CARLTON skipper Cedric English has joined a growing chorus of disapproval at Scottish Saltires' policy requiring some internationalists to stand down from club cricket the day before an away representative match.
The Lloyd's TSB Premiership leaders lost their 100 per cent record with a comprehensive eight-wicket defeat at home to Ferguslie on Saturday.
While English was acknowledged his side had fallen short of the standards that had taken them to the top
of the table, fortunes might have been improved, he said, if Saltire Fraser Watts had not been left clicking his heels on the sidelines in readiness for a clash at Durham 24 hours later.
Accusing the authorities of inconsistency and short-sightedness, English said: "It would have been nice to have had Fraser, although there can be no excuses (for the result] as we have a good enough side but did not play well enough."
English, who retired from international cricket with Scotland in 2005, added: "Leaving a batsman out of club cricket the day before a Saltires match at Durham is something I am never going to agree with.
"As a batsman, Fraser must bat. It might be a little different for bowlers but there is no point in wrapping batsmen in feathers.
"If injuries are to happen then they will happen anyway."
In a further attack, English said: "The last time Saltires were at Durham on a Sunday two players, Gordon Goudie and Richie Berrington, turned out for clubs the day before. There has got to be consistency."
Ironically, one player allowed to turn out ahead of the road trip to Durham was Majid Haq of Ferguslie as Cricket Scotland defended their ruling, saying he needed match-practice after missing games due to exams.
While careful to avoid making Haq a cause celebre, English said the spinner had been a thorn in his side's flesh.
"The presence of two spinners, Majid and Con de Lange, in the Ferguslie side gave them a major advantage."
Carlton's lead has now been cut to three points and English was keen to emphasis his own side's shortcomings while justifying the late arrival in the attack of seamer Ally Evans (four overs bowled at a cost of just 11 runs) until after the damage had been done.
"A couple of early decisions, including lbw against pro Peter Wooden, did not go our way and on top of that we were faced with a Ferguslie side against whom we have always had close games and whose professional, Con de Lange, batted and bowled very well.
"Con got some lift with his deliveries and when Ferguslie batted second chasing 185 and threatened to get away from us after a good start (overseas amateur Wasim Haslim opened and smacked 31 off 20 balls] I wanted to get Woody into our attack.
"Woody is basically our best bowler and therefore the best hope for reigning them."
In fact, damage that was to leave Carlton shell-shocked for much of the afternoon came inside the opening four overs.
After internationalist Darren Spink had been bowled in the third over without scoring Wooden fell only a few balls later.
That meant English (48) and Bryn Lockie (34) rebuilding, and while a 93-run partnership was much-needed, the scoring rate was slow with the first 20 overs producing just 38 runs.
With English and Lockie gone when one or other of them was needed to produce a big innings Carlton toiled to 114-6 off 40 overs.
Gilmour's eighth-wicket partnership with David Robertson was worth 36 in giving a semblance of respectability and the only time throughout the innings Carlton looked as though they might go on and win came when he hit Haslim for 17 in an over.
Gilmour's knock included two superb pulls for six and came off 35 balls.
However, the free-hitting of Haslim himself was to put Carlton's bowlers immediately on the back foot and after the Guyanan had edged a catch behind Scotland A cap Stuart Murray (35) and De Lange (a chance-less 89 not out) took the Paisley side to the brink of victory with their winning runs coming in the 36th over.
English said: "Nobody is going to throw the toys out of the pram because amateur cricketers never go out looking to lose.
"Besides, hiccups like this can serve a useful purpose.
"No team is ever going to cruise through a league without setbacks and we have had a kick up the backside ahead of a really testing series of games starting with that Ferguslie match," said English.
The full article contains 770 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
