Sam Keeling-Wright delivered a seam bowling masterclass to put Staffordshire in a healthy position on the opening day of their NCCA Championship game against Cambridgeshire.
On a day where play didn’t start at Checkley until 1.45pm due to the weather, paceman Keeling-Wright made up for lost time with a haul of 8-60 to send Cambs sliding to 152 all out.
Keeling-Wright extracted pace and bounce from both ends of the Four Trees venue to unseat the visitors, who had won the toss and elected to bat.
Liam Hurt and Tom Moulton chipped in with a wicket apiece, but there was little doubt it was Keeling-Wright who was the star turn.
Alex Pierson (37no) and Ben Claydon (32) were the only two Cambridgeshire batsmen to offer any meaningful resistance.
James Kettleborough (42) and Sam Kelsall (29) then provided a solid platform for Staffordshire with an opening stand of 80.
They fell in quick succession, but Tom Moulton (17no) and Reeve Evitts (16no) saw Staffs through the remaining 14.3 overs to close on 115-2.
And the day’s performance was the desired response to that 187-run thrashing by Buckinghamshire in their opening Division One East contest of the summer.
‘Wickets tumble’
It came as something of a surprise when Cambs skipper Claydon opted to take first use on a pitch with a green tinge after he called correctly.
Staffordshire would have bowled first if they had won the toss – and they showed why as Keeling-Wright struck in his first over.
Ben Saunders was undone by a bit of extra bounce and could only fend the ball to Staffs skipper Kettleborough at first slip, who took a regulation catch.
And Cambridgeshire were soon 29-2 when Keeling-Wright accounted for opener Will Routledge.
The Cambs batsman didn’t control a cut shot and he edged through to home keeper Dan Lincoln to depart for 15.
Runs still did flow for the visitors, despite those two early setbacks – with the vacant third man region a particularly profitable source.
In fact, by the end of the innings, at least 11 of the 21 boundaries scored by Cambridgeshire came through there as Staffordshire persisted with attacking fields.
And although the scoreboard ticked along at a fair old pace, the wicket column was gainfully employed as Keeling-Wright continued on his merry way.
Ethan Rice was the next to fall when he looked to drive a full length delivery, but saw his stumps rearranged to hand the Staffs new-ball operator his third scalp.
Cambs were then reduced to 51-4 in the 11th over when Hurt joined in the wicket-taking action. He trapped Oliver Dandy lbw for two.
‘Rebuild attempt’
There was a bit of a lull in the wicket stakes for a while as Claydon and Pierson managed to put on 51 in eight overs.
Batting wasn’t easy, but with a stroke of luck here and there, the duo managed to repel the hosts’ attack.
But their alliance was finally brought to a conclusion when the dangerous Claydon feathered a catch through to Lincoln off the bowling of Keeling-Wright, who had swapped ends.
That breakthrough prompted a flurry of three wickets which saw Cambs slip further into trouble from 102-5 to 114-8.
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Henry Wilson chopped a Keeling-Wright delivery on to his own stumps to exit for a second-ball duck and complete the Staffs man’s maiden Championship five-wicket haul for the county.
Five then became six and seven for the right-arm Staffordshire seamer.
Aum Patel drove loosely and nicked to Kettleborough in the slips, before Ben Clilverd did likewise and picked out a tumbling Sam Atkinson in the cordon.
Jack Loveday contributed 12 before he became Keeling-Wright’s eight victim of the innings.
With the score on 128, he tamely chipped in Tom Brett at mid-on to end his resistance.
All the while, Pierson was watching his team-mates come and go at the other end.
Mark Rees helped him to take the score to 152 before he was trapped lbw by Moulton to bring the curtain down on proceedings.
That meant Staffordshire had bowled out their visitors in 31.2 overs – one session – and tea was duly taken.
‘Time for runs’
Openers Kettleborough and Kelsall set about building on Keeling-Wright’s good work to keep Staffordshire in the ascendency.
The pair put on 80 inside the first 20 overs, but both were dismissed within a short space of time.
Kelsall was the first to head back up the Checkley bank when he offered a return catch to Clilverd.
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And in the next over, Kettleborough followed his team-mate back to the pavilion when he nicked a Mark Rees delivery to diving wicketkeeper Dandy.
Batting duties then fell on the shoulders of Moulton and Evitts to see Staffordshire through to the close.
It was imperative the pair stayed put to dampen Cambs spirits after that double success.
They managed to do just that, which was the ideal way for Staffordshire to finish the opening day.
They now have the perfect chance to bat their allotted 90 overs and put a decent lead on the board midway through day two.
It’s an opportunity they can’t afford to squander if they want to erase the memories of that opening defeat at Bucks.
Main image: Sam Keeling-Wright took 8-60 for Staffordshire on the opening day of the NCCA Championship game against Cambridgeshire. Picture: Andy Bone