St Andrews University Staff Cricket Club

Match Reports 2006

A warm July evening saw a SAUSCC XI travel across the foggy river Tay to compete against Dundee University SCC for the Ferrier Cup. The toss was won by Dundee, who elected to bat first. A combination of erratic bowling and some sloppy ground fielding by St. Andrews enabled Dundee to get off to a flying start, with opener P. Yearworthy taking full advantage with some crashing shots through the off-side. The other opener, N. Shah, never looked as comfortable at the crease as his partner and was the first wicket to fall, dismissed for just 5 out of an opening partnership of 42, when he was caught by Ben Agate off the bowling of John Gilmore, who was the pick of the bowlers early on. Yearworthy continued to score heavily, ably assisted by the left-handed C. 'W.G.' Reid, who rotated the strike well and disrupted the line of the St. Andrews bowlers. The breakthrough finally came with the introduction of Patrick Jess to the attack, who trapped Yearworthy LBW for 54 in his first over. The introduction of spin at both ends in the form of Alex Smith and skipper Stan Frankland to take the pace off the ball forced the batsmen to take risks, J. Pravin hitting some big shots straight down the ground before missing a ball from Smith which bowled him. Smith struck again with his very next ball, bowling a bemused-looking S. Rodgers around his legs with one that pitched just outside leg and spun back to clip the stumps. The St. Andrews fielding was by now much improved and Frankland made an immediate impact, dismissing Reid for a well-made 19, courtesy of a superb running catch, deep in the off-side from Jess. Frankland continued in the same vein in his next two overs, first removing S. Boarder for 2 to an excellent diving catch from Mark Harris at point, and then bowling A. Bell, also for just 2 runs, to finish with the excellent figures of 3-6 from 3 overs. Another inspired bowling change from the captain saw Ben Agate return to the attack to bowl the 23rd over. Agate was immediately successful, removing T. Allen, who had struck some lusty blows into the leg-side, for 19 - thanks to a second sensational running catch in the deep from Jess. A. Nair then managed to get straight under an Agate delivery, with the bowler himself taking a good catch. A third wicket in the over followed when W. Anderson played a ball straight to Ed Cackett at backward square-leg, who took a good catch. Dundee finished on 163 all out, after a spirited fight-back from the St. Andrews bowlers and fielders, who didn't drop a single catch - surely a first!

163 was always going to be a difficult total to chase down in just 25 overs, but the St. Andrews openers Cam Hall and Roy Dilley provided a solid platform in the first few overs. The accurate, disciplined Dundee bowlers, however, proved difficult to get away with numerous shots being played straight to fielders, who rarely made mistakes. Hall's was the first wicket to go as he tried to force the pace, bowled by Rodgers for 23. Dilley was the next man out, superbly run out from a direct hit for a well-made 24. Stan Frankland looked to accelerate the scoring rate from the moment he went in, but clipped Boarder to Reid who took the catch. Mark Harris was the pick of the St. Andrews batsmen, putting on valuable stands in good time with first Tom Greene and then John Gilmore; particularly memorable were Harris' hook shots, one for 4 runs and one for 6, both off no-balls from Allen. Allen dismissed both Greene and Gilmore, however, first bowling Greene for 7 and then trapping Gilmore LBW for a quick-fire 13. Harris followed shortly afterwards, bowled by Miller for an excellent 37, which was chiefly responsible for getting St. Andrews somewhere near the stiff total they were set. Alex Finlay, who has improved markedly as a batsman during the course of the season, was then joined by Ben Agate and they batted well together, Finlay smashing a drive through mid-off that served to demonstrate how well he can hit the ball. The innings closed on 141 for 6, 22 runs short of the required total, meaning that Dundee retain the Ferrier Cup.

In the end, St. Andrews were left to rue the wayward bowling at the start of the Dundee innings, which was in stark contrast to Dundee's consistent opening bowling, which restricted the St. Andrews openers to around 3 runs per over. The fact that St. Andrews conceded 41 extras to Dundee's 18 tells its own story. That said, the game was closely fought in good spirit by two well-matched teams, and was enjoyed by all.