The Gala 1st XI season got off to a mixed start as they travelled to Goldenacre to take on Heriots 2nd XI. Solid performances with the bat from the top order would fill the travelling side however, with rain drizzling in the capital it would mean Gala would not get the chance to defend their score of 223, despite lowering the over amount to 40 for each side.

With skipper Josh Irvine winning the toss, he would choose to bat on what was an excellent wicket for batting. The opening pair of Finlay Rutherford and Sid Ponneri would set Gala off to an excellent start. The two batters would make an excellent opening stand of 116 to set the braw lads off well for the season. Both players struggled early on but dug in well to get past the tricky Heriots bowling attack. When comfortable the pair would look to open up and score some runs and it was Ponneri who was first in looking to score. He made an excellent half century until he was caught out trying to cut the ball off the bowling of Bacon. Joining Rutherford would be club pro Upul Indrasiri meaning things for the Heriots bowling attack would not get any easier. Rutherford would make a solid 41 before being stumped by wicketkeeper Wilson off the bowling of Bacon who picked up his second and final wicket. Irvine joined Indrasiri but would not last long as he scored 9 before being caught out after top edging the ball to the bowling of Macleod. Eddie Eyre would finish the innings not out on 9 however Indrasiri would be the real driving force in the Gala batting line up by making a brilliant and quick 78 not out which included 11 fours and 2 sixes after only facing 41 balls. This would mean Gala set Heriots a target of 224 to chase in 40 overs but as the rain continued to fall, umpires would call the game without Gala bowling a ball.

Gala will be disappointed not to get a chance to defend their total however it sets up the team well for next week as we welcome Carlton 2nd XI to Meigle Park.

GALA SCORECARD
S Ponneri c D Shoukat b T Bacon 59
F Rutherford st D Wilson b T Bacon 41
U Indrasiri not out 78
J Irvine c R Martin b H Macleod 9
E Eyre not out 7
Extras 29
Gala 1st XI 223-3 off of 40 overs

HERIOTS BOWLING
B Ali 4-0-16-0
D Shoukat 6-0-18-0
R Martin 7-1-49-0
A Farooq 4-0-9-0
E Hutchison 7-0-60-0
T Bacon 8-0-26-2
H Macleod 4-0-34-1

Gala 2nd XI got off their division 6 league campaign with a commanding win over a solid Kirk Brae 2nd XI side. Gala winning the toss, elected to bowl first in the hope of getting through the overs quickly before the rain fell at Meigle Park. The match was changed to 30 overs per side in an effort to complete the game before the weather interrupted.

Craig Thomson and Scott Paterson opened the bowling for the Meigle Park side, limiting the scoring for the visitors early on. The first two wickets came for Gala with some excellent fielding by Maceira and Gilchrist, resulting in two run outs dismissing Raja and Shahid. Regular wickets at regular intervals helped the home side limit Kirk Brae throughout the innings before K Hussain ended the innings not out on 29 joined by Batchelor not out on 2. Liam Skeldon picked up 1 wicket for the home side with Nick Murton also picking up one. Rhys Gilchrist picked up 2 wickets in his 3 overs with 4 run outs resulting in the Kirk Brae innings finishing on 104 for 8 off their 30 overs.

In an attempt to chase down the runs quickly, Gala went hard and attacked the Kirk Brae bowling early on. Ajith Sujan had a well made 25 before he was bowled by Shahid with Jamie Bell going well at the other end. Bell was then joined by Loumeau who made 20 before being caught out off the bowling of K Hussain. This did not affect Bell however who kept battling on who finished an excellent innings not out on 38 as Gala reached their total of 105 in 17.4 overs with 7 wickets in hand.

A great performance for Gala with both bat and ball resulted in a very positive start to the season. Good individual performances as well helped the team to victory as the team will look to build on this result next week as they travel to play Old Contemptibles next week.

