The University of Sheffield’s Men’s Cricket first team just missed out on their quest to become national indoor champions on Wednesday as they lost to Newcastle and Exeter at Lord’s.
Having watched Newcastle and Exeter tie the first game of the day, Sheffield knew that nothing other than a win against Newcastle would keep their hopes alive. Skipper Chris Murrall lost the toss and Sheffield were invited to bat in the indoor school at the home of cricket. With over 50 supporters having made the long trip down the M1, Sheffield were confident of putting on a winning display.
Prolific opening pair Mark Williams and Chris Hooper were not together for long, however, as Hooper edged behind before the score had reached double figures. Chris Murrall came to the crease and was rebuilding well before he was clean bowled and when Ali Haynes went first ball Sheffield were in real trouble at 27/3.
Williams and Will Aitkenhead combined to form an excellent partnership, however, making use of the large playing area and running well between the wickets to take the score to 70 with four overs left before Williams had to retire.
Aitkenhead was caught for 19 bringing Williams back to the crease and he continued where he had left off with Jordan Calcutt as the pair took Sheffield to 117 off their 12 overs.
It looked a few runs short of a good score but Sheffield knew that if they bowled and fielded as they had done all season then they would be in with a shout and they got the perfect start as Hooper struck in the first over to make it 5/1. Newcastle rebuilt well, however, and were cruising to victory at 86/1 with five overs left as Sheffield were looking in real trouble.
As they have done all season though they dug deep and Hooper pulled off an outrageous one handed diving catch to get them back in the game. Murrall then produced a direct hit run out from nowhere and when Williams picked up another it was game on at 91/4.
Newcastle’s two retired batsmen were back in but the pressure was now on them as Sheffield sensed an upset. Calcutt obliged by taking another wicket and Newcastle needed 7 to win going into the last over with just one wicket left. It wasn’t to be, however, as the Newcastle skipper knocked off the runs with two balls to spare.
Heading into the last game knowing they could not reach the final did not stop Sheffield from giving their all in the last game against Exeter. Bowling first this time they managed to restrict Exeter to 121 with an excellent fielding display. The chase didn’t get the best of starts when Hooper and Murrall went early once more but Haynes and Williams then both retired to get Sheffield back on track.
Aitkenhead and Calcutt continued the recovery and Sheffield were well placed at 78/2 with four overs left. Two quick wickets turned the game back in Exeter’s favour though and when Haynes and Williams returned to the crease 24 were needed from the final 12 balls. Once again it wasn’t to be as first Williams was run out and then Haynes was caught attempting a big shot and Sheffield finished 10 runs short of victory.
It was an incredible effort by a Sheffield side that is seriously under-funded compared to the other universities on show in the final. Captain Murrall was understandably disappointed but said afterwards, ‘We’ve had tough games all the way through the tournament – we’ve always been the underdogs. Because we’ve beaten some tough teams in the initial rounds, we thought we could beat anyone.”
Having beaten Hallam, Durham, Bradford and Leeds Met to get to Lords it really was an incredible performance from the Sheffield side. Club Captain Chiraag Pandya summed up the day by saying, ‘It has been an unbelievable effort to get this far and it could have been different on the day with a bit more luck. They’ve done very well, considering some of the top universities have their own special cricket facilities and we’re training in old school halls.”
Indeed it could have very different as there really wasn’t much between all three teams in the group and the Sheffield side can be very proud of their performances. The club will hope to take this form into the outdoor season as the first team bid for back-to-back promotions following last year’s success.
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