Intra-Club T20 kicks off the 2020 season!
Sawston and Babraham Cricket Club finally got their 2020 season underway on Saturday. In slightly surreal circumstances that included strictly policed thirty-member match-day bubbles, segregated spectators, no changing rooms, no teas and a one-way system in and out of the pavilion. The ‘new normal’ on the pitch included sanitising breaks for the player’s and officials’ hands and the match ball every six overs. Social distancing disciplines were maintained during and after the game. In empathy with the new normal both sides wore coloured clothing and a pink ball was used.
With the East Anglian Premier League and Cambridgeshire Cricket Association stepping up to the mark to rescue the season with some flexible and innovative solutions, the great unknown was how many people would want to play. SBCC were amazed that not only could it field sides for a T20 match, captained by first team skipper Dan Heath and second team skipper Nick Griggs with each team featuring a mix from both squads, that demand was such that we could also do the same for the 3rd and 4th team squads. In fact, Interest was so great in the second T20 match that we could have played thirteen aside. This even included a Stuart Broad moment when veteran spinner Stephen Summerlin was cruelly left out of the starting line despite being one of the Club’s leading wicket-takers and him having his best pre-season ever! To be fair his axing was nothing to do with a protest from local householders and the likely impact on our insurance cover should he have bowled!
In the first game Dan Heath’s XI batted first and were given a steady start by Charlie Lewis (32 from 30), Kane Munday (18 from 28), and Josh Jordan (12 from 23). The innings gaining some middle order impetus as Tim Moses (26 from 17), debutant George Darlow (17 from 6) and skipper Heath (28 from 11) pushed the score to a respectable 158 for 5. Jake Raven on his return to the Club picked up a couple of wickets to go with one apiece from Ben Clilverd, Alex Stafford and Sean Ward.
In reply Nick Griggs’ XI were given a flying start as Waqas Hussain (41 from 22) and Ben Clilverd (8 from 11) added fifty for the first wicket. Clilverd’s run out quickly followed by Hussain’s dismissal led to a collapse as ten wickets were lost for just 47 runs and a 59-run defeat. Chris Kindred and Darlow picket up braces before Ollie Borley with 3-15 delivered the final blows.
The second game was lit up by the presence of so many of our junior section players, many of whom making their first appearances for the adult sides. Jake Ellis’ side batted first and posted a disappointing score of 80, despite decent knocks from Joe Latham and Mervyn Shaji. There was a promising spell from debutant Torin Phelps and some good ‘wheels’ from Alex Williamson, who were backed up by good spells from Joe Gilmour and Will Martin. There was also some ‘comedy’ gold as the hirsute bowler Naga Yanamandela and sub-keeper Nick Griggs both attempted to get to a looping bat-pad catch. Ollie Borley’s side comfortably winning with Sumit Siddarth being the star performer with the bat.
It wasn’t a classic, it wasn’t pretty at times but cricket was back and many left the ground with a warm fuzzy feeling (not totally down to the alcohol) that a bit of normal life had resumed and grateful that they could once again share that spirit of camaraderie and the sense a belonging to a great Club.
Tibbsy