Drummond Trinity Cricket Club: Sponsored by CARS4YOU

HISTORY OF THE DT’s

Drummond Trinity Cricket Club was founded at the end of 2004 after Drummond Cricket Club and Trinity Academicals Cricket Club merged. Season 2008 was Drummond Trinity’s fourth season in existence, which has seen differing fortunes for the first and second teams.  The DT first team has maintained the position won in division 3 by Drummond and has finished every season in either 3rd, 4th or 5th place in the league, narrowly missing out on promotion in 2006 by 4%.  DT 2’s have seen less stability and have followed up Trinity Academicals bottom place in Division 5 (but escape from relegation) with consecutive relegations in bottom place from Divisions 5,6 and 7 in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively securing only 6 wins in the process! 2008 saw another 3rd place for the 1s but a turn around in fortune for the 2s with a 4th place finish interrupting a 4 year run of bottom place finishes and a Drummond Trinity record number of season wins (10).

Matt Reed

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF DRUMMOND

Drummond Cricket club were founded in 1982 by a bunch of friends who played cricket for fun in the Meadows and went for a drink afterwards to a bar in the Southside's Drummond Street. After a couple of seasons of friendlies and social games,they applied for membership of the East of Scotland League entering it's then lowest Division 4, in 1984. Their first game at the Meadows was a victory against fellow debutantes Livingston, with Dave Milliken hitting his one and only half century for the club to steer us to victory. The Meadows was the usual venue for home games in the early days before the club gravitated north to Inverleith Park as the 1980s progressed. When playing away from Edinburgh the habitual meeting place was the Fiddler's Pub in the Grassmarket (good pub, sadly no more - but highly impractical with no parking and ideally placed for car convoys to get snarled up in city centre traffic!) Victories were in short supply in our early years in the East League when Drummond often finished at, or near the foot of the table. Nevertheless, the Club always had a strong reputation for being better players than our results generally suggested and for good sportsmanship on the field and for getting the rounds in off it!

1988 saw the Club reach the Quarter Finals of the national Small Clubs Cup and generally results improved as the decade drew to a close. In 1993 we finished second and were promoted to Division 3 under the captaincy of Ted Coutts. Unfortunately we struggled with the step up and were relegated in second bottom place straight away. Generally we competed in the upper reaches of the lowest division for most of the 1990s winning more games than we lost until League reconstruction in 1999 saw us placed in Division 5 of the new set up. Most of us thought that was about right but we contrived to have a terrible end-of-season run which coincided with our closest rivals the OCs winning everything, and we were surprisingly relegated in Season 2000 to Division 6.

That low point was soon forgotten as the Club went on its most successful run ever. Firstly winning Division 6 at a canter, then being promoted straight out of Division 5 as runners-up narrowly to Preston Village in 2002. In 2003 we played probably some of the best team cricket in our lives to win Division 4 narrowly from Holy Cross 2s, a run which included 4 or 5 victories batting first (in the days of drawn matches no mean feat) at the tail end of the season. Our first year at the exalted level of Division 3 was a rough baptism and we only held our place thanks to a dogged victory over relegation rivals Carnegie and the fact that only 1 club was relegated that season. It had also been the first season we tried to run a Second XI which had also stretched the Club's resources considerably. That close season a merger was negotiated with Trinity to form the new Drummond Trinity CC...and the rest as they say, is history.

Below are links to (sadly incomplete - but quite amusing) Drummond Cricket Club records 1984 - 2003.

IndividualCareerStats.doc
ALLtime-various.doc
ALLTIMEINDIVIDUALTOP10.doc 
Stats1985.doc
Stats1986.doc
Stats1988.doc
Stats1989.doc
Stats1990.doc
Stats1991.doc
Stats1992.doc
Stats1994.doc
Stats 1999.doc
Stats2000.doc
Stats2002.doc
Stats 2003.doc
Stats2005.doc
Stats1984.doc

