Super-Saturday beckons! Tibbsy's Weekend Preview 29.08 - 31.08
In recent years we have been spoilt by the amount of success we have be lucky to achieve. On Saturday we have the chance to add more silverware and success on what could be a historic day and ‘probably’ night for the Club. The third team, who I confidently predicted, at the start of the season, were our best hope to bring home a title just need eleven points, so one win from their remaining two matches to clinch the CCA Junior 3s Title. I think they would have already sewn this up had they been able to consistently put out the side they had in the middle of the season. However, being a third team having a clear run at selection is often less straight forward!
With the seconds again without a Saturday game they should be reasonably strong. They face the tricky trip to Newton, who have struggled so far but need wins to save themselves from relegation. I’m sure Skipper Jake Ellis will make sure the side do not get over confident and I’m sure they’ll want to win the title on Saturday, and be the first prize winners of the season. They do have the safety net of a game in the following week against Lt. Shelford.
A win for the first team will all but guarantee, not mathematically, the EAPL title for the Rams. They would still need two points from the remaining two games, if the other challengers won their games, but……. It would be fitting in some ways if we could move a step closer by defeating Cambridgeshire rivals Cambridge the only previous winners of the EAPL from the County.
I’m sure Dan and the boys will be wary of the wounded Cambridge side (their troubles are well documented) and be perfectly aware that they would like to and are very capable of derailing our title bid. They also delivered on their game plan to inflict a rare defeat on the Rams in the timed match earlier on in the season. History is also against us as we probably need to go back to the late seventies to remember our last success against them, when lowly Sawston, then the sacrificial lambs of the Millman Cup, chased an improbably 305 (in 45 overs) to defeat one of the big guns of local cricket. Daminda Ranaweera is an impressive second in the EAPL runs competition (with 674 @ 52) and will lead their batting unit and will find assistance from the consistent Johnny Atkinson and Dougie Rice. With the ball Cambridge skipper Lewys Hill sits on top of the league standings with 36 wickets. It will also be good to see old Rams Henry Campbell and Peter Richer.
The Rams will be buoyed by the fantastic win last week and the hot competition between Mark Smith and Ben Clilverd to be our leading wicket-taker. They need to keep an eye on James Vandepeer who is sneaking up on the rails.
The second team have to wait until Bank Holiday Monday hopefully to make it the hat-trick! They need just two points to win the Cambs and Hunts Premier Three title. This would be a great success given that they took the gamble to move up two leagues and play a lot of sides whom they new little of. They have probably challenged the first team in terms of miles travelled. They face a tricky tie away to Eaton Socon but only need two wickets or 125 runs batting first to win the title. They should be well rested having not played for three weeks but that may prove to be as much a disadvantage. I’m sure they will want to win their final game, and so have just one defeat against their name, and also to win the title in style!