MCCU Weekly Review 11

21 June 2010

As MCCU cricket approaches the end of its 2010 season, this week just past has produced some interesting and exciting cricket.

Monday saw the BUCS semi-finals being contested. At Weetwood Leeds/Bradford MCCU took on Loughborough MCCU. Leeds captain Richard Browning won the toss and elected to field, this was a decision he would have been pleased with at the interval as Loughborough were dismissed for 164. Opening bowler Adam Wilson took three wickets for 17 runs, whilst Rick Moore also took three wickets for 17 runs with his right arm seamers.

The batting reply did not start well for Leeds as Alasdair Evans reduced the home side to 34 for three, whilst left arm seamer Robert Taylor took four wickets for 19 runs from 9 overs and four balls. Only Rick Moore offered any resistance with the bat as he made 61 from 99 deliveries. Leeds head coach Andrew Lawson will be rueing the fact that during this innings his team posted eight scores in single figures.

Meanwhile in South Wales at Usk cricket club in a repeat of last year's final Oxford made 213 against Cardiff MCCU. Ed Young top scored for the dark blues with 60. Left arm seam bowler Alex Jones was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets for 49 runs from his ten overs. In reply Cardiff got off to a solid start with Burns and Bishop taking them past 50. Daniel Bendon backed up the good work by the opening batsman in making 58. Eventually Cardiff surpassed the Oxford total with one ball to spare for the loss of four wickets.

Daniel Bendon - 58 vs. Oxford in BUCS

The final will be played at Fenner's on Monday 28th June, the game starts at 11.00am.

Also this week the two-day MCCU championship reached its climax. Durham went into the games with a 14.5 point lead over Loughborough. Leeds however would provide stiff opposition for Durham, especially given the fact that Leeds were only two points behind Loughborough. A positive result for Leeds would surely leave them in the frame for the Lord's final. It was Durham who came out on top as they amassed 311 with Luke Durrandt scoring 82. In reply Leeds were dismissed for 168 in 73 overs. The Leeds team would have surely been thinking that the five bonus points that they received for this game would not have been anywhere near enough to secure them the second place position (and Lord's final) this coming Friday, as they were now only three points in front of Loughborough.

Ed Young - Runs and wickets for Oxford in the MCCU Championship game against Loughborough

In fact things got quite tight as Loughborough took on Oxford at home. In a match that was affected by rain, Oxford ran out as 1st innings winners by 44 runs. Ed Young top scored for Oxford with 76, whilst right-arm seam bowler Peter Groves took 4 wickets for 50 runs from 14 overs. In reply Loughborough were dismissed for 146. Ed Young continued his good from by picking up three wickets for 23 runs with his left arm orthodox spin. The result of this game gave Oxford 15 points whilst Loughborough got four bowling points. Unfortunately however for Loughborough they were deducted 1 point for a slow over rate. This left them on 53.5 points, which is the same points achieved by Leeds.

A quick look at the MCCU Championship playing regulations will have made Loughborough head coach Graham Dilley a happy man. When teams are tied on points their league position is determined by the result of the game those two teams played. Fortunately for Loughborough they beat Leeds back at the start of May in a game where Leeds reduced Loughborough to 47 for seven in the second innings!

Meanwhile at Fenner's Cambridge took on Cardiff in a match which would surely relegate the losers to the MCCU wooden spoon. On the traditionally batsman friendly wicket in Cambridge, the home captain, Nick Lee, won the toss and decided to have a bat. Unfortunately the home side lost wickets steadily throughout the day. Only a partnership of 102 between Craig Park (39) and Eddie Ballard (62) offered any resistance. Cambridge were eventually dismissed for 292 with Worcestershire contracted Mike Reed taking five for 36 with his right arm fast-medium deliveries.
In reply wicket-keeper batsman Rory Burns continued his excellent form and struck 50 for the men from South Wales. Also in the runs was Daniel Bendon who hit 90 to secure the first innings points for Cardiff. This result moved Cardiff off the bottom of the MCCU Championship and into fifth place. Cambridge replaced them.

This now means that the final MCCU Table looks as below, with Durham taking on Loughborough in the MCCU Challenge final at Lord’s this Friday, 25th June.

Updated 21/06/2010

Team	P	OWL	WFI	OLD	LFI	T	D	A	BP	Points
Durham	5	-	4	-	-	-	1	-	38	83
Loughborough	5	-	3	-	2	-	-2.5	-	26	53.5
Leeds	5	-	2	-	3	-	-0.5	-	34	53.5
Oxford	4	-	1	-	1	-	3	-	27	52
Cardiff	5	-	1	-	3	-	1	-	32	47
Cambridge	5	-	1	-	3	-	1	-	32	47

If two or more teams have the same number of points, their positions in the Group table shall be based on the result of the matches between them, the one gaining most points in these matches being placed higher.

Key: P = Played; OWL = Outright win; WFI = Win on 1st Inns; OLD = Outright loss; LFI = Lose on 1st Inns; T = Tied; D = Drawn; A = Abandoned; P = Points; BP = Bonus Points; Dd = Deductions; T = Total

The cricketers from Durham and Loughborough will have to put this event to the back of their minds for the time being as all six MCCUs will be competing in the third annual MCC Universities Twenty20 tournament.

The tournament takes place at Loughborough on the 22nd and 23rd June. The MCCUs will be joined by teams from Exeter and Bristol Universities. Whilst the Durham County second eleven makes up the ninth team in this competition.

MCC Staff.