Arbroath United XI, 10th June 2012

University of St Andrews Staff (159-7, 45 overs) lost to Arbroath United XI (161-4, 37.3 overs) by 6 wickets
(T. Clemens 30)(B. Reiss 1-21)

Our first League defeat of the year despite having our strongest team for a long time. Invited to bat in dank and dark conditions, Dave and Trideep struggled to make much headway against a disciplined Arbroath attack who used a surprisingly bouncy pitch to good effect. Dave attempted to break the shackles and after a couple of successful shots was caught in the 16th over with the score on 24. Tom also struggled to find his timing against the tight change bowling and when Trideep fell to the first ball after drinks (having changed his bat) we were 52-2 and looking a long way from a competitive total of 180 to 200. Uday was unlucky to be bowled before having a chance to settle against the impressive Cameron (who was to finish with 7-1-25-2) and troubled most of our middle order. Stan looked in fine form, increasing the run rate with some impressive timing and finding gaps in the field which had proved elusive to his teammates. He was caught for a well constructed 27 , attempting to press the accelerator as we were still to break 100 in the 35th over. Ben added some further energy, forcing Tom to scramble between the wickets for some rapid runs and when marathon man Clemens was joined by skipper Dom, the Arbroath death bowlers began to look ragged faced with aggressive running and calling. A couple of dropped catches helped Dom to an unbeaten 28, Tom having finally been run out for a top scoring 30. Phil added a prize-winning boundary from his first ball but Arbroath were content to close the innings with us having lost 7 wickets in constructing an at times painful 159.

The usual magnificent Arbroath tea was consumed with enthusiasm before heading out to defend our total in cool conditions. Modest swing was produced but lines and lengths were inconsistent and the Arbroath batsmen were able to score at a steady rate, punching occasional boundaries and one huge 6 which nearly caused a major traffic accident on the adjacent road! G. Swan (not that one) was superbly caught at slip by Dom off Dave but Gove was in brutal form, particularly off his legs, although Rafnas and (eventually) Alyn troubled him at times. Alyn took his first League wicket North of the border by bowling Plomer and Ben recovered from a chastening start to his spell by cleaning up Gove whose 54 was the cornerstone of Arbroath's progress to 100. A glimmer of hope followed as tight bowling was backed up by excellent out fielding and Rafnas pulled off a splendid direct hit run out to leave Arbroath on 104-4. Riddler and Robb dug in, however, and then produced a flurry of runs from the 30th over to settle the contest, although we made them wait until the 38th over before our total was passed.

A solid effort by the bowlers but ultimately we were second best to a team most of whom feature regularly in higher Divisions and made use of local knowledge with ball and bat.

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