KIRK BRAE SCORECARD
M Raja run out 5
W Shahid run out 15
K Vosanioloma c A Sujan b L Skeldon 10
Z Rasool run out 6
Z Hussain c+b R Gilchrist 13
K Hussain not out 29
N Sawant b R Gilchrist 1
U Sonpimple b N Murton 0
S Magar run out 0
G Batchelor not out 2
Extras 22
Kirk Brae 2nd XI 104-8 off of 30 overs

GALA BOWLING
C Thomson 5-0-7-0
S Paterson 4-1-6-0
J Bell 5-0-18-0
L Skeldon 6-1-13-1
M Maceira 2-0-14-0
N Murton 5-1-18-1
R Gilchrist 3-0-18-2

GALA SCORECARD
J Bell not out 38
A Sujan b W Shahid 25
S Loumeau c N Sawant b K Hussain 20
S McAneny lbw Z Rasool 0
S Paterson not out 0
Extras 22
Gala 2nd XI 105-3 off of 17.4 overs

KIRK BRAE BOWLING
S Magar 3-0-16-0
K Vosanioloma 3-0-20-0
W Shahid 4-0-30-1
Z Hussain 1-0-14-0
K Hussain 4.4-1-12-1
Z Rasool 2-1-1-1

Gala 1st XI travelled to the countries capital Edinburgh to play premiership team Stewarts Melville 1st XI in their second and final pre-season game before their championship campaign starts on the 30th of April. Gala would look to improve on their loss to Dumfries the week before with the hand of returning club captain Josh Irvine and overseas professional Upul Indrasiri.

With Gala captain Irvine winning the toss, the border side would bat first with Ponneri and Rutherford opening up. Ponneri looked comfortable at the crease at the beginning of the innings however his partner Rutherford struggled, losing his wicket for a duck with the score on 12. Loumeau spent little time at the crease with Newman picking up his second wicket leaving Gala 12-2. With the loss of Loumeau this brought Indrasiri to the crease, he and Ponneri both showed their class batting well until Ponneri was dismissed for 37 bringing in skipper Irvine. Indrasiri and Irvine set about their work with Irvine showing his immense power hitting ability with two sixes. Indrasiri reached 40 battering away six 4’s in his innings until it was ended as he was caught by Newman off the bowling of Bisset. Rhode then joined his captain at the crease with the pair taking the score up to 125 before Irvine was bowled by McHoul. At 125-5 Gala were well in the game until a batting collapse from the lower order left the travelling side 136 all out. Malik picked up 3 wickets for the home side near the end of the Gala innings with McHoul, Bisset and Newman all grabbing 2 leaving Khanusiya with the final wicket of the Gala scorecard.

Rhode and Tharanga would open the bowling for Gala in their defence of 136 with Tharanga picking up the wicket of Ritchie for 16 with the home side score on 29. Newman made 14 before Indrasiri bowled in Stewarts Melville opener. Gala never took any more wickets with Wilkinson batting excellently to reach his half century before he retired not out. This left Miller and McHoul to knock off the runs to reach the required total finishing the innings on 27 and 6 not out meaning the premiership side came off comfortable winners by 8 wickets.

Gala will be disappointed with how they performed in the game not challenging the premiership opposition at times however, with plenty of areas to improve on the team will look to impress next week in the first game of the championship season when they travel to Goldenacre to take on Heriots 2’s. We wish Stewarts Melville all the best with their premiership campaign next season and thank you for hosting the team.

