CRICKET

Summary

Another summer of University Cricket completed and it’s fair to say that UBCC is continuing to go from strength to strength. With now over 130 club members (up nearly 30% from last year) including 5 Men’s teams and 2 Women’s teams, there seems to be an air of excitement brewing already in anticipation for next year…

Performance Cricket

After a good winter program and so much excitement heading into our outdoor season, it was inevitable that the UK then faced its wettest March since 1981, with April not being much better

With many players frustrated at the lack of cricket, we looked to be as adaptable as possible, making the most of the facilities on offer; interclub games on the 4G, fielding practises on the astros, and, for a short-time (thank you Fred & Tanmay), some work on the indoor tennis courts.

But BUCS came around quickly, and thanks to the magic of the Dingle grounds team, we started our BUCS campaign.

Some season highlights: A nail-biting win for our Women’s 1st XI away at Cardiff Met. Fresher Olivia Carr struck a match-winning 73 on debut, which the ladies like to remind everybody was more than whole of the Men’s 1st XI combined that day

As the Cardiff Met number 10 & 11 edged closer and closer to the target of 141, I thought we’d lost our women’s coach as I received a phone call stating ‘I can’t do this anymore, I’m going to have a heart attack, I need to hangup’. Thankfully we still have Wilf with us as Nadia ‘Nudge’ Blackshaw took the winning wicket, as Cardiff Met fell 6 runs short

Although our Ladies finished joint on points with Birmingham and Cardiff Met, a low NRR (Net Run Rate) meant they finished bottom of the Premier League Thankfully they won that match and will continue in the highest-tier next year.

Pranav Majithia ‘mankading’ the Aberystwyth number 11 as our mighty 4th XI made it 4 wins from 5 and ended up second in the league Reluctantly, Jacob Inch called the batter back and we won the game in a more gentlemanly fashion How boring!

Finally, our Men’s 1st XI stole the headlines, winning their first league game since their National Premier League win against Oxford UCCE in May 2019. At 20-4, the lower order showed grit and determination to post a respectable 169 on a soft wicket Rowan Bascetta-Pollit showed a class bit of character to get the first BUCS 50 of the year.

Max Toohey captained the second half beautifully, as the bowlers executed their game-plans and the rate started to increase for Cardiff. Needing 6s at the halfway point with wickets in hand, enter the stage club legend Ben Griggs, who ended up with figures of 5/18 as the Men’s 1st XI could finally sing their winning song.

This win seemed to be the catalyst needed for Bristol Cricket as the 1st XI went on to win the rest of their matches, including a famous nailbiting win against Oxford Blues at The Parks (Max Toohey top scoring with 75)

We finished 3rd in the Southern Premier League and just missed out on National PlayOffs on NRR

2023 Representative Honours (so far…):

Alex Quin, Suffolk C.C.C. 1st XI, 2nd Year Microbiology

Joel Brierley, Cornwall C.C.C. 2nd XI, MSc Mechanical Engineering

Melissa Story, Gloucestershire C C C 1st XI, Final Year U-Law

Sally Phelps, Cambridgeshire C.C.C., 1st Year Anthropology

Melissa Story takes 2-13 against Shropshire 1st XI in the ECB Women's County Championship T20 Final