Hearts set for cricket clash 71 years in the making

Hearts will swap the football field for the cricket field next week for a match 71 years in the making.

Carlton CC face Hearts at Grange Loan, Edinburgh. Pic: Malcolm McCurrach

A Hearts team, including legends John Robertson, Henry Smith and Jimmy Sandison, as well as chief operating officer Scot Gardiner, will face Carlton Cricket Club at Grange Loan in an evening T20 match on Friday 19 May.

The teams faced each other back in 1936, attracting the biggest crowd of the season at the ground. That match was organised through hearts’ goalkeeper Thomas Crosskey who also played professionally for Carlton. That special match featured Crosskey’s Hearts team-mates Andy Anderson, Andy Black and Tommy Walker.

Walker scored a respectable 32 as the football side held the cricket side to a draw.

Captaining Carlton in 1936 was N.L. Stevenson who wrote in his book ‘Play’:

“A very interesting and enjoyable game, which attracted the biggest attendance of the season to Grange Loan, was played against a team drawn from past and present members of the Heart of Midlothian football club.

“To the delight of the crowd the footballers put up a very good show - a much better show, I feel safe in stating, than we should have put up, had we been invited to Tynecastle Park to meet the Hearts at their own game.”

This evening Carlton will be skippered by club captain Fraser Watts, while Sky Sports Scotland football reporter Charles Paterson will be making a comeback at Grange Loan.

The match starts at 6pm, the Carlton bar will be open and admission is free.