Breachachadh Vs Lochbuie ... those famous cricket matches

Visitors passing by Breacachadh Castle during the summer months might believe they had stepped into a home counties cricket match when they hear the thwack of leather on willow and desultory clapping from the side. But they soon realise it's something different, an unusual sort of match, deadly serious of course, but with a gentle Hebridean spin to it all. They might notice, for example, if they look carefully that you can score a six if you hit the wall of Breacachadh Castle: the style of bowling is somewhat eccentric. And half the fielders are out of sight over the top of a hillock because the pitch is nothing like flat.

The origins of this slightly bizarre game stretch back many years now, when Nicholas Maclean-Bristol was talking to his Mull neighbour, Jim Corbett who owns the Lochbuie estate, thirteen vast hills in the south east of Mull. Jim was mildly boasting about the prowess of his cricket team when Nick reckoned he should challenge him on this. So the idea of a Lochbuie versus Breacachadh match was borne.

There were strict rules about who was eligible to play. It started as family, employees and tenants, with two guests allowed, but as the numbers of employees has shrunk others have been co-opted in. Jim tended to produce a posse of small boys who were captains of cricket at their English prep schools and were incredibly good. Nick had a following of stalwarts, many of whom had not actually played cricket before. This has no bearing on the results, however. Scottie Sim, playing cricket for the first time ever, exhibited his shinty training by bowling out three in the first over he ever actually bowled.

The match takes place in August, alternatively at Breacachadh and Lochbuie. To get there is half the fun. The team going from Coll has to assemble early in the morning to sail on Richard Fairbairn's boat, the one which goes whale-watching in the Minches. This can mean some delay as the boat weaves in and out of fins sticking out of the water with everyone leaning over the edge, shrieking with excitement.

Once we reach Mull, the school minibus from Dervaig takes us to Lochbuie. Frequent stops are necessary - we need to locate a shop to buy the carry-outs, replenish them a little later on, visit the loos at Craignure with some urgency and then recover everyone else from the pub, and eventually spill out of the minibus at Lochbuie. Patience Corbett and her family have always provided a sumptuous lunch, and the match is played afterwards against the dramatic backdrop of Ben Buidhe itself with the old castle of Lochbuie in the foreground.

Photos show how green and beautiful it all is. The pitch is flat and well mown and Jim has disposed of the cow pats. The cows themselves watch across the fence. What the photos do not show are the showers of midges which can invade the pitch, particularly if it gets drizzly. The Breacachadh pitch is distressingly bumpy, with some exhilarating rabbit holes and thistles in it, but the breeze almost always keeps away the midges. After an excellent tea, the captains make speeches, the trophy, a very small boring wooden cricket bat plus a large exciting whisky bottle, is given to the winners, and the team return to the pier at Dervaig to sail back to Coll.

One of the rules is that everyone must bowl. This makes the match particularly interesting for spectators, because the standard of bowling could be described as distinctly unique. Some can bowl, others hurl. A lifetime of throwing stones at rabbits means accuracy without style. 'Wides' have a special meaning of their own. John Fraser, that famous batsman, has a nice line of leaping high into the air and swiping at the ball as it flies ten feet above his head. He's made many a boundary in this unusual style because the fieldsmen are standing with their mouths wide open in amazement and don't see the ball flying past them. Peter Smalley, that well known umpire, has a relaxed attitude about these wides. He is also well known for keeping a hip flask of whisky in his back pocket to ease the pain of injuries.

The captains get the greatest applause, partly because they are well known for rarely surviving more than an over. Nick is usually piped onto the pitch by one of his sons, a most solemn and dignified way of approaching the wicket. Jim has to make the same entrance through sheer force of personality. During earlier games when Nick suffered from arthritis he was allowed a runner. The most dramatic of these was his ninth cousin Ron Irwin from Buffalo, USA. Ron had never played cricket before, but in honour of his success at being a runner he was allowed in as the twelfth man. He took his place at the wicket holding the bat as he would playing baseball, at waist level. This was fine as he sent ball after ball flying into the rhododendrons at Lochbuie, but unfortunately he did not think about defending the stumps and was out once the ball had been wearily retrieved from the undergrowth for the umpteenth time.

Jim bought all his team members baseball caps inscribed with the name of the team. This has been felt to be rather hitting below the belt by the Breacachadh team, but they have yet to come up with an alternative. Indeed if you saw the team assembling on the pier you might well believe they were off for a farmer's outing somewhere - not much sign of whites there, although Lauchie Maclean-Bristol wears his Wellington College cricket team blazer (which he is not entitled to wear). Peter Smalley always wears a smart white coat and really looks the part of umpire but Ali Anderson, latterly relegated to team mascot after he was ousted by more nimble limbs, was reputed to stuff copies of Readers Digest down his trousers instead of cricket pads, which gave him rather an odd outline. Everyone has had their moment of glory in the past. The late John English, the greatly loved 'gaffer' of Breacachadh Builders, was renowned for his quick wit, which got funnier and funnier as the carry outs were bought and consumed on the way to Lochbuie. Charlie Self and James Gully, nicknamed the Glenalmond Giants because they had been at that school and both actually knew how to play, famously battled against each other at one match. We are told that Charlie strikes dread into the heart of the opposition as he stalks on to the pitch, nonchalantly scrubbing the ball on his blue shorts as he prepares to bowl. There are too many islanders to mention over the years, but no report on the cricket would be complete without talking of Adrian de Ferranti. He comes over from Tiree with a boat load of small boys and girls who take absolutely no part in the cricket but play on the beach. Ferranti is ferociously serious about his cricket and is a stalwart of the team. When we went to Mull two years ago Ferranti decided to drive to Lochbuie in his powerful sleek boat, much to our alarm and misgivings. Half way there we all saw the Tobermory lifeboat steaming past in a serious way going towards Lochbuie. 'We told you so', we sang out simultaneously. But it wasn't going anywhere near Ferranti who arrived and appeared amazed at our alarm.

Come and see the match when you are passing by Breacachadh Castle. It may not resemble quite what you thought a proper cricket match was, but it is certainly hugely entertaining, quite delightfully extraordinary and there's tea at the end as well. And by the way, it doesn't really matter who wins, that's not the point

L.M.B