Cobras out to keep pressure on the Titans

Have computer, will play cricket.

That is the tale of Cape Cobras opening batsman Alistair Gray, whose 113 in the second innings of a Supersport Series match against the Diamond Eagles at Newlands at the weekend earned him a share of the man-of-the-match prize with all-rounder Vernon Philander.

Cricket is his primary focus, but Gray is also working towards completing a masters degree, fitting in some research whenever he can.

For the 27-year-old, more important than his individual achievement against the Eagles, was that his innings helped set up a victory, which took the Cobras to the top of the log.

Gray's contribution with the bat on a challenging pitch was a notable effort of grit and determination but he believes all the batsmen in the team need to come to the party when the Cobras take on the Titans, the defending champions, at Paarl from Thursday.

"Our batting is the area we need to work on most at the moment. The batters must put up their hands, specially at Paarl," said Gray. "Our bowlers have done really well but we must put big totals on the board."

The teams probably expect a pitch with low bounce for this week's match, as was the case when the Cobras beat the Warriors by nine wickets at Paarl two weekends back.

The Warriors were none too pleased with the track on that occasion, with 10 of their wickets in the match - they scored 143 in both innings - being lbws. In the Cobras first innings, too, five batsmen were out lbw.

Speaking of the Newlands victory, Gray said a bit of bounce and lateral movement meant batsmen had to "leave" well.

"The key with Vernon and our other bowlers is that they can move the ball both ways so if it's just outside off you can't simply leave it because it could nip back and trap you lbw," said Gray.

"We were patient - and we got quite a few slip catches."

Reflecting on an innings defeat against the Titans at Paarl last season, Gray added that the Cobras had probably underestimated seamer Pierre Joubert, who claimed 10 wickets in the match.

"But a year is a long time. We've all learnt a lot about four-day cricket. We are understanding our roles better and we know what to do to keep the pressure on. I'm happy with the way the team has gelled."

Gray enjoys the life of a professional cricketer but is also hoping to complete a masters degree in molecular and cellular biology in the next couple of years. His studies are taking a back seat for the moment but, since a lot of the work involved can be done on a computer, he can make progress wherever he is in the world.

Like in Scotland, where he spent the past South African winter playing club cricket for Dunfermline, helping them to win a title with a contribution of 1 301 runs at 118, and 36 wickets at 17.56.