert Shaw's character is "stung" out of half-a-million dollars due to his ignorance of the difference between the betting terms "To Win" and "Place".

Well, whilst I did not end up out of pocket to quite the same amount, I committed a similarly silly error here this afternoon to my financial cost.

I had, as I generally do, at my infrequent visits to the races begun my betting program for the day by visiting the Tote hut and picking out a treble of each-way candidates.  In this case, Step Out, Garde de Champs and Malangen respectively in the first three races of the day.  Hot favourite Step Out was just pipped into second in the first race, but that was fine.  

Quite why I chose to check my betting receipt at this point I have no idea, but it was only when doing so I noticed I had failed to tick that wee  "+o+e eachway" box.  Consequently, my £20 bet had gone through as a three-wins treble....so it had already crashed.  What a plonker.

In an attempt to somehow rescue the situation, I hastily placed an each-way double on races two and three with the same chosen horses.  Which, rather inevitably, came up.  Picking up bet winnings can rarely have felt so anti-climactic.  

And so onto Race Four.  Aware July 14th was Bastille Day, I was sure our French cousins would do me a good turn.  Thus it was I had to chose between the two Gallic entrants: Dinons and Cap Du Nord.  And with a chunk of good fortune generally so conspicuously absent from my horsey wagers, I chose the latter.  Which, much to my surprise and delight did the biz, as they (probably don't) say in horse-racing circles.  

So: including losing an impulse tenner bet on a race at Stratford, when I saw a horse by the name of Bathgate (where I grew up), I had won a total of £75:20 for a £50 outlay.  Factoring in my £25 Perth Races entrance fee, I calculated I walked out of the venue 20p in the black.  As, I said to the chap on the gate:  "I am leaving whilst I am ahead".  

The car park was a busy place for this Macbet Family Raceday at Perth,
with a busload of well-scrubbed bods from Aberdeen FC down for the day. 

A metaphor, perhaps, for the eternal battle between bookies and punters.

So, this chap is Step Out, the heavy favourite for Race One.
And my bet in the first leg of my treble........he lost.

The climax to the First race, won by Kandor.

From Race 3, Galata Bridge on its way to winning.

These lads were busy after each race, repairing this fence.

Cap Du Nord in the parade ring.

A blurry shot from the fourth race - Number 5 here is the
wonderfully named jockey Ryan Mania riding Barbados Buck's. 

 

My last ditch attempt to recoup my losses.

That's My Horse!

😊

Cap Du Nord trainer Christian Williams.
Thanks, Christian.