It's Coming Home! Tibbsy's Weekend Preview 03.07 - 04.07

The first team will be looking to go one wicket better than last week and get back to winning ways. They will also be looking to do the ‘double’ over local rivals Burwell and Exning.

The opposition are currently eighth in the league and have struggled for consistency, which perhaps make them one of the danger sides. Undoubtedly they have improved since the first game of the season when the Rams ran out comfortable winners in the limited overs game. The late start and then loss of their overseas has without doubt hampered their progress. Joe Tetley has been their mainstay at the top although ex-Eaton Socon youngster Olly Jeffries and veteran Tim Catley have added useful runs at times. New recruit Matthew Jones has led the way with the ball but his haul of just fourteen wickets perhaps shows where the difficulties have lay. In that particular contest, despite a couple of leaner weeks, Mark Smith with 25 wickets leads the field by three. Ben Clilverd’s purple patch has seen him enter the top ten with nineteen to his name.

Skipper Dan Heath will be hoping for a similar batting display to last week’s huge improvement, albeit on an absolute road. Matthew Hague will be looking to put pressure on Sam Athurton as the leading run scorer. Haggy’s 396 @ 44.0 looks impressive but he still lags two hundred runs behind the Gt.Witchingham skipper. Callum Guest will be looking to get back into the top ten whilst his brother Ethan will also be looking to maximise his opportunity further up the order. The Rams keep and unchanged XI from last week.

The Rams 2nd team have a big big game on Saturday, when they face long-time challengers Southill Park, at Babraham Park on Saturday. A win for the Rams could open up a huge gap beaten the sides. Southill come into the game on the back of a loss to local rivals, and title dark horses Biggleswade but will be buoyed by the fact that they are the only side to have dented the home side’s record. I feel they will be much more comfortable on the Babraham surface than they would have been at Spicers. The Rams have two batters, Ben Benson and Ant Phillips, in the division’s top three but will also be looking to Josh Jordan and their powerful middle order to build on their progress of late. The visitors will be looking for runs from their top order and for their lower order to be a bit stiffer. Borley is away kicking footballs so it should be a quieter time for bats and helmets!

With the thirds not in action again this week fourth team supremo Jeff Free has a free hand, although I do not expect him to vary too much away from his ‘youth first’ policy. Marcus Wetzl’s much anticipated seasonal debut is again on hold! They face a tricky tie against Cam Kerala but are only travelling to Hauxton so should be back to Spicers in plenty of time. I believe there is some kind of association football match on! If that wasn’t enough the T20 side are in Suffolk Cup action against Walsham Le Willows in deepest Suffolk. In line with the ethos of the competition our side is composed of a fair sprinkling from each senior side for what is a trip into the unknown and our first ever meeting.

Then on Sunday the 1st team, or more accurately a mixed side, face one of the giants of Club cricket in the next round of the Conference Cup, for the Bertie Joel Trophy. We are hampered since Cambridgeshire are competing for a chance to progress in the NCCA 50 over competition