Cup Match 2013: Tucker savours Marshall embrace

Janeiro Tucker said he will savour the emotional on-pitch embrace with previous all-time Cup Match record run-scorer Charles Marshall for the rest of his life.

Tucker, 38, thumped a cover drive boundary for four to go past Marshall’s Classic total of 1,357 and overtake the St George’s man as the most prolific batsman in the history of Bermuda’s prestigious annual sporting showpiece.

The all-rounder is also now the only player to have scored four Cup Match hundreds.

The latest one helped holders Somerset to a commanding 370 for six declared at the Wellington Oval before they put the squeeze on the home side’s batting order to reduce them to 76 for five at stumps.

Tucker told the Bermuda Sun: “Me and Charles had talked about it prior to the game. He said ‘look, if you get the runs, I’m coming on the field’.

“I was like ‘I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t know if I’m going to do it but let’s see.

“I saw him come on and I wanted to show my respect to him. It’s something I will always remember in my life. He just said ‘congratulations – now go on and make a hundred’.”

He added: “To be the first person to get four hundreds in Cup Match is a milestone. To get that – it’s a blessing. Once I got to the 80s I knew I had to get a hundred.”

The Southampton Rangers player is a man who likes to keep his cricket simple — but even he admitted the nerves were playing on his mind once he got close to the 88 he needed to surpass Marshall.

He said: “I didn’t want to get too cautious. I just wanted to play my game and do what I’d done to get in the 80s and just continue doing what I had to do. If it was there to be hit, then hit it. If I had to block it, then block it.

“It was a big relief. Now I can just go and bat and I don’t feel like I have to get a certain amount of runs. It’s a big relief off my shoulders.”