GALA SCORECARD
S Ponneri b C Bisset 37
F Rutherford b J Newman 0
S Loumeau b J Newman 0
U Indrasiri c J Newman b C Bisset 40
J Irvine b A McHoul 23
A Rhode b U Malik 17
D Tharanga lbw A McHoud 1
M Hastings b U Malik 0
A Sujan b S Khanusiya 0
R Paterson not out 0
C Thomson b U Malik 0
Extras – 18
Gala 136 all out off 31.3 overs
Fall of Wickets: 1-12, 2-12, 3-73, 4-87, 5-125, 6-130, 7-131, 8-136, 9-136, 10-136

STEWARTS MELVILLE BOWLING
J Newman 4-2-8-2
C Shorten 5-0-16-0
V Shah 3-1-20-0
S Khanusiya 6-0-26-1
C Bisset 5-0-22-2
U Malik 5.3-0-31-3
A McHoud 3-0-10-2

STEWARTS MELVILLE SCORECARD
P Ritchie lbw D Tharanga 16
J Newman b U Indrasiri 14
B Wilkinson retired not out 51
M Miller not out 27
A McHoul 6
Extras 26
Stewarts Melville 140-2 off 18.3 overs
Fall of Wickets: 1-29, 2-46

GALA BOWLING
A Rhode 4-0-36-0
D Tharanga 4-0-20-1
S Ponneri 2-0-19-0
U Indrasiri 5-1-24-1
R Paterson 1-0-11-0
C Thomson 1.3-0-20-0
S Loumeau 1-0-6-0

The Gala 2nd XI welcomed Edinburgh South 3 XI to Meigle Park on Saturday in the final pre-season fixture ahead of the 2022 league season starting. Good performances with both bat and ball led Gala to a 3-wicket win chasing their target down with 8 overs to spare.

Edinburgh South started well with the bat in their innings with Vilthalani playing some good strokes in a pairing with Martin who made 18 before S Paterson caught him trapped in front lbw. After removing the Edinburgh South opener, Gala continued to take wickets at regular intervals throughout the innings by applying pressure with some tight bowling. Gilchrist then took the wicket of danger man Vithalani for 34, he and Scott Paterson ripped through the Souths line-up with both players taking 3 wickets each. Junior Kieran Toor also took 2 wickets for the home side in an impressive bowling spell with Liam Skeldon and another junior in Ruaridh Anderson both taking 1 each. Kenny Paterson showed his excellence in the field taking two catches as well in an overall impressive bowling and fielding performance from the 2’s. Gala would have to chase 119 in their 40 overs to claim the win.

In reply, Gala lost James Boyle early for a duck however Kieran Toor (15) and Ross Patterson (21) both worked hard for their runs, supplying Gala with a solid platform to chase down their target. A middle order collapse however would have the home side worried with Mohammed, J Singh and J Blood all causing issues for the Gala middle order. Kenny Paterson played steadily and solidly playing a support role to junior Sam McAneny as he took to the Edinburgh South bowlers scoring 22 before being bowled by G Williams. Skeldon would come in but would make no difference to the score as he finished not out along with Kenny Paterson (9) who showed great calm and experience in a position that could have left the lower order compromised.

A great first win for the 2’s team this year that will certainly boost confidence going into the first league game of the season where the team are at home again, welcoming Kirk Brae 2nd XI. Thanks again to Edinburgh South for making the trip down and we wish them all the best for the season.

EDINBURGH SOUTH SCORECARD
D Vithalani b R Gilchrist 34
S Martin lbw S Paterson 18
B Blood ct K Paterson b R Gilchrist 7
R Dhor ct K Paterson b R Anderson 9
P Griffiths b L Skeldon 6
J Singh lbw R Gilchrist 0
G Williams ct S McAneny b K Toor 9
A Mohammed ct unsure b S Paterson 16
J Blood ct J Boyle B K Toor 0
R Barnard not out 7
P Singh ct R Patterson b S Paterson 1
Extras 12
Edinburgh South 3’s 119 all out off 31.3 overs

GALA BOWLING
L Skeldon 5-0-29-1
S Paterson 7.3-1-27-3
M Maceira 3-0-8-0
R Gilchrist 8-0-30-3
R Anderson 5-0-17-1
K Toor 3-0-8-2

GALA SCORECARD
R Patterson b J Blood 21
J Boyle b P Singh 0
K Toor lbw A Mohammed 15
R Anderson lbw A Mohammed 0
S Paterson b J Singh 11
R Gilchrist b J Blood 1
K Paterson not out 9
S McAneny b G Williams 22
L Skeldon not out 0
Extras 41
Gala 2’s 120 for 7 off 32 overs

