James Kettleborough admits that Staffordshire’s dressing room was a painful place to be after their agonising NCCA NV Play Trophy quarter-final defeat by Cumbria.
Staffs were dismissed for 138 on a tricky surface at Carlisle after being invited to bat – but fought valiantly to maintain their interest in the competition.
They were eventually beaten by one wicket as an 83-run stand for the sixth wicket between Michael Slack and Max Winskill ultimately proved to be decisive.
For skipper Kettleborough there was a mixture of emotions as he and his players make the long trek back home on Sunday night.
“It’s a combination of frustration and disappointment,” conceded Kettleborough. “It’s a long way to travel for a quarter-final and we didn’t get the result we wanted.
“We were so determined to progress and we’ll have plenty of time to reflect. When the game is that close, it’s natural to think about the little one per centers which could have swung the game.
“There were things we could have done better, but we didn’t talk too much in the dressing room after the game because there was a lot of hurt.
“But one thing we did say was that another 10 or 15 runs and it could have been different on a wicket which, in my opinion, was sub-standard for a game of that magnitude.”
‘Promising opening’
Staffordshire actually made a decent start on a wicket which saw inconsistent bounce throughout as openers Tom Moulton and Sam Kelsall put on 73 for the first wicket.
But once they were parted, Cumbria’s bowlers took over and worked their way through the Staffs line-up.
“Tom and Sam showed up top the fight, courage and determination to get stuck in on that wicket,” added Kettleborough.
“They had the best success on it from our point of view.
Staffordshire suffer agonising NCCA NV Play Trophy quarter-final defeat
“I’d say it’s up there with the most challenging wickets I’ve played on.
“When the covers came off in the morning and you looked at it, it was obvious it wasn’t going to be great.
“That’s a big disappointment. In a quarter-final you hope to have a good cricket wicket and both teams can show off their skills.
“That wasn’t the case and you can see what it was like when you look at the high scores in the other ties.”
‘Having a ball’
Staffordshire strained every sinew to defend that low total in reply.
They reduced Cumbria to 32-5 before Slack and Winskill’s decisive partnership.
Seamer Sam Keeling-Wright orchestrated Staffs’ comeback as the winter recruit from Herefordshire finished with figures of 5-26.
“Sam just showed his class – he bowled with pace and plenty of skill,” explained Kettleborough.
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“When he’s in that type of form he’s a real threat and he asked questions of the Cumbria batters.”
Staffordshire saw a couple of decisions not go their way and also shelled a catch or two as the home side fought back.
But they rallied once again to take four wickets in the closing stages to set up a nervy finish before Cumbria scrambled home.
‘Optimistic’
“We thought we could defend that total because we know how good our bowling attack is,” said the captain.
“At 32-5 you know that there’s going to be a partnership of some sort.
“Cumbria shuffled around their order and saved some batters back so they had talent coming in towards the end.
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“If we could have got them six or seven down earlier that would have presented us with a big opportunity.
“Some things didn’t fall for us, but we kept going and showed loads of character. Even with 20 to win we knew some quick wickets could really ramp up the pressure.
“As I’ve said, it hurts when you lose a close game like that. But after not qualifying from the group for the past three seasons, we’ve shown signs of progress in the Trophy.
“We now have to make sure that in the future we put ourselves in a position to be playing in quarter-finals again.”
Main image: Staffordshire captain James Kettleborough saw his side fight valiantly in the NCCA NV Play Trophy quarter-final against Cumbria. Picture: Roger Byrne