Steve Coulson

A HISTORY OF TRINITY ACADEMICALS 1921-1972

1921 to 1939
No definitive founding date has been uncovered yet in the archives. Most of the information for this period comes from the Minute Book dating from 1925. Word of mouth strongly suggests that the Club was formed in 1921. In 1921 Lloyd-George was still Prime Minister, Rangers won the League with Celtic second and Hearts third, while Partick Thistle won the cup. Warwick Armstrong had just led Australia to victory in England. To quote the Editor of Wisden “England were not merely beaten but overwhelmed.”. He goes on to extol the virtues of WG Grace suggesting he would have been” unrivalled as he always was”. A true cricketing conservative but a charming link back to nineteenth century cricket.
The first minute available is for the AGM on the 26^th February 1925,Mr F.J. Trotter Club President presiding. Also available is a Receipts and Payments Book starting with the 1924 season. Total receipts £9, 19 shillings and 6 pence. Total payments including a previous years debit balance of £3, 15 shillings and 3 pence was £9, 1 shilling and 7 pence. Certified by the Auditors. This included a 10 bob bung to the groundsman. Until the outbreak of the Second World war the Club remained in credit thanks to regular profitable social events and the gathering of subscriptions. The minutes for the 1924 season refer to a whist drive and dance to raise funds for the purchase of cricket gear. At the meeting in the Trinity Academy Gymnasium it was proposed to start a second eleven, which indicates a growing membership and the benefit of a few years playing experience. The Honorary President was T.M.Duncan, the captain G.Cleugh and the Secretary/Treasurer A.E.Clunie.The committee included C.Barr who may be the father of Douglas Barr who played for Scotland in the fifties and sixties but as a player with Melville College FP.

The playing record of the club becomes clearer as the years progress. From the 1926 season until the war we can just about trace the performance of the first eleven.

YEAR      PLAYED     WON   LOST   DRAWN
1926           16                 9           6             1
1927           14                 9           5             -
1928           16                10          4             2
1929           17                  9          6             2
1930           15                  9          5             1
1931           15                  9          5             1
1932           19                  5         11            2
1933           20                12           7            1
1934           19                14           5             -
1935           20                  7           9            4
1936           17                  9           6            2
1937           20                  9           9            2
1938           18                  9           8            1
1939           24                  9          14           1
1940           22                11          11            -

Over the period the first eleven played 272 games winning 140 and only drawing 40.Evidence of positive and attacking cricket. Records for the 2^nd eleven are much patchier and indicate a more erratic playing performance although by 1939 they were playing 20 games winning 12 and losing 8.No league cricket was played by the club. There may have been no leagues in the East of Scotland at this period. Amongst the archives are a selection of pre war fixture cards. The earliest is for 1927 and includes the FP firsts, seconds and school first eleven fixtures. It has a vivid pink cover with fixtures noted against Bonnyrigg, Dundee, Royal Artillery, Kinross-shire, Addiewell as well as more familiar clubs. The school had only seven fixtures against other schools but old rivals Leith and Holy Cross are included.The 1930 card, a delicate pale blue, identifies games against the Royal Army Pay Corp.  Portsburgh, St Lukes, Clerwood and the Leith BB to be played at Letham Park just across the road from Bangholm. 1934,dour manly blue, produces fixtures against Muirhouses, East Stirlingshire ,Burntisland ,Newtongrange , Londsdale and the Lions Head. There are 2 games against Broughton, one of which is at Wardie.

There were a number of outstanding performers during this period .DR McClure was a regular wicket taker .In 1927 he took 63 wickets at 4.65 runs each and was 5^th in the Scottish Cricket averages. In 1929 he took 58 wickets at 8.1. In 1928 J.A.T.Brown scored a century against Leith -the first in the clubs history. In 1929 he scored 108 against Cupar. In 1930 the club made their record score of 225 for 9 against Leith Franklyn. In 1934 H.Clunie took 62 wickets at 5.7 and DR McClure continued to take plenty of wickets into the thirties. Fifty five in 1937 but then faded from view. New faces started to appear and star in the mid to late thirties .J Steedman and J Simpson were all rounders of note The Whitelaw brothers were notable contributors and J Scrivener and G.Cranston started to make their mark. There were references to cricketers who I played with in the sixties. LL Romanis and JMC Paulis, noble Romans from Cramond, were playing from about 1936/7 and both went on to make a huge contribution to the club over the next 30 years and more. By 1939 it was recorded that 6 members were in the army including T.Wilson the Club President and by the following year 15 members were in the forces and most of the others were involved in war  work, home guard, ambulance and as air raid wardens.

Continuing themes over the pre war period seem to be organizing the teas, funding the purchase of gear and the composition of the selection committee.  Some things don’t change. The club in partnership with Leith Accies hired the Marine Gardens-now the Bus Depot at Seafield, and danced “to the splendid music of the Maestro Orchestra”. On one occasion this could not be done as the venue was completely given over to the then craze, ice skating! The teas saga is illuminating .At some point tea ladies were in evidence and profusely thanked. At others a tea committee assumed responsibility. One year the provision of teas was outsourced to Scott Lyons bakeries. One minute in 1926 refers to paying over your shilling for tea, the receipt being –your tea. Vandalism raises its ugly head in 1930 when the practice nets are stolen. Of course local fishermen could be suspected .A minute in 1931 laments the reluctance of schoolboys to join the club and a discussion ends with the suggestion of special rates for boys at school. This is agreed but the next year is rescinded. No explanation but something has happened which offended the senior members.

