By Craig Black

Clackmannan made the expedition through to the capital on Saturday to take on the in-form Edinburgh University Staff at Peffermill, on an unusually bright Scottish afternoon. A combination of oversleeping by unnamed player(s), congested motorways and a confused Satnav meant the team arrived 5 minutes before tee off. After a quick pitch inspection, 2009 skipper Craig Black won the toss and put the home side into bat on a very sticky wicket, courtesy of the previous days deluge.

The new ball was passed to Rizwan Ashraf and Matthew Booth and the first breakthrough was quick in coming, Ashraf trapping Stratford LBW in the 5th over with the score on 4. The slow wicket was making runs very hard to come by and combined with the precise bowling of the opening pair meant the scoreboard was sitting stagnant. Young Jamie McCann replaced Ashraf and continued from where Ashraf left off, bowling a superb line and length and using his height to extract some vicious bounce. Booth, who has been beginning to find a bit of his magic, was bowling beautifully and his persistent line and length paid off in his 7th over when Haroon attempted to clear the covers but only succeeded in drilling it straight to the bucket hands of a strategically placed James Couper at deep extra, to leave the Staff on 32 for 2. The mainstays of the Uni Staff batting front, Malkin and Kiely, were now at the crease and both continued to frustrate the bowlers with cheeky singles and solid defensive shots. Booth continued impressively and finished his allotted overs, going for only 20, whilst Black replaced Jamie and the wizard of deception – Tippu Sultan – was brought on at the other end. However tragedy struck when Sultan, whilst practising his run up, slipped and damaged his knee, which forced him to be stretchered off without having bowled a ball. This was a massive blow to Clackmannan who were already without 2 of their more dependable bowlers. The ball was tossed to Graeme Anderson but he seemed to struggle with the treacherous footing so was taken off and replaced by Graham Oliver who, fresh from his recent Holland tour and obviously the better from it, began to bewilder the batsmen with some ferocious leg breaks and was rewarded when he claimed the prize scalp of Kiely, effortlessly caught by a full stretch Couper at point to leave the Staff on 77 for 3 after 32. Black was having little luck at the other end and so McCann was brought back to finish his remaining 5 overs. The strategy of the Staff was clear to see – set a platform with wickets remaining and then launch from it. McCann was unperturbed by this increased aggression and was duly rewarded in the 37th over when he had the remaining opener, Malkin, caught safely by Anderson at mid on for a defiant 41. With 10 overs left and the score on 114 for 4 Black and Ashraf were brought back on. Ashraf struck in his 2nd over back, having Vijayakumar brilliantly caught by Anderson who covered close to 30 metres to take a great catch from cow corner. The ‘Ashraf Show’ continued in his next over when he bowled Dasgupta for 30 and the man of the moment struck again in his following over when the hard hitting Srikanth had his middle stump rearranged for a quick fire 19 to leave the Staff on 160 for 7 after 47. Luckily he hadn’t finished yet and his last over brought another 2 wickets with McCann and Black both taking well judged catches. The last over was left to Black and he mopped up the tail to close the Staff’s account on 170 when he bowled Murray for 0. Without a shadow of a doubt the pick of the bowlers went to Ashraf who claimed his second 6fer of the season to finish with figures of 6-39.

The Cougars opened their chase after teas with Oliver Jnr and Graeme Anderson. A similar start to the opposition’s innings saw Clackmannan reduced to 12 for 1 when Oliver (6) was bowled by one that kept low. Black joined Anderson at the crease and the pair began to forge a vital partnership, taking the score to 68 off 21 overs, before Black waltzed up the pitch only to bowled by Kiely for 27. He was followed to the ‘changing rooms’ shortly after when Ash Rasul spooned a catch to short cover without troubling the scorers. Being on the back foot all of a sudden with the loss of quick, cheap wickets meant that the Clackmannan innings went into consolidation mode and the next 8 overs only brought 10 runs as the County crept to 95 off 33 overs. The disciplined bowling attack of the Staff was giving nothing away and their consistency paid off when the backbone of the Cougars innings, Anderson, was caught at cover for a gritty and hard fought 40 off the bowling of the promising youngster Afridi. With 16 overs and 70 required a change in tempo was required if the escaping run rate was to be retained. Oliver Snr duly obliged and began dispatching the bowling to all parts of the ground until he was disastrously run out by a direct hit for a valuable 21. With the required run rate hovering around the 5.5 mark on a track that was 3.0 at the best of times, something special was needed. Risking the remainder of the season, Sultan donned the pads and stepped out with a runner and despite his obvious discomfort, began bludgeoning the Staff attack before he was bowled for 13 off 8 deliveries. This short but decisive innings could easily prove to be one of the most vital knocks of the season as it swung the game back in Clacks’ favour. In the meantime James Couper at the other end had got his eye in and was timing the ball with breathtaking ease, and despite the loss of Hooper (who was bowled by an absolute peach I’m told) maintained his domination of the bowling and miraculously managed to reduce the run rate to less than 3 an over. With the help of Ashraf at number 8 who finished unbeaten on a valuable 5, Couper destroyed the Uni Staff with a glorious unbeaten 29 and finished the game off with a quick single in the 49th over and gift a close fought 3-wicket victory to Clackmannan.

Once again the Cougars emerge victorious in a close fought encounter when in previous seasons things may have swung the other way. From a Captain’s perspective it’s fantastic to see everyone desperate to influence the match and get their name in the scorebook but unfortunately there can only be one man of the match, and despite Couper’s brilliance in the field and his resilience with the bat, this week’s MOM deservedly goes to Rizwan Ashraf for his second 6 wicket haul of the season.

The Dick of the Day award was a simple choice this week with Tippu Sultan becoming the first bowler in the history of the game to injure himself during a practise run.