Terryn Fray is extremely proud to have joined an exclusive group after the dust settled on a tempestuous Cup Match this year at Wellington Oval.

The Somerset captain stroked 60 in the champions’ first innings, which he followed up with another disciplined knock of 57 in the second to take his overall run tally in the Annual Classic to 800.

“It was a good feeling to reach that 800 mark, it wasn’t something that was on my radar this Cup Match,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“It was quite fitting that I got to 800 right on the dot, and for that I am really grateful and extremely proud. I feel like it was meant to be for it to be right on 800 after this Cup Match, the amount of runs that I scored.”

Fray is the ninth player to pass the milestone in Cup Match, joining all-time leading run-getter Janeiro Tucker (1,491), Charlie Marshall (1,357), Wendell Smith (1,143), Lionel Cann (1,137), Clay Smith (1,076), Lloyd James (988), Albert Steede (975) and Edward Swainson (829).

Congratulating Fray on the milestone was Tucker, who is now his coach and who also holds the record for the highest individual score (186) and is the only player to score five hundreds in Cup Match.

“Congrats to Fray getting to 800 runs. I am really happy for him on his accomplishments and hopefully he reaches the 1,000 Club,” he said.

“Fray has had a good Cup Match career so far to pass 800 runs, and deserves exactly what he gets because he trains hard and works hard.

“He is a leader and shows exactly why he is Cup Match and national squad captain.

“He is a class act. I respect him as a person first, but also for what he does on the field.”

The 34-year-old is one of the fastest to score 800 runs in Cup Match history.

“I am on 21 innings and a lot of the guys that have this amount of runs and the 1,000 mark have batted well over 30 innings in Cup Match, and some above 40, so it’s a good feeling to be around that mark in such a short space of time,” he said.

Cup Match always seems to bring the best out of the early-order batter and this year was no exception as he once again rose to the occasion in the rain-affected match, which ended in stalemate.

“I felt good coming into Cup Match,” he said. “I was scratching for runs a bit, but the big occasions are something I look forward to.

“I have a different type of focus and wish I could harness that focus every match, but we all know that sometimes that isn’t possible.

“The effort is still there, obviously, but it’s a different type of focus that I find myself in when I play in these matches that are considered to be very, very important.”

The Bailey’s Bay and Bermuda captain concedes he would have liked to have scored more runs, having done the hard work to dig himself in at the crease.

“I was a little unhappy that I couldn’t carry on in each innings, but that’s cricket,” he said.

“It’s what happens and I am just glad to be able to put in a good performance again this Cup Match and make my family and my friends proud, and continue to do what I love on the island’s biggest stage.”

Fray had double reason to celebrate, having scored back-to-back fifties in the annual cricket spectacle for the first time.

“This is my first time getting a half-century in both innings. Last year, I fell short by two runs in the second innings,” he said. “But I am happy with where my cricket is right now and enjoying it.”

Next stop is the 1,000 run club.

“I am looking forward to more innings and who knows if and when I get to that 1,000 mark, which is one of my main goals,” he said.

“It’s been a goal of mine since I got to 500 a few years back.”