Forres St Lawrence opening bowler Fraser Merricks believes his amazing eight for 15 in last week’s crushing derby victory over Nairn County to be the best figures in north cricket over the last decade.
Merricks, 23, has been searching for the record books of the last 10 years and has learned his feat is the best in that time.
He said: “The best bowling figure I came across was eight for 17, so I have only just beaten that feat by two runs.
“I have been working really hard on my bowling over the last five years and I’ve managed to develop a way of getting the ball to swing both ways. That’s what I was able to do against Nairn last Saturday. It confused the batsmen and I have also gathered a bit more pace in recent years.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s derby against Elgin at the Cooper Park, Merricks added: “I had five for 30-odd runs against Elgin last year. I am in a good vein of form, so, hopefully, we can have a repeat performance this weekend. I am hoping to have a good season with Forres, it will be my last one as I will be joining the Royal Navy later in the year.”
Merricks believes it is all about team work. He added: “We only just lost out on winning the league last season. We were particularly disappointed by that as it was just one game against Buckie which cost us the title. However, it isn’t just a one-man show at Forres. We have batsmen like Pal Dhami, who scored more than 1,000 runs last season, and Gus Farr. My fellow opening bowler David Durrance averaged about 11 wickets a season in the last 10 years but, amazingly, last term he took 54 and won bowler-of-the-year trophy.
“I would like to think that with the excellent start I’ve made to the season I could well be in the running to take that honour myself this year.”
In tomorrow’s other matches, Buckie will look to build on last weekend’s convincing home derby win over Elgin when they make the long trek to Lochaber to face Fort William.
Ross County entertain champions Fochabers at Castle Leod in Strathpeffer, while Nairn County and Highland meet at the Links.