There are a number of references to drafting a constitution for the club starting in 1933. However by the start of the war this is still outstanding. 1933 marked the founding of the East of Scotland Cricket Association of which the club became a founder member. Nineteen thirty seven saw reference to the holding of a smoker and reunion at the Peacock Hotel a venue the club in its current form as Drummond Trinity still uses for the club dinner- but as from March 2006 no smoking. Nineteen thirty nine minutes referred to the club voting in favour of 8 ball overs .I wonder how long that lasted. Also in 1939 recorded LL Romanis thanking the club for the courtesy shown to the schoolboys playing. I played under LL’s captaincy in 1964 aged 15 and he practiced what he preached letting me open the bowling and treating all the boys with care and consideration.

1940 to 1955

The playing record of the club is not often recorded in the available archives for the 40-55 period but in 1946 it is as follows:

           Played     Won   Lost    Drawn    Tied

  1st      20          13      5          1          1

 2nd     2            1        1          -           -

 The minutes of meetings confirm the outstanding bowling performer of the period as JMC Paulis who according to the minutes took 509 wickets between 1946 and 1955 at an annual average ranging between 4.5 and 11. Other bowling notables were Joe Scrivener, D Graham and I Bell ,who according to reliable sources was really quick. In the early fifties Eric and Finlay Orr start to appear. Their bowling figures would suggest they were twins .In 4 years from 1952 to 1955 their bowling statistics were remarkable.

         Eric Orr                      Finlay Orr

1952    23 wkts at 13             24 wkts at 12

1953    37wkts at 10              38 wkts at 11

1954    37wkts at 10              31 wkts at 10

1955    40 wkts at 7.8            44 wkts at 7.5

 Unbelievably that means that over these 4 years they each took 137 wickets at around the same average. This is taking sibling rivalry to new heights of precision. Eric disappears after 1955, emigrating to Canada. Finlay continues to take wickets until some years later he too, almost inevitably, joins his brother in Canada.

The batting was less effective. A number of Captains reports suggested that frailty in batting was the key problem in advancing the clubs playing standards and calibre of opposition. Scrivener, Romanis, Paulis and Cranston all regularly made runs over the period but it would seem that problems with the quality of the square and practice wickets at Bangholm militated against the development of the clubs batting strength. The advent of younger batsmen, notably JB Redpath in 1953 started to see an improvement in run getting. The square at Bangholm was relayed in 1955 and after a brief hiatus as it settled in may have contributed to the improvement in batting.

Latterly playing statistics became available and are as follows

                         Played    Won  Lost   Drawn  Tied

            1953        20        5         6         3          2

1954        19         9         9         1

1955        24       13         5         4

Fixture cards for the 1952 and 53 seasons are in the archive and show opposition much more like that of today than the pre war examples. However the first eleven play the Dental Hospital, the Royal Dick Vet College and Colonial. The seconds have fixtures against Bruntons of Musselburgh(wireworks), Lochend Works CC and Ferranti as well as Colinton Mains Church ,Portobello St Johns and the Leith Battalion BB .Religion, capitalism and cricket. Hasn’t somebody written a book about this?

The immediate post war period is marked by the recording of 2 to 3 committee meetings each year as presumably there was much to be done and enthusiasm high. There were a couple of offers of sightscreens, which do not seem to come to anything. Sightscreens at Bangholm! There is a later reference to whitewashing the wall, which seems more realistic. In 1946 a cruise on the Royal Lady was mooted. Stop sniggering at the back boy. The square was top dressed and marled and favours are done for the Club by the Heriots professional Creber .He clearly did not possess a first name .I think he may have played for Glamorgan before the 1914-18 war. ESCA proposed the idea of league cricket, which the club were opposed to. This  is a recurring theme throughout this period and the clubs position remained anti until the late fifties. There seemed to be problems in finding grounds to play matches as on one Saturday 2 games are played at Bangholm. Teas had to be carefully coordinated. Transport issues are of historic interest. In 1949 it was agreed to pay all fares in excess of three and sixpence for away games in the seconds. Even in the nineteen sixties we juniors went by train to Kirkcaldy and Stenhousemuir as there was no room in the cars . There was a continuing concern at the financial position of the club even though it remains in credit. Post war austerity perhaps. In 1951 a suggestion was made to take a collection from those watching. Eh! Shades of the Lancashire League. There is also grievous complaints about the state of the square. Eventually a meeting was arranged with the Superintendant of Playing Fields. Obviously a superior sort of Council officer. In 1955 the square is relaid.

