2011 Review
Monday 09 January 2012
With 2011 having turned to 2012, now is a good time to look back at what was a fantastic year for CUCC.
Blues
Richard Timms took over as Blues captain for 2011 and with a talented Fresher intake, as well as experienced and high quality cricketers among the returning Blues, there was belief in the squad that it could be a good season.
The Varsity T20 and Varsity Garden Party took place on Friday 17th June and it proved a very successful day for the club, both on and off the fied.
May week began with a bang as Cambridge beat the weather and Oxford by three wickets in the Varsity T20 match at Fenners. Despite damp and grey conditions a couple of thousand students turned out in support of the light Blues and were rewarded with a fantastic team performance in the field. Captain Timms won the toss and invited Oxford to bat. They were never allowed to settle due to a disciplined and aggressive showing from the Cambridge bowlers. Paul Best was able to exert real pressure on the Oxford batsmen with a fantastic spell of 4-12 in his 4 overs. Paddy Sadler bowled well at the death to take two cheap wickets and Cambridge were faced with 108 to win. Things started steadily for Cambridge and Gus Kennedy batted fluently for his 35. However, losing Kennedy, Best and Frankie Brown for 16 in quick succession brought Oxford back in to the game. Anand Ashok was a calming influence for his 19 but it was left to Phil Ashton and Dan Goodwin to show the Cambridge strength in depth and bring the team home.
Cambridge 112-7 (Kennedy 35, Ashok 19, Brown 16, Goodwin 13*) beat Oxford 107 all-out (Best 4-12, Sadler 2-8) by 3 wickets.
The One-Day Varsity took place nine days later and a clinical performance from the Light Blues secured a comfortable victory over Oxford on a beautiful day at Lords. Cambridge won the toss and elected to bat. Despite the loss of Richard Timms with the score on 26, Phil Hughes and Zafar Ansari moved the score on to 66 before the loss of our second opener. Ansari and Anand Ashok put on 88 for the 3rd wicket, Ansari playing smoothly while Ashok went about his innings in his normal flamboyant way. When Ashok departed Cambridge were well placed on 154-3 in the 38th over but in need of an injection of momentum in order to get a really good score. Paul Best came to the wicket and played magnificently for a 30 ball 61, taking full advantage of the power-play and providing the impetus required. Although the innings fell away somewhat after his departure, Cambridge went to lunch knowing that defending 265 to win, they were very in a strong position.
Thomas Probert removed the Oxford opener with the second ball of the reply and as a result of tight bowling by Probert, as well as fellow seamers Paddy Sadler and Matt Hickey, who picked up two wickets, their innings was never really able to take off. By the time the spinners were introduced in to the attack the asking rate had climbed high above what Oxford could realistically achieve and Zafar Ansari bowling his ten overs for only 19, as well as Best and Frankie Brown chipping in with wickets at regular intervals, meant Cambridge were able to bowl their opponents out for 212 and enjoy a relatively comfortable victory.
Cambridge 264 all-out (Ansari 73, Best 61, Ashok 47, Hughes 26) beat Oxford 212 all-out (Brown 3-55, Hickey 2-26, Probert 2-31, Best 2-53) by 52 runs
After a high-scoring draw against the MCC, the side were in confident mood ahead of the Four-Day Varsity at the beginning of July.
Cambridge added victory in the 4-day Varsity to the one-day and T20 crowns and, in doing so, became the first side to win all three Varsity matches in the same year. The Light Blues found themselves in a bit of first innings trouble at 133-6 midway through the opening afternoon, after Best and Ashok had batted well before lunch. Late order runs from first Ashton with Hickey, and then Hickey with Sadler provided a boost to the total, with Cambridge posting 280 when bowled out half an hour in to day two.
When Oxford batted, the Cambridge bowlers exerted pressure from the off, as they had done in the two previous matches, and Oxford immediately found it difficult. Cambridge worked hard in the field with the three seamers rotating from one end and Paul Best settling in for a long bowl at the other. Wickets fell at regular intervals before Thomas Probert, having got the initial breakthrough at the start of the innings, returned to quickly wrap up the tail. Leading by 142, Cambridge were fully in command.
It is to Oxford’s credit that so far behind in the match, having struggled to keep pace with Cambridge over the course of the summer, they came out fighting in the final session on day two. Quick wickets fell and Cambridge were in real trouble by the close, Brown dismissed with the last ball of the day to leave Cambridge 58-5. Cambridge were able to regroup overnight and take stock of the fact they were still in a very dominant position in the game. Gus Kennedy and Tom Deasy, the one newcomer to the team from Lords, batted superbly in the face of a pumped up Oxford attack and put on 76 for the sixth wicket. The momentum was back with the light blues and another good contribution from Hickey meant Cambridge were bowled out for 193, setting Oxford an unlikely 336 to win.
