Suffolk make flying start to NCCA Championship campaign with 329-run success over Cambridgeshire at Bury St Edmunds Cricket Club

Suffolk thrashed Cambridgeshire by 329 runs in their opening National Counties Cricket Association Championship Eastern Division One match of the season at Bury St Edmunds.

They wrapped up victory inside two-and-a-half days after Cambridgeshire, set an improbable 402 for victory in their second innings, crumbled for just 72.

Only opening batsman Josh Bowers showed any stomach for the fight, defying Suffolk for 94 balls as he scored 49. The next highest score was five by Wayne White, who suffered a side strain after bowling just 2.1 overs in Suffolk’s second innings and batted with a runner.

Mildenhall’s Jack Potticary, who opted to play for Cambridgeshire rather than Suffolk this season, was unable to bat as he split the webbing on his left hand trying to take a catch in Suffolk’s second innings.

Suffolk had their own problems pre-match, professional Joe Gatting not feeling well enough to return to the side, meaning a recall for Alex Oxley, who scored 29 and 34 batting at No.4.

Sudbury captain Adam Mansfield, who contributed 21 in a useful stand of 42 with Josh Cantrell for Suffolk’s ninth wicket on day one, was then unable to keep wicket in Cambridgeshire’s first innings due to tendinitis in his left knee.

Bury St Edmunds player Cantrell top-scored at his home ground with 60 off 100 balls after Suffolk had won the toss and chose to bat on a wicket where batsmen had to be patient and graft for their runs.

He was last man out off the first ball of the 90th over in his side’s total of 232, before Suffolk reduced Cambridgeshire to 35-4 by the close on day one.

After Ben Claydon dismissed visiting skipper Lee Thomason on the second morning – one of three catches for stand-in wicketkeeper Andy Northcote – Matt Wareing took centre stage by claiming 5-25 in his first Championship match for almost five years.

With a first-innings advantage of 124, Suffolk turned the screw as Essex II batsman Josh Rymell scored a century on his Championship debut.

He eventually fell for 139 off 148 deliveries, including eight fours and five sixes, as Suffolk lost four wickets while adding a further 50 runs on the third morning.

After Bury St Edmunds opener Ben Seabrook mistimed a drive to cover to complete a miserable match on his home ground, Cambridgeshire never really recovered.

Mildenhall's Tom Rash took his 100th championship wicket for the county on his way to figures of 5-29 and Ben Claydon weighed in with 4-12, to finish with seven wickets on his championship debut, as Suffolk picked up 22 points to their opponents’ four.

The result puts Suffolk in good heart ahead of their NCCA Trophy quarter-final match against Cumbria at Barrow on Sunday.

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