People who remained with club for a long time appear in this period. Tommy Geddes Snr acts a Secretary, Treasurer, Umpire and eventually became Club President for many years. Hamish Jardine, Jimmy Kemp, Malcolm Kelly and Jimmy Redpath make their first appearances in the early fifties. They all went on to have long connections with the club.

1956 to 1972

Records for the period vary in detail and content. The minutes until 1961 are brief but contain club and player records. Minutes from 1962 are much more detailed containing club but no player records. Some of these can be found in other sources. Available playing records as follows. Where possible second XI results are included under those of the first XI.

            PLAYED      WON   LOST   DRAWN 
1956       17                  6          7              4
1957
1958       25                 12         5              6
                13                  6          5              2
1959       29                 17         4              8
                19                 10         7              1
1960       26                 18         5              2 
Won Midland League and Taylor Trophy
                17                  5          9              2
1961
1962       24                  8          9              6            1 TIED
1963       19                  8          3              8
                11                  5          4              2
1964       25                  4          12            9
                15                  5           9             1
1965       24                  7            7            5
                 7                   2            3            1
1966       25                  5           11           5
First season in East League
                10                  5             1           2           1 TIED
1967       20                  4           12           3
1968      
1969       19                  3           11           3
                10                  1             7           1
1970       21                  4             9           6
                12                  2             6           3
1971       15                  4            10          1
                10                  1             8           1
1972       18                  7             8           3
                12                  2             8           2

The outstanding batsman of the generation and probably in the clubs history was J.B.Redpath. Starting in 1951 and continuing until 1964 he made as recorded for the first XI a total of 5217 runs including 3 centuries and a top score of 122*against Castings in 1959.In the same season he scored 102*against Royal High School FP.In the club newsletter in 1960 this game was hailed as one of the Clubs best ever performances. Set to get 192 in 125 minutes they got the winning run off the fifth ball of the last over, scoring the last 36 runs in only 9 minutes. To quote ”The whole team emerged with credit from the game but the skippers example was the vital factor as indeed it was throughout the entire season. His batting, his fielding, his catches out of the blue (and there was plenty of blue in 1959) and his general leadership demanded parity from the rest of the team .In demonstration of their appreciation the Club presented him with a cricket bat from which we hope will flow an even greater aggregate of runs in 1960”.

Jimmy Redpath’s career average was 27.75.In 1959,1960 and 1961 he scored respectively 756, 613 and 614 runs .In 1959 he got his runs at an average of 47.25. Trinty’s very own Don Bradman. He also took at least 97 catches presumably mostly at slip.

During this era J.M.C. Paulis completed his career as Trinity’s greatest ever bowler. He bowled slow left arm and included a vicious quicker ball and a chinaman in his armoury. Starting to play around 1937 he retired in 1969.Records indicate that he took at least  905  wickets at an average of around  9.He also scored at least 3377 post war runs  and took 74 catches. He had hands like buckets. Whilst Jimmy Paulis was away during the war years and no records are available it is likely that he played between 1941 and 1945 so adding to his formidable totals. I had the privilege to play with both these giants. What cricketers. Maybe I am biased but they seemed both in the flesh and on paper to be good enough to play for Scotland.

Between 1937 and 1963 Lewis Romanis scored over 3000 runs and took over 100 catches for the first XI. He captained the club for a number of years, captained the seconds in the mid sixties and occasionally umpired. He made his runs at the very top of the inning s against the best of the bowling. The pace bowling of Peter Rodgers was very effective between 1956 and 1963.He took 284 wickets at an average of just over 10 in effectively just 6 seasons playing for the first X1.In 1959 he took 79 wickets at 8.6,maybe the highest number of wickets taken in  a season by a Trinity bowler .His opening partner Finlay Orr played from 1950 to 1963 not playing in seasons 1958 and 59.In 11 seasons he took 344 wickets at an average of about 10.Trinity were badly weakened in 1964 when both Rodgers and Orr stopped playing.

In an interesting aside in the 1960 newsletter a best ever TACC is selected (by Tommy Geddes and others I think). As follows:

J.N. Steedman

L.L.Romanis

P.Simpson

J.B.Redpath

J.A.T.Brown

J.M.C.Paulis

I.H.M.Bell

H.Clunie

C.Barr (c)

V.Frew(w)

D.McLure