Freuchie CC, 5 ^th June

University of St Andrews Staff 101-8 (38.5 overs) beat Freuchie XI 100-6 (40 overs) by two wickets
(Reiss 27, Frankland 19) (Stewart 2-17)

On the back of two wins from two in the league a confident St Andrews staff XI entertained a Freuchie XI on Sunday hoping to extend the impressive run of victories. Skipper Dominic won the toss and elected to field tossing the ball to Angus and Jon to open proceedings. The initial exchanges were tight and both bowlers began to exert an iron grip over both of the Freuchie openers. Angus, taking advantage of the swinging ball, struck first courtesy of a breathtaking display of athletic prowess from Dom in the gully diving away to his left to take a stunning one handed catch. In slightly less agile but no less effective fashion Stan got in on the act an over or so later taking a catch in the slips as the Freuchie number three flashed away outside off stump at another swinging delivery from Angus.

The middle overs continued in similar fashion with the scoring rate kept in check by Angus who continued through his full allotment of nine overs and Ben who used a lethal slower ball to flirt with the outside edge on a number of occasions. With the skipper skilfully utilising the wealth of bowling at his disposal the remaining overs were shared around Dave, Stan, Uday and Patrick who all picked up a wicket apiece courtesy of a mixture of accurate bowling and some slightly injudicious shot-making from the Freuchie middle order. Such was the control exerted by the bowling unit that even Tom's bewitching array of leg-breaks and googlies was deemed surplus to requirements, a fitting testament to the quality of the St Andrews bowling and fielding display. One aspect that only very slightly tarnished the performance in the field was the wides tally which we should be looking to reduce significantly in the coming matches.

As the players retired to the pavilion to feast on another magnificent tea (special mention to Paul for another splendid baking masterpiece) one could definitely detect a faint whiff of complacency (or was it coronation chicken) amongst the St Andrews ranks as we began to contemplate the task of chasing 101 to win. The reply started in typically gritty but effective fashion with Dave and Dom nurdling the occasional single before Dave, clearly concerned that his strike rate might dip below one, perished first chipping a drive to the cover fielder. Stan took to the crease wielding the repaired 'Praestantia' in confident fashion to increase the scoring rate before Dom fell, stumped off the young leg break bowler. Tom strode to the crease and promptly strode off again ushering the effectively one legged Uday to join the fray though he was quickly back in the hutch followed swiftly by Stan.

From 34-1 to 50-5 the headline of the match was rapidly shifting from "St Andrews storm to victory in dominant performance" to a classic mid 1990s England cricket team "defeat from the jaws of victory" story. However, with Ben and Paul resolute in defence we began to breathe easier again as the sixth wicket partnership took us 21 from victory. Scott Birrel had other ideas however and sneaked one through the wall that was Paul’s forward defence to ensure a buttock clenching finale which was intensified with the wicket of Phil shortly after. Ben stayed calm and collected however as he and Patrick ushered the score to 95. Again however, Scott Birrel by now a picture of determination had other ideas bowling Ben with an accurate dart of a delivery leaving St Andrews with six to win, two wickets remaining and a rather uncomfortable sinking feeling. This proved unfounded however as Angus and Patrick delivered a performance of resolute technique and cool-headedness to see us home in dramatic fashion; Pat 'the howling banshee' Jess terrifying the opposition into conceding three runs from the edge of Angus' bat to ensure victory. In summary, a good if slightly rollercoaster win to extend our run in the league but one which was far closer than it ever really should have been.

- Tom Clemens