Dyce are season's surprise (11 Sep 1998)

11 September 1998

Dyce are season's surprise

By Keith Graham

NEXT year's first division promises to be highly competitive with Heriot's, Grange, West Lothian, West of Scotland, Ferguslie, Ayr and Aberdeenshire forming the predictable nucleus together with Carlton, Greenock and Stoneywood Dyce.

The latter team have been the real surprise of the past season. Only five years ago, they were playing in Aberdeenshire grades cricket before gaining entry to the Strathmore Union, which, after being runner-up in 1995, they won in the following two seasons.

Entry to the National League's Conference B was gained through a play-off and, after achieving third place, they now go forward to next year's National League First Division. It has been a remarkable rise through the ranks but one which has brought its own problems.

The new league management committee has laid down stringent conditions concerning facilities which Stoneywood Dyce are unlikely to be able to meet. The club are therefore examining the possibility of re-locating with Aberdeen University's ground among the possibilities.

In a season dominated by inclement weather, the country's top batsman was Ayr's Kevin Roberts who scored 962 runs at an average of around 120. Fellow Australian Corey Richards, for West of Scotland, averaged nearly 89 with an aggregate of 848 while RHSM's Zahoor Elahi recorded the highest individual score of 201 not out.

Shahid Aslam, who has left Heriot's to play for Dunfermline next season, was easily the top bowler with 57 wickets at about six apiece with fellow Pakistani, Arbroath's Mohammed Zahid claiming 52 victims. Ian Beven, in his last season, was the country's top amateur bowler with 39 victims.

Prestwick's complaint to the Scottish National League management committee about Aberdeenshire's attitude in their final two Conference C matches in which they lost heavily to Ferguslie and Greenock, is unlikely to result in any changes to the structure of next season's First Division. However, Aberdeenshire could be censured.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

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