Bellevue ran out winners at Inverleith Park tonight, as established Bellevue starlet Norrie, and dynamic father-and-son duo Sandy and Andrew Robertson, on their first Bellevue appearance, combined with bat and ball to put the game beyond the university side.

Bellevue, batting first after Skipper Kelly's first correct call of the summer, started hesitantly, with only Craig Robertson (no relation) of the top 3 troubling the scorers much. Thereafter Andrew R and Norrie settled down to establish a platform, keeping out the good balls, and smacking the bad ones to the boundary. Daines and Kelly built on their good work, and Jordan even got in on the act with a defiant unbeaten knock (1 not out) at the end.

Having eventually scrambled to a total of 119, Quinn opened the Bellevue attack from the Tree-lined Avenue End, using the downslope to help his creaking limbs to the bowling crease, and the generous wind assistance to generate some away swing, though with no reward in the wickets column. Sandy Robertson, in need of no such aritifical help, began with an eventful over which went for 15, ran out one of the openers, and prised out a further wicket as Hewitt, still perhaps distracted by the farcical run-out off the previous ball, cut straight to gully. Sandy settled down thereafter and capped a fine spell with another 2 wickets to finish with figures of 3-24.

Norrie, coming on first change, increased the pressure with some tight bowling, and in his second over trapped two Informatics batsmen in front to leave the despairing umpire with no choice but to raise the finger. Kelly Snr popped up late on to demolish someone's stumps with another outrageous inswinger, and Andrew Robertson capped a fine all-round performance with the final wicket in the 19th over.

Many thanks to Nasty Jen and Broon for their excellent efforts in the field, and the Robertsons for playing with less than 24 hours notice!

Bellevue eked out another win to continue their long unbeaten run at Peffermill tonight. A savage display of hitting at the top of the order by I'Anson and Letchford gave Bellevue enough momentum to eventually crawl over the finishing line, but it was a close thing for a while...

With Coco and the Letch taking such a liking to the Staff's opening bowlers, Bellevue were well set on 110 after 12 overs, chasing a target of 133. However, the Staff's change bowlers tightened things up considerably, and Bellevue's middle order found themselves becalmed. A similar pattern had emerged in the Staff's innings, with them struggling to keep their considerable early momentum going. Kelly Snr, in an exemplary spell of inswing bowling, had dried up the runs in the best way possible, by crashing the ball into the stumps at regular intervals, finishing with the well-deserved figures of 4-12. All round it was a good fielding performance, with debutant Craig Robertson starring with some fine stops at midwicket.

Now, with only a few overs left, the run rate creeping gradually upwards, and Sethu and Malken giving very little to hit, Bellevue's travelling support were shivering with the excitement of it all, albeit helped along by the brisk wind and non-tropical temperature. Quinn, having made it to the middle without his bat, may as well not have bothered retrieving it, as he neglected to use it on a straight delivery and was sent on his way. Mercifully Gompertz was eschewing his normal gung-ho shot-making in favour of the 'safe and solid steering the side home' approach, and old stager Kelly was on hand to clump a fullish delivery over mid-off for a comfortable single to win the game.

Thanks, as ever, to the travelling support, scoring and catering contingent.

Bellevue, batting first on a variably-bouncing artificial strip at Inverleith Park, made a shaky start, with Coco Lanson, A Quinn and Kenny D all departing whence they came for not very many. Letchford also had to depart before troubling the scorers too much, having found a new way to hurt himself at the crease (wrenched a calf muscle I believe). Thankfully Norrie maintained his excellent record with the bat, cracking a couple of fours in his unbeaten 31, and Stevie Liddell along with the two Johns kept the scoreboard ticking over, with a decent contribution from extras making a total of 127.

Norrie, opening the bowling from the gently-sloping-end, prised out a wicket in his first over, and Quinn, from the tree-lined-path end, did the same. With Fairfield, Hamilton and Liddell keeping a lid on things fairly effectively, and Hamilton in particular nipping out regular wickets, 127 was always going to be too much. Another excellent performance in the field, with Monsieur Packer making an outstanding debut behind the sticks in place of the injured Letchford. Special mention to Steve Fairfield for a solid bowling and fielding performance despite being rigged up to a blood pressure monitor throughout. Glad it didn't go down to the wire...

Thanks to Katriona for scoring, and to all the supporters who showed up - your support is very much appreciated! Top work all round.

Bellevue came up against a misfiring E=MCC team tonight, and after putting 141 on the board with major contributions from Roger, Webb and Gompertz, defended it fairly easily by bowling the students out for 31. Special mention to Ben Packer, who cracked 16 runs in his first proper game of cricket ever, and Michael Kelly, whose allround performance was outstanding.

Quick turnaround now - next game on Monday night!