EDINBURGH SOUTH BOWLING
P Singh 4-1-8-1
R Barnard 6-2-16-0
A Mohammed 6-0-18-2
D Vithalani 5-0-17-0
J Singh 5-2-23-1
J Blood 4-1-4-2
G Williams 2-0-14-1

On Sunday, the Gala Sunday XI played host to Heriot Watt University in what was a very tight and tense match. Liam Skeldon took 6 wickets to help Gala scrape a tie from a position where they had no right to come back.

Winning the toss Gala batted first with the young opening pair of Toor and Imray. Toor was dismissed quickly for 1 bringing S Anderson to the crease. Young Imray and the experienced S Anderson built a strong partnership until both left the crease, Imray retiring on 26 and S Anderson being bowled by Billard for 22. The middle and lower order of the Sunday XI struggled against the universities bowlers with no other players reaching double figures. However, with some loose bowling from the university side bowling 45 extras meant Gala reached their total of 112 for the loss of 9 wickets after their 30 overs. Heriot Watt’s Bhimull-Hilton, T Billard and Keay each took 2 wickets with Mude, Howard and Davidson collecting 1 each.
The Heriot Watt run chase got off to a slow start when Maceira picked up the wicket of Sukhadiya for 1 and Skeldon took his first of six when he removed Rajyaguru for 6. Keay and Miller steadied the ship for the away side until the former was caught behind by S Anderson off the bowling of Skeldon for 28. When Miller was bowled by R Paterson for 42 and Bhimull-Hilton was caught by McAneny off Toor’s bowling for 21, the Heriot Watt innings collapsed. Skeldon took 4 more wickets to take his tally to 6 and Bailey Paterson had an excellent run out, Heriot Watt limped to 112 all out tying the game up with Kennard having no more partners.

An exciting opening game for the Sunday XI who did well to tie the game with a lot of youngsters involved. Another mention to Liam Skeldon who bowled excellently near the death to claw the game back from a losing situation. Thanks to Heriot Watt University for the game and we wish them well in their BUCS campaign.

GALA SCORECARD
K Toor b A Davidson 1
J Imray retired not out 26
S Anderson b T Billard 22
R Paterson b T Billard 0
R Anderson not out 6
L Skeldon c unsure b Y Mude 2
S McAneny b D Howard 7
R Gilchrist c unsure b L Keay 1
C Ormiston c unsure b C Bhimull-Hilton 2
M Maceira b C Bhimull-Hilton 0
B Paterson c unsure b L Keay 0
Extras 45
Gala 112 for 9 off 30 overs

HERIOT WATT BOWLING
C Bhimull-Hilton 3-1-2-2
A Davidson 2-0-5-1
L Wimalaweera 2-0-5-1
H Sukhadiya 2-0-5-0
D Howard 3-0-18-1
C Watson-Sweeney 2-0-7-0
R Kennard 2-1-6-0
T Rajyaguru 2-0-14-0
T Billard 5-2-9-2
L Keay 5-1-22-2
Y Mude 2-1-1-1

HERIOT WATT SCORECARD
H Sukhadiya b M Maceira 1
L Keay c S Anderson b L Skeldon 28
T Rajyaguru b L Skeldon 6
C Miller b R Paterson 42
C Bhimull-Hilton c S McAneny b K Toor 21
D Howard c R Paterson b L Skeldon 0
L Wimalaweera b L Skeldon 0
Y Mude c K Toor b L Skeldon 1
C Watson-Sweeney run out (B Paterson) 0
A Davidson b L Skeldon 0
R Kennard not out 0
Extras 13
Heriot Watt 112 all out off 29 overs

GALA BOWLING
R Gilchrist 5-0-11-0
M Maceira 5-0-12-1
L Skeldon 5-0-9-6
C Ormiston 3-0-32-0
R Anderson 2-0-10-0
R Paterson 5-0-26-1
K Toor 4-0-11-1

Gala 2nd XI welcomed Peebles County to Meigle Park on Saturday in their first pre-season game of 2022. With a mix of youth and experience, Gala challenged the away side unfortunately losing out by 4 wickets. Gala can be proud of their performance against a good Peebles side who are placed a league above them in the ESCA system.

