Tough finish for Pemberton Greenish Surrey Academy

Published 1 April 2008

After a fantastic start to the tour of South Africa, the Pemberton Greenish Surrey Academy have faltered in their last two fixtures against Boland and Western Province under 19s.

The young Academy side with an average age of 17 have found that typically their competitors have had an advantage of two years experience. However, this did not hinder their performance in the first five matches of the tour as they romped to four victories, losing just the one One Day game against Western province under 19s.

Since the emphatic victory over Boland in the One Day match last week, which saw the young Surrey side overhaul a massive target of 323, they have found life a little tougher.

Going into their last two matches of the tour against Boland and Western Province under 19s in two two day fixtures, the Academy worked very hard but found that in the longer version of the game you can not afford to make mistakes. After two days of hard fought cricket, it was a poor final session of play that saw surrey lose the chance of victory over Boland.

A good effort with the ball from Richard Stevens and Tom Winslade put the middle section of Boland’s innings under pressure but they still managed to put together a challenging score of 333 all out.

Having declared behind on first innings following a gritty 71 not out from Zafar Ansari, Surrey contained the Boland batters, second time around and a good declaration from the home side saw the Academy set 290 to win from a minimum of 60 overs.

Surrey reached 101 for one at tea with Seren Waters continuing his good form to bat with fluency and reach an attractive 50. Nevertheless after the break the good start was destroyed with a collapse that saw nine wickets lost for 83 runs as the Academy were bowled out 109 runs short with an hour’s play still remaining.

The side had to pick themselves up to head straight into their final clash with Western Province and they fought hard to try and cap off their hugely rewarding tour.

Unfortunately the Academy side’s first innings was totally blown out of the water by some high quality pace bowling that the Surrey top order could not cope with and they stumbled to 70 all out.

In reply Western Province were in a similarly difficult position at 12 for 3 after Tom Jewell knocked over the top three in the few overs before lunch. This was supported by the middle innings spin and at 160 for nine it looked like being a very even contest. However the Provincial side’s ten and 11 battled hard to put on 77 for the final wicket which put the Academy in a tough position.

Once again they showed their spirit Seren Waters lead the way at the top of the innings with a foundation building 68. The rest of the batting chipped in around him and Surrey found themselves in with a chance with a second innings 328.

Dan Kenton with two wickets, Tom Jewell and Richard Stevens all bowled with great heart in hot conditions but their opposition negotiated the 160 runs required – knocking them off for a five wicket win.

Reflecting on the tour, Pemberton Greenish Surrey Academy Director, Gareth Townsend, said: “We have come up against some high quality opposition throughout this tour and I am very proud of the way the lads have pulled together as a unit to not only compete but also at times dominate.”

He added: “Nine days of cricket and two training days out of 14 is a very tough schedule but our preparation and approach both on and off the pitch has been of an exceptionally high standard. I expect to see the value of this trip when the players return home for the English season.”