IT WASN'T the year that they'd hoped for but Dunfermline and Carnegie Cricket Club are optimistic that they're batting for a bright future.

The McKane Park club, whose first team were crowned East Division Four champions last year, were denied the opportunity to bowl a ball in competitive due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

With guidance from Cricket Scotland, sportscotland and the Scottish Government, the sport was given the go-ahead to resume at a local level in August but league and cup competitions remained off the calendar.

Dunfermline and Carnegie managed to play matches against local rivals Broomhall, and Falkland, and ensure that the vast majority of their members were able to take to the field before the close of play for the year.

In addition, their junior section, led by head coach Steve Rowley, has been thriving, with 25 under-12s, and 19 under-14s, turning out throughout the summer.

The under-12s also managed to play four games and Dunfermline and Carnegie club president Martin Honeyford is hopeful that 2021 will see even more players taking up the sport.

"We had a couple of inter-club matches and we got some of the juniors involved, and they more or less stepped up to the mark," he explained.

"We've got Steve Rowley as a head coach there and I've lost count of how many he's got in now.

"We just let Steve run with it; he's got so many ideas. There's three or four of them that could play in the twos next year if we're allowed to play cricket again.

"He played Largo, Dunnikier, Glenrothes and Falkland, all their junior sections, so they're doing quite well too. It's been unbelievable what he's managed to do in such a short space of time and with all the restrictions.

"We'll back Steve to the hilt in what he's trying to achieve because we know, in the long-term, all the juniors will come through."

Martin, who said he hopes that the club will return for pre-season at the beginning of February, continued: "By and large, everybody stayed with the club and everybody got a game whenever they wanted to.

"We played Broomhall a couple of times and played Falkland in a 35-over match, which was really good. We'd a first XI out and they had their first XI out, or as close to it as possible, and we only lost in the end by two runs.

"We played Broomhall, Falkland twos, Falkland first XI, and hoped to play Linlithgow but restrictions and legalities were getting too much.

"We got those games and we played Dunnikier in the last game in a 25-over match. Everybody got a game of some sort and we just made sure everyone got a bat and a bowl. That was the main thing."