Winning the toss Gala elected to bat first with openers Ross Patterson and John Imray. The pair got off to a good start taking the home side to the half century mark before Patterson was caught by Gallop off the bowling of Burns. Shortly after Shutte grabbed the away side’s second wicket with the young Imray falling for 22. With the dismissal of the opening pair, Gala struggled to keep up the scoring losing 4 wickets for just 11 runs. With a little fight back from James Boyle (12) and extras (18) meant Gala got up to a defendable score of 107 off of 36 overs. Schutte and Gallop were the pick of the Peebles bowlers with the former picking up 3 and the latter 2.

The Peebles innings started off well for the Gala bowlers and Thomson and Skeldon both picked up one each. A Skeldon picked up 1 more wicket and Thomson 3 more as the pair regularly took wickets in the Peebles innings however, the hard work would be undone thanks to a brilliant half century from Caddick as he and Burns (19) saw off the Gala bowlers and knocked off the runs with 7 overs to spare and 4 wickets in hand. Thomson picked up 4 wickets as well as a catch to match Skeldon’s 2 wickets with Kenny Paterson, Caitlin Ormiston, and Rhys Gilchrist each taking a catch to contribute to the Gala defence.

Gala can be proud of the effort they put into the game with plenty of positives to take from the game. The team will look to go one better this week when they welcome Edinburgh South to Meigle Park for their 2nd pre-season fixture. As always thanks to Peebles for coming and we wish them all the best this season in division 5.

GALA SCORECARD
R Patterson c A Gallop b N Burns 27
J Imray c N Burns b T Schutte 22
S Anderson b T Schutte 8
S Paterson c unsure b A Gallop 7
R Anderson b A Pace 7
C Thomson c A Gallop b T Schutte 0
R Gilchrist run out 0
J Boyle lbw A Hayward 12
L Skeldon c K Easter b A Gallop 5
C Ormiston c Jenkins b A Common 1
K Paterson Not Out 1

Extras – 18
Gala 107 all out from 36 overs
Fall of Wickets: 1-51, 2-58, 3-66, 4-69, 5-69, 6-69, 7-92, 8-102, 9, 105, 10-107

PEEBLES BOWLING
A Hayward 5-1-6-1
A Common 6-2-14-1
R Common 5-0-25-0
N Burns 6-0-14-1
T Schutte 5-0-18-3
A Gallop 5-1-10-2
N Jenkins 2-0-14-0
A Pace 2-1-4-1

PEEBLES SCORECARD
A Gallop c C Thomson b L Skelson 17
A Pace c K Paterson b C Thomson 2
R Common c C Ormiston b C Thomson 1
P Caddick not out 52
A Common c R Gilchrist b L Skeldon 1
K Easter b C Thomson 5
T Schutte lbw C Thomson 4
N Burns 19
Extras 8

Peebles 109-6 off 33 overs.
Fall of Wickets: 1-7, 2-13, 3-32, 4-47, 5-64, 6-72

GALA BOWLING
C Thomson 7-1-19-4
S Paterson 7-1-17-0
L Skeldon 8-0-31-2
C Ormiston 7-0-35-0
R Gilchrist 4-0-4-0

Gala 1st XI travelled to play Dumfries at Nunholm in the first of their pre-season friendlies for 2022. Unfortunately for Gala it would be Dumfries who won the 1853 challenge with a confident and comfortable 163 run win.

