Meadows West
The first representative match to be held at the new National Centre in Meadows West Edinburgh was between the Scottish Select and Jersey, on 23 and 24 June. As there are currently only two courts, teams of four were chosen, and the format was two doubles and four singles each day. The Scots were Chris Dent, playing for the first time since April, Bruce Rannie, as part of his UK and Ireland 2001 tour, Brian Durward, and Jamieson Walker, the then-homeless social secretary. The Jersey team was son and mother Matthew and Sarah Burrow, on their way to the Lincoln World Championships, John Taylor, and Elizabeth Medway, who was combining the match with a visit home.
Friday’s gathering of the teams was well
organised by Jamieson and Brian Murdoch, with a nostalgic visit to The
Steading and its extended conservatory restaurant. The handicap ranges were not identical
but reasonable overall, although the heavy lawns and the use of Advanced
Rules added to the pressure on Elizabeth in her first representative
match. The Doubles pairings were one-and-four, and two-and-three, playing
with the serve on Day 1, and against on Day 2. On Saturday, this put Chris
and Jamieson against Sarah and John, and Bruce and Brian against Matt and
Elizabeth. The notable events of the morning included Brian’s failed
triple (how many balls are you allowed to roquet between hoops?) followed
quickly by Matt’s DPO, and Chris’s attempts to get his swing working.
Results –2 and –26 respectively! In the afternoon, the two rounds of
singles were 1v4 and 1v3, etc., and all these went as expected, with
Matt’s TP after Jamieson’s "usual" contact leave being the highlight
(Jamieson had a chance with the second ball – he blamed Brian Murdoch for
coming to watch as he blobbed a hoop: "I always freeze when he’s there!").
The closest games were Brian holding Matt to 4, and Jamieson holding Sarah
to 7. Day 1 score SCA 4 Jersey 6. Saturday evening included an excellent
meal at one of the Howies chain of restaurants, which for a small corkage
fee allowed Jamieson to show off his wine collection (like the man
himself, between lodgings). Sunday’s reverse doubles went the other
way, with two +10 wins for the home side. The singles were 1v2, then 1v1
etc., pitting the "equal" players against each other as the climax. Chris
still didn’t have his swing totally in tune, and although he had chances
to finish things, Sarah took the game against the serve +2. Bruce got one
ball round against Matt, who took no chances with triples, finishing +17
in clinical manner. Brian beat Elizabeth, and Jamieson took John most of
the way to end with a 3 deficit. So that meant Jersey led 9-7 with only
the final four afternoon games left. Chris was another Matt TP victim, giving
Jersey the dormie point, but Bruce managed to beat Sarah against the
handicap. As Brian had beaten John comfortably, all hopes for the home
draw rested on Jamieson’s performance against Elizabeth, who was exceeding
her own expectations with the form she was showing after two days’
experience of advanced rules, Jaques balls and Edinburgh grass. The rest
of us were "home and hosed" as the nip-and-tuckness continued right up to
the time limit, with each player being one turn away from glory so many
times. Finally however, Jamieson started the turn after time one behind,
and managed to string a few hoops together, not enough however to take the
"T" off the scorecard. So that was the equaliser, and the match finished
10-10, to the satisfaction of all. Thanks are due to Jamieson and others for
hospitality and catering (lunch at the lawns works best because you really
have to leave somebody on guard), to all the Jersey players for their
graciousness and friendliness, to us in the Scottish team for playing our
part too, to the selectors for picking us, and to the two captains for
agreeing to the all-play-all format (it gives more variety, and a close
result!). See you on the island in two years’ time! Bruce Rannie
Results (Scottish names first)
Day 1
Dent & Walker lost to S Burrow & Taylor –26, Rannie & Durward lost to M Burrow & Medway -2 Dent beat Taylor +8, Rannie beat Medway +23, Durward lost to M Burrow –4, Walker lost to S Burrow –7 Dent beat Medway +22, Rannie beat Taylor +25, Durward lost to S Burrow –20, Walker lost to M Burrow -12TP
Day 2
Dent & Walker beat M Burrow & Medway +10, Rannie & Durward beat S Burrow & Taylor +10 Dent lost to S Burrow –2, Rannie lost to M Burrow –17, Durward beat Medway +17, Walker lost to Taylor -3 Dent lost to M Burrow -17TP, Rannie beat S Burrow +17, Durward beat Taylor +22, Walker beat Medway +4t
Match Result
SCA 10 Jersey 10
