January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Cup Match / Somerset team review
Jones and DeSilva under-used as SCC fails to win Cup
Somerset had their share of heroes and villains as the pendulum swung back and forth in an engaging two day contest.
Here James Whittaker take a look at how each one of the challenger's XI performed.
Somerset honour roll
Batsman Runs
1. Janeiro Tucker 1,230
1. Albert Steede 975
3. Alma Hunt 762
4. Sheridan Raynor 740
5. John Tucker 650
6. Colin Blades 644
7. Dexter Basden 571
8. Richard Basden 564
9. Joseph Bailey 538
10. Andre Manders 537
Bowler Wickets
1. Warren Simmons 94
2. Lloyd Simmons 76
3. Nathaniel Proctor 50
4. Amon Hunt 47
4. Arthur Simons 47
4. Sheridan Raynor 47
7. Alma Hunt 45
7. O'Brien Simons 45
9. Dwayne Leverock 42
9. John Swan 42
Jacobi Robinson
Batting: 0 and 63
Bowling: 1 for 18 and 2 for 35
Threw everything he had at St. George's in pursuit of a win.
As a batsman Robinson provided one of the most exciting cameos in Cup Match, smashing 63 in a 31 ball blitz which allowed his team to declare just after lunch on day two.
As a bowler he did everything he could to engineer a win - hurtling the ball down with pace an aggression.
But it wasn't enough. And, as is inevitable, when a team is unsuccessful, the tactics of the skipper have been questioned.
Should he have declared earlier? Why did pace bowlers Malachi Jones and Jordan DeSilva only get 11 overs between them in the crucial second innings, while St. George's bats padded up to a succession of part-time spinners?
Janeiro Tucker
Batting: 0 and 126*
Bowling: 2 for 24 and 0 for 19
Tucker promised a century and he delivered. Smarting from his first Cup Match duck on day one, the vice captain dug in to graft his way to an unbeaten hundred in the second innings.
It took 230 balls and required every ounce of concentration and determination he could muster.
Somerset were down and out when he came to the crease just after tea on Thursday.
By the time he walked off the field on Friday afternoon they were in a position to win the match.
It was his third Cup Match hundred - which ties Clay Smith's record - and it surely won't be the last from a man who has rewritten the record books at the Classic.
Stephen Outerbridge
Batting: 24 and 52
Bowling: 0 for 10
Showed his class in the second innings, combining with Tucker in a partnership of 117 to claw Somerset back into contention in the match.
Was disappointed to be given out on 52, lbw to Borden, when the prospect of a big score beckoned.
Outerbridge has been highlighted as a future leader of Bermuda's new generation. But it was the veterans, men like Lionel Cann and Janeiro Tucker, who dominated Cup Match this year. And it is up to the likes of Outerbridge to displace them as the kings of Cup Match in future years.
Deunte Darrell
Batting: 4 and 32
Bowling: 0 for 12
Once those understandable debut nerves had calmed a little bit, Darrell looked the part as a Cup Match cricketer. Selected with an eye on the future, the 16-year-old prodded and poked like a frightened rabbit as St George's went in for the kill in his second innings. But as the field closed in he responded with a couple of sumptuous cover drives.
Once the confidence started to flow he was carving Delyone Borden and Stefan Kelly around the park. In the end it was over ambition that was his undoing as he went for one shot too many, top edging to the keeper.
Malachi Jones
Bowling: 0 for 17 and 1 for 12
Batting: 22 and 11
Potentially Bermuda's most dangerous quick bowler Jones was bafflingly under-used, spending much of the match as a virtual spectator fielding on the boundary.
He bowled 12 overs in the entire match. Kelly, his counterpart on the St George's team, bowled 46!
When he bowled he was on the money and looked pretty dangerous.
But Somerset's policy of ceaselessly rotating their bowlers so that everyone but Jekon Edness got a bowl marginalized one of their best assets, leaving him a bit-part player.
Looks a natural with the bat and could offer so much more as an all-rounder if he didn't give his wicket away so cheaply.
Jekon Edness
Batting: 11 and 0
Fielding: 1 catch
A quiet match for Edness. He always looks good behind the stumps and kept tidily enough without having to pull off any heroics.
He didn't contribute with the bat, an area where Somerset would probably have expected more from him, having pushed him into the top six.
Dion Stovell
Batting: 10 and 21
Bowling: 2 for 17 and 0 for 24
He's been dominant for Southampton Rangers, but has yet to translate that from to a big Cup Match innings.
Stovell always looks the part and if he could reconcile his differences with the national team selectors his opening partnership with Chris Douglas has potential at international level.
But he has yet to make an impact at Cup Match and this year was no different.
Dwayne Leverock
Bowling: 4 for 46 and 2 for 54
Batting: 9 and DNB
Led the fightback after Somerset were skittled for 124 in the first innings.
At that point St. George's were licking their lips at the prospect of a two-to-one (innings victory). They hadn't counted on Sluggo, who took four vital first innings scalps to leave the hosts rapidly revising their ambitions.
He toiled away again in the second innings but with less success as the St George's straight bats limited him to two wickets.
Joshua Gilbert
Bowling: 1 for 25 and 1 for 53
Batting: 0 and DNB
The 15-year-old spinner provided one of the moments of the match as he shed a few tears when he took his first Cup Match wicket in a celebration reminiscent of Malachi Jones' World Cup lap of honour.
For a teenager in his first classic, it was an emotional moment, and one he will remember for the rest of his career.
Gilbert bowled very tidily throughout. His second innings figures suffered a little bit as Lionel Cann went on the attack in search of his century.
Chris Douglas
Batting: 18 and 8
Bowling: 0 for 9 and 0 for 10
Disappointing match for young Douglas whose work was done by just after tea on day one.
His performances for St. David's and Bermuda had raised expectations and he came into the match as one of Somerset's big guns.
But, like many of the batsmen, he wasn't able to fire and it was left to Tucker to hold the innings together.
He might have preferred to have another crack at it on day two when things seemed to get a little easier for the batsmen.
Jordan DeSilva
Bowling: 0 for 12 and 0 for 6
Batting: 22* and DNB
Bowled even less than Jones. DeSilva was selected as a frontline seam bowler, yet he bowled only five overs in the match - just one in the first innings.
He looked pretty sharp when he did bowl and didn't appear to be struggling with an injury.
Only batsmen Chris Douglas and Deunte Darrell bowled less than DeSilva. A feisty 22 not out with the bat was his most significant contribution.
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