Cambridge UCCE had a good start to their 2005 first-class season, setting Essex a target of 270 to win, after declaring in their second innings on 255 for 4. They took 6 wickets in defending the total, although they lost to the county in the end. They then narrowly lost to Warwickshire before beating Yorkshire in their last game of the season against a first-class county. They also played two matches as Cambridge University against Oxford University, winning the one-day game, but falling by an innings and 213 runs in their final first-class game of the season. Players Adnan Akram Arfan Akram Vikram Banerjee Craig Buckham James Chervak Phil Edwards Matthew Friedlander Duncan Heath Toby Hembry James Heywood Matthew Hooper Benjamin Jacklin Gareth James Robin Kemp Mohammed Amin Tony Palladino Garry Park Tom Savill Adrian Shankar Anirudh Singh Zoheb Sharif Richard Timms Chris Wright Match details Cambridge UCCE v Essex (9–11 April) Essex beat Cambridge UCCE by 4 wickets Cambridge UCCE and Essex started the season at Fenner's Ground in Cambridge. For the first time the Cambridge UCCE team was dominated by players from Anglia Polytechnic University rather than Cambridge University. The first day was a successful one for Cambridge UCCE, who completed an innings of 321. This was quite a recovery from 7 down for 139, when Friedlander (81), who has represented Boland in South Africa, and Wright (76) got together. James Middlebrook took 5 for 54 for Essex. On the second day, Essex put together 307 for 4 declared, although no player scored more than Ravinder Bopara, with 69. Cambridge UCCE scored 64 for 3 by close of play. On the third and final day, Cambridge UCCE piled on more runs, finally declaring on 255 for 4, the highlight of which being 129 not out from Adnan Akram. This left Essex 270 to win. They lost wickets in doing so, with Palladino taking four wickets, and the students gamely going for a win. However, an all-round performance by Essex finally saw them home with four wickets left. (Cricinfo scorecard) Cambridge UCCE v Warwickshire (21–23 May) Warwickshire beat Cambridge UCCE by 18 runs Warwickshire survived a scare as a virtual second XI still beat the Cambridge students by 18 runs. The first day at Fenner's was ruined by rain, with only 6 overs possible. Warwickshire batted first, losing three wickets for no runs to collapse to 48 for 4,