Skipper says Staffs gave it all as final bid falls short

JAMES Kettleborough said his Staffordshire players had done everything in their power to retain their NCCA Division One title.

- Chris Travers

Staffs fell agonisingly short of booking their place in the Championship final for the second successive season after being denied by Cambridgeshire in their final divisional game at Peterborough.

Cambridgeshire were nine wickets down with two overs to play on Tuesday evening, but survived a final flourish from Liam Hurt and Tom Brett to close on 224-9.

That meant Staffordshire finished in third place in the division, whereas taking that final wicket would have seen them leapfrog winners Buckinghamshire and Suffolk to finish top.

There was understandable disappointment from Staffs' players as they made their way off the pitch, but the overriding emotion was one of pride that they had managed to take their title challenge down to the wire.

They had gone into the last day on 68-1leading by 20 runs - before progressing to 291-7 before Kettleborough declared.

That left Cambs needing 244 in 43 overs... and a thrilling finish ensued.

"I can't fault the lads' effort. Like many of our games it ebbed and flowed," said skipper Kettleborough.

"In terms of going into the last day, we knew what was on the line and what we had to do. We made an agreement with the group that we would leave the ground having given everything. We did that.

"Having got so close as we did made it tougher to take, but credit to the lads for the three sessions of cricket they produced on that day to take us so close to winning."