After a fantastic afternoon of real hard-work on the 3rd day Cambridge reduced Oxford to 156-8, and despite failing to take the final two wickets in the extra half an hour taken in an attempt to force a finish, were on the brink of victory overnight. Oxford captain Rajiv Sharma had provided the only real resistance on the third afternoon and found an unlikely partner in number ten Sam Westaway on the final day. Sharma reached his 100 and Westaway passed 50 as Oxford began to believe they had an outside chance of victory. Cambridge, however, were not to be denied and continued to press hard for, Best finally found the edge of Sharma’s bat shortly after lunch and Kennedy, with his fifth dismissal of the innings behind the stumps, gratefully clung on. Despite a spirited last wicket stand of 35, Frankie Brown, perhaps aptly in his final match at Fenners’ after graduation, bowled the Oxford number 11 and the celebrations began.
The following players were awarded Blues in 2011: Richard Timms (Gonville and Caius, Captain), Zafar Ansari (Trinity Hall), Anand Ashok, Phil Ashton (both Queens'), Paul Best (Homerton), Frankie Brown (Jesus), Tom Deasy (Peterhouse), Matt Hickey (Trinity Hall), Phil Hughes (Downing), Gus Kennedy (Corpus Christi), Thomas Probert (Peterhouse), Patrick Sadler (Churchill)
In addition to the historic Varsity success, the Blues won promotion from their division in the BUCs competition. This was an important step forward after the past few years had seen us drop lower than we should. The highlight of the campaign was undoubtedly the unbroken stand of 270 between Richard Timms (143*) and Gus Kennedy (93*) which saw us chase 297 for the loss of only one wicket against Oxford Brookes.
The annual trip to Arundel was a great success; Cambridge beat a strong Duke of Norfolk XI by 105 runs. Zafar Ansari top scored, on his Blues debut, with 86 and Zafar, along with Frankie Brown and Thomas Probert, took three wickets to bowl out the opposition in reply.
Cambridge MCCU
Cambridge MCCU had a year of unprecedented success. After a good draw with Essex and a decent performance in defeat to Middlesex, a Surrey side led by Kevin Pietersen was defeated, by ten wickets no less, at Fenners in May. It was a rare victory for a University side over a first class county and was enjoyed by good crowds over the three days. Cambridge students Zafar Ansari with 5-53, including KP caught at slip, as well as 43 and Paul Best with a fantastic 150 as well as two wickets in each innings, starred for the MCCU in the victory. Craig Park scored 80 before Rob Woolley and Josh Poysden both took three wickets to dismiss Surrey on the final day. Phil Hughes and Paddy Sadler also represented the Blues in the match.
The MCCU won the Premier League of the one-day BUCs competition, beating Cardiff by 99 runs in the final at Wormsley. Captain Rob Woolley, Pete Turnbull and Ben Ackland from ARU, as well as Best and Ansari were the stand out performers over the course of the year for the MCCU. A third-place finish in the 2-day competition as well as losing the T20 final meant the team were not far away from adding to their success.
Various MCCU players also starred on the field away from Cambridge. Rob Woolley (as captain), Pete Turnbull and Craig Park all toured Abu Dhabi with the MCC Combined Universities side before the season; Ben Ackland and Dean Bell also represented this team in the summer.
Craig Park played for the unicorns in the CB40, a competition which also featured Paul Best and, most significantly, Zafar Ansari as part of the victorious Surrey team. Zafar featured for Surrey in all three formats of the game and also represented England development against Sri Lanka A. Best played first team cricket for both Warwickshire, his contracted county, and Northamptonshire, while on loan. Best and Ansari ended the year with a trip to South Africa as part of the England performance programme.
Paddy Sadler will captain Scotland to the u19 World Cup in 2012, having led them to qualification in a ten-team competition in Ireland in July.
The Crusaders
The Crusaders had a difficult season results wise, only winning one match. Several members of the Crusaders squad, however, were called upon to play for the Blues in BUCs and other fixtures over the course of the summer and performed well, showing the strength in depth that Cambridge cricket has. After losing the one-day and T20 ‘Varsity’ matches against the Authentics, the Crusaders had much the better of a draw in the 3-day game, defensive tactics and a lack of declaration from Oxford on the final day ruining the chances of a result.
Under the leadership of Tom Maguire the Crusaders will hope for an improved 2012, the presence of players who have represented the Blues in their ranks, as well as players who have been selected following strong performances in Cuppers' should help this be the case.
Looking ahead to 2012
With 12 returning Blues in the squad, as well as a talented pool of Freshers and new graduate students, competition for places will be at an all-time high in 2012. Richard Timms will once again lead the Blues, as Rob Woolley will continue to lead the MCCU. Cambridge will be looking to build on success in all formats of the game, although with the Varsity T20 and four-day matches away from home this year to repeat last year’s success will be hard. The training squad has been together since late November and hopes are high for another fantastic season.
CUCC.net will be kept up to date with results and other news over the course of the year, and we look forward to seeing you at Fenners' over the course of 2012.