On winning the toss, the home side elected to bat first, and with 250 runs on the board after their 40 overs, a decision that worked well. Brockwell and Malik opened the batting with both players coming out and picking the gaps in the Gala fielding which led the latter to retiring after his half century. Brockwell was dismissed by Ponneri for a well-made 45 however, with the opening pair removed it didn’t get any easier for Gala. Corbett-Byers retired after his half century whilst Thornely played an important role in seeing out the overs finishing not out on 38. Reddipalli, McGrath and Bainbridge were dismissed quickly not really troubling the scorers but with this it brought Abnett to the crease who ended the innings on 20 with the support of Thornely. Tharanga managed to pick up 2 wickets for the travelling team as well as Eyre and Ponneri who both took one each meaning.

In reply, the Gala innings never got going with openers Rutherford and Halls falling early. Eddie Eyre and Ponneri battled for 23 and 17 before the former was removed by Reddipalli and the latter by Thornely. Dumfries kept the pressure on Gala with the middle order falling for few runs. Hastings also battled for 14 before he was caught by Hobman off the bowling of Reynolds-Lewis and once the wicketkeeper was out it left the youngsters Paterson, Toor and Maceira with too much to do and with Paterson and Maceira losing their wicket it left Toor not out on 3.

Overall, a disappointing start to the season for Gala with plenty to improve on with both bat and ball, the team will travel to play Eastern Premiership side Stewarts Melville in Edinburgh. A big thanks to Dumfries for hosting the team and we wish them all the best in the Western Premiership this season.

DUMFRIES SCORECARD
C Brockwell c M.Hastings b S Ponneri 45
A Malik retired not out 55
M Corbett-Byers retired not out 52
S Thornely not out 38
U Reddipalli c J Halls b E Eyre 3
T McGrath b D Tharanga 2
F Bainbridge c A.Rhode b D Tharanga
M Abnett not out 20
Extras 31

Dumfries 250-4 off 40 overs
Fall of Wickets: 1-60, 2-189, 3-195, 4-201

GALA BOWLING
J Halls 6-0-33-0
D Tharanga 8-0-61-2
S Ponneri 5-0-27-1
M Maceira 5-0-32-0
R Paterson 5-1-21-0
S Loumeau 4-0-25-0
K Toor 2-0-14-0
E Eyre 5-0-34-1

GALA SCORECARD
F Rutherford lbw C Reynolds-Lewis 1
J Halls lbw J Hobman 8
E Eyre b U Reddipalli 23
S Ponneri b S Thornely 17
A Rhode b S Thornely 0
D Tharanga b U Reddipalli 6
S Loumeau b U Reddipalli 7
M Hastings c J Hobman b C Reynolds-Lewis 14
R Paterson b T McGrath 0
K Toor not out 3
M Maceira lbw J Hobman 0
Extras 8

Gala 87 all out off 34 overs
Fall of Wickets: 1-1, 2-12, 3-53, 4-53, 5-53, 6-63, 7-67, 8-72, 9-84, 10-87

DUMFRIES BOWLING
J Hobman 7-1-17-2
C Reynolds-Lewis 5-2-10-2
S Thornely 4-1-12-2
J Woodhouse 4-1-20-0
C Brockwell 4-1-8-0
U Reddipalli 6-2-6-3
T McGrath 4-0-10-1

We are pleased to announce that following the return of our professional Upul Indrasiri and the success of his coaching sessions and summer camps last year, that they will again be on offer this season.

Upul is now taking bookings for one to one sessions and we are now accepting bookings for our summer camp!

For more info get in touch with Upul or our social media.

We are delighted to share our sponsorship and hospitality brochure for 2022.

There are various opportunities available for local businesses and supporters to sponsor and support the club. For your sponsorship, we offer a range of benefits which can be viewed in the brochure.

The club would like to thank all local businesses for their continued support of the club. This has helped the club to continue to develop and make improvements on and off the field. These can also be viewed in the brochure.

To see a full breakdown of the sponsorship opportunities available and hospitality opportunities for the 2022 season, please click the button below to view our brochure.