Skipper ‘regrets’ last-ball declaration

CRICKET: AUSTERLANDS captain Adam Young has apologised for his decision to declare with one ball to go against Shaw and says it was a “selfish move” to give his side the best chance of winning the game.

The visitors were four wickets down when Young waved in the two batsmen.

It meant Shaw, skippered by his brother Andy, were gifted a maximum of five bowling points instead of the two they had earned on the field.

The move left the hosts requiring two batting points to guarantee a top-five spot and a place in next season’s LCB Cup.

Shaw reached their goal by scoring 125. They were bowled out for 162.

Friarmere who, despite victory over Droylsden, ended the campaign two points adrift of Shaw in sixth.

Adam said: “I know it looked bad and I now regret what I did.

“I could have declared three for four overs earlier, but Dave Oldfield had smashed a couple of sixes and was closing in on his 50. I didn’t want to pull him in.

“Also, Shaw knew what points they needed to qualify for the LCB Cup and they wouldn’t have been interested in chasing 260 anyway.

“I wanted to maximise our chance of winning the match. That’s why I did it and on reflection it was a silly thing to do.

“I do of course, in hindsight, understand Friamere’s frustration, but I didn’t know what was going on in their match

“Anyone who knows me, must reaslise it was a move completely out of character.

“There was no collusion. We didn’t field a second team or mess about with the batting or bowling line-ups.

“The only thing that we did agree on was to play without professionals as both were injured and there was no point in paying for deputies on the final day of the season.”

Andy, the elder of the siblings, is a former team-mate of Adam’s at Austerlands.

He also refutes any suggestion of any plot between the two sides.

Andy said: “Speculation that the result was in any way rigged is complete nonsense.

“Looking back, it didn’t look good and I was surprised Adam declared, but nobody at Shaw had any influence over his decision.

“We could have won the game. We were 130-odd for two with 22 overs left and then got bowled out for not many more.

“I was more upset with the silly shots we played, then anything else.”