On Saturday Linlithgow Cricket Club began their league season with a trip to Edinburgh for a 45 overs match against Watsonian’s second string at Myreside.

The home side won the toss and asked Linlithgow to bat first on a wicket that looked as though it could offer something for bowlers and batsmen alike.

The visitors set off at pace and reached 77 before the first wicket fell. Debutant Paul Brookes was bowled by one that kept low for a very respectable 33 runs.

Kevin Stump joined Gregor Thomson at the crease and the pair took the score to 120 before Stump offered a simple catching chance to the close fielders which was duly accepted.

The next three batsmen each held up an end for a short time in support of Gregor Thomson as he became increasingly comfortable with the wayward bowling of the hosts. Thomson passed 50 and was dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground at regular intervals.

After 31 overs Alastair Napoli made his way to the crease and from the outset looked to build on the solid platform built primarily by Thomson. At this stage Gregor really put his foot on the pedal and raced past his century with a flurry of boundaries.

Despite having a hundred plus runs to his name, Thomson showed no signs of letting up as he smashed the Watsonian's spinner, first, onto the adjacent railway line and then straight through the somewhat surprisingly “glass” window of the score box.

Napoli and Thomson did not let up and the score cruised past 250 with neither player looking in any danger due to a combination of errant fielding and great stroke play from the pair. Linlithgow finished on a massive 293 for the loss of 6 wickets at the end of the 45 overs. Gregor Thomson amassed an outstanding 148 from a mere 129 balls. Alastair Napoli finished 42 not out.

At tea the visitors were in buoyant mood after such a strong first half but were all too aware that the job was only half done. With grey clouds looming on the horizon Linlithgow knew that they would have to work hard to get through a minimum of 20 overs of the second innings to ensure that a positive result would be possible. 65 overs constitutes that a full game has been played in the rules this season in East League 1.

Surely enough, the rain slowly started to creep into proceedings during the second innings. However, Linlithgow were racing through the overs and had restricted the visitors to just 93 runs for the loss of 4 wickets when the heavens opened after 21 overs. The players hurried from the field at this stage and no further play was possible due to the continual downpour.

The wickets taken by Linlithgow were shared between Josh Cole (2 for 17) and Grant Raven (2 for 31). Linlithgow won the match by 48 runs on Rain Calculator and collect the maximum 20 points. Watsonian's gained 8 points because the game was cut short.

Next weekend Linlithgow entertain local rivals Livingston at Boghall in 12pm start hoping to build on this great start to the season.