A fundraising cricket match in memory of a pair of tragic climbing brothers was a major hit with locals.
The match, played yesterday afternoon at Nairn Cricket Club, was to honour the memory of Neil and Alan Gibson who tragically died in the Achnashellach area of Strathcarron in February last year.
The match between Nairn Cricket Club and the Forty Club Scotland side was organised by Dave Wolton for his former teammate Neil and attracted scores of people throughout the day.
The climbers went walking in the Achnashellach area in February 2018 with Neil’s pointer dog Archie but were reported missing after failing to return from their walk.
A major search operation was launched to locate the brothers, who originally hailed from Nairn, before the body of 56-year-old Alan was found three days later.
Neil’s body was not discovered until six weeks later, with members of the Torridon Mountain Rescue Team who searched for the missing men present yesterday at Nairn Cricket Club.
Colin Neill, vice president of the Forty Club and chairman of the Scotland District, said: “Very few of us have played in Nairn before and this is the furthest north the Forty Club has ever played.
“We have had guys travel from all over, with around six or seven coming from the Glasgow area and guys coming from all over today.
“Everyone was extremely excited to play at Nairn and we are delighted to be doing this for such a great cause.
“We are really about playing cricket in the right spirit, our vision is to inspire cricketers to enjoy a lifelong love of cricket, so we will take a fixture anywhere really, but once we knew the reason of this one, it was pretty easy to get a side together.
“As a youngster, I used to holiday in the Loch Maree area near Torridon and have great respect for the mountain rescue teams. It’s incredible what these guys put themselves through for other people.
“The Forty Club collects a match fee after each game to help contribute to the expense of running the club and the match fee for this game went to the Torridon Mountain Rescue Team.”
A charity auction and raffle also took place with an array of memorabilia and ventures on offer, including signed shirts of the Scotland and England cricket teams.
