Oxford smash records
Amit Suman whips in another strong ball to pile the pressure on the struggling Tabs
Cricket Varsity Test
Oxford.........610-5dec
Cambridge..129-all out 268-all out
Oxford win by an innings and 213 runs
In a summer when cricket fever gripped the country, the fourday Varsity match provided a classic illustration of the beauty of first-class cricket. After over a day’s play had been lost to rain, Oxford needed to take 17 Cambridge wickets in just seven hours of play in order to secure the win and continue an amazing recent run of form in Varsity cricket.
This they did, in large part due to a splendid display of spin bowling from captain Paul McMahon, who ended with match figures of 8-92 from 57 overs. Perhaps believing that rain had saved them, the Light Blues seemed to relax their guard as the third day’s play, which only started at 5.30pm, produced an astonishing spectacle of six wickets falling for just 16 runs.
Once Cambridge’s last man had been removed, the Oxford bowling attack enforced the follow on to give them a whole day to repeat their first innings performance. Yet for large portions of the final innings, it looked as if the Cambridge batsmen would withstand the onslaught.
Although Indian seamer Amit Suman produced an impressive opening burst to account for Light Blue captain Richard Mann and Richard Timms, the partnership of Rudi Singh and Tom Savill batted with great resolve, both registering half centuries. It fell to former England Under19 captain McMahon to restore Oxford’s advantage with the wickets of Savill and Vikram Banerjee, who had batted extremely watchfully.
Ed Morse and Somerset’s Mike Munday completed the rout with two wickets a piece to turn the game crucially in Oxford’s favour. With just seven minutes of play remaining, he found the edge of Ben Jacklin’s bat to have him caught behind and then with the very next ball trapped last man Robin Kemp leg before to spark Dark Blue jubilation. As has been the case in each of Oxford’s innings victories over the last three years, the platform was provided by a weight of runs from the top order.
Salil Oberoi overcame a difficult start to score a Varsity record of 247, beating the record set by the Nawab of Pataudi in 1931 by eight runs. Inspired by Oberoi, next year’s Blues captain, adding to Dan Fox’s stunning 184, Oxford reached a total of 610-5 declared, another team record for the Varsity match. McMahon paid tribute to Fox and Oberoi.
“With our strength being in spin bowling, we wanted to bat first and put a big score on the board and the exceptional way in which Salil and Dan played enabled us to dictate the way the game went.” McMahon leaves for a career in county cricket as one of the most successful bowlers in Varsity history with 21 wickets in three matches. The challenge for Oberoi will be to replicate the success of recent years without the presence of key players such as McMahon, Suman and Fox.
His own personal performance, however, would appear to suggest that he is every bit as capable of leading from the front as his predecessor. Oxford can also rely on a strong pool of younger players for the year ahead. The future is looking bright for Dark Blues cricket.
5th Oct 2005