Rams involved in yet another thriller ……

The last two first team home games have gone down to the last ball; it must be catching as this week it was the third team that shredded everyone’s nerves.

The Third team had travelled to Bassingbourn who sat well clear at the top of Junior Division One South. They had suffered just one defeat this reason ironically on their visit to Babraham. The home side won the toss and decided to bat. Sawston gave a debut to new opening bowler Beth Matthews (1-24) and she rewarded the skipper by picking up the wicket of James Robinson (13) for her first Rams wicket. The home side were building nicely, on forty-nine for one, when Torin Phelps first with a run out (Nuwan Athukorala for twelve) and then with a catch off skipper Jake Ellis to remove the other opener Juan De Beer (20) helped to reduce the home side to fifty-one for three. Scott Bates and Ben Allen again appeared to be repairing the damage as they moved the score along to eighty-one. However, the Rams struck back with a couple of wickets without addition to the score as thirteen-year-old Vivaan Kilaru removed Allen (11) and Henry Cotton affected another run out to dismiss Vajira Dommanige. The home side lost another wicket just short of the one hundred mark when the Phelps-Ellis (2-32) combination struck again to remove Lakmal Fernando. The home side were perhaps not too concerned as Bates was set and they still had two aces up their sleeve with Ghosh and Boricha still to bat. Bates added thirty-nine runs with Akash Ghosh (20) before the latter was trapped by Sawston’s budding all-rounder Oliver Borley. Prasad Perera (6) then joined Bates who dominated a twenty-nine-run partnership before Kilaru (2-35) struck to send Perera back to the Pavilion. Phelps then ran out the impressive Bates (72 from 79 balls) and then Borley (2-19) had Ghanshyam Boricha caught as the innings closed on one hundred and eighty with seven balls of the full forty still to be bowled.

With lots of players getting starts but with the exception of Bates no-one being able to cash in it suggested that it was a decent surface that still offered a bit of help to the bowlers, this week’s sun probably meant that shots earned full value over a quickening outfield. The Rams would need to bat well to chase down a challenging total. The Rams had progressed quite nicely with the experienced Wes Potchul (19) and the youthful Henry Cotton (26) before Dommanige (4-30) removed both and also picked up the wickets of Liam Flynn and Torin Phelps (12). One again batters were getting starts but wickets were falling in clusters as the Rams were reduced to sixty three for four. Borley (26) and Arya Saeb-Parsy (27) both got starts adding forty-two runs before Borley fell to Raju Devendran (1-33) with the score on one hundred and five for five. Saeb-Parsy was joined by Ellis (29 from 19) as the skipper injected a bit of urgency into the reply but both fell with the score on one hundred and forty-six. Saeb-Parsy’s fifty-two ball knock was ended by Athukorala (1-26) before the skipper was caught and bowled by Fernando (1-21). The Rams needed thirty-five more with just three wickets in hand and just under five overs of the innings left. They would need the experience of Dom Cameron to help the tail including two teenagers and the debutant Matthews to see them home. The home side appeared to be holding their nerve even as the Rams edged nearer. The visitors had taken to the score to one hundred and seventy-four with Kilaru (9 from 13) supporting Cameron but they still needed seven with just two balls to go. Cameron then clipped the penultimate ball off his legs for six guaranteeing the Rams at least a tie. The Sawston pair then scrambled a bye off the last ball as Camron finish unbeaten on twenty (from 16 balls) as the Rams won by three wickets. The home side perhaps ruing those unused seven balls of their innings. Bassingbourn remain top but the Rams moved into second place, albeit having played one more game than most of their rivals.

The Rams 4th team have been largely indebted to its bowlers and especially its young bowlers for making them competitive this term. The batsmen, finally, came to the party on Saturday.  A ‘man’ who claims that he will be sixty-six in a couple of weeks, although a few of us suspect that the number is much much higher than that, and sadly I’ll have to name him! Rob Benson who’s play cricket career 2000-2024 (the first few of those were before play-cricket became compulsory) is listed as having scored just over five thousand runs, with four-thousand nine hundred coming between backward square and cow!, and before Saturday one century. There may be many more runs in dusty scorebooks and on well preserved chalked slates but that is far too difficult to collate. On Saturday the 4th team hosted local rivals Stapleford, with both sides encouragingly fielding a high number of youngsters. Sawston batted first and Richard Moulton (20) opened up and got a start however Rob Hinks (2-30), thirteen year-old Rohan Everson (2-35) and fifteen year-old Seb Bannister (1-40) made some early breakthroughs. However Benson then hit 101 not out sharing a massive partnership with seventeen year-old Joel Dennington 25 not out as the Rams posted a formidable 220 for five on a belter at Babraham. This total however, was boosted by 59 extras!

In reply Stapleford led by skipper Gareth Everson, and ex-Ram, pushed the home side close as they posted 194 for nine in reply to lose by just 26 runs. Everson hit 103 before he was magnificently caught by Zane Dennington off thirteen year-old Richard Nicholl. Everson and Felix Williams (20) were the only double figure scorers as the visitors were left to rue that they conceded an additional 29 extras. Once again the Rams young bowlers excelled as Nicholl picked up 4-19 on debut, Alex Myles (2-17) picked up another two wickets and Ben Latham again bowled economically (0-14). The not so young skipper contributed with 3-43.

The second team for the second week running had a much stronger side for the visit of Wisbech with Yousuf Choudhary, post exams, being added to the squad that already included Charlie Lewis and Ethan Rice from the first team squad. Choudhary and Lewis gave the side a solid forty-six run opening partnership before the inform George Gowler had Choudhary (27) caught, unfortunately Lewis followed two runs later when he was run out. Miguel Machado and Will Bailey (21) two of the more ‘successful’ batters this year then repaired the damage to take the total to eighty before Kieren Haynes (1-48) struck to remove Bailey. Ethan Rice and Machado then added seventy-one in a significant partnership. The had taken the score to one hundred and fifty-one for three in around thirty-five overs. This gave the Rams a perfect platform to post a serious total. However, and not for the first time this year the wheels came off in spectacular fashion. The Rams lost Rice (18), Machado (64 from 75), Julius Jackson, Christy O’Brien and Nick Griggs in the space of seventeen balls as the innings nose-dived to one hundred and fifty-three for eight! Josh Porter (3-25) picked up two wickets and another run-out and Gowler (3-33) the other two wickets in this disastrous period. Skipper Ant Phillips fell to Porter before Gary Freear (1-2) closed the innings on a disappointing one hundred and seventy-two (at least the Rams had passed the  dreaded 160’s) when he dismissed Jake Raven. Ollie Humphreys was left stranded on seven.

The Rams had failed to use all of their overs and handed Wisbech a further dozen overs giving them a possible sixty-five overs to knock of the runs! The Rams however breathed new life into the contest when they reduced the visitors, back in the Onyx Premier after last year’s relegation from the EAPL to twenty-eight for four. This included the vastly experienced former Cambridgeshire pair of James Williams and Josh Bowers and the Wisbech overseas Ryan Clark as opening bowlers Griggs (2-40) and Bailey (2-30) made early breakthroughs. That brought another Cambridgeshire legend, in Freear to the crease. Play-Cricket listed Freear, before the game, with almost thirty-ones thousand runs in a career going back to 1996 with a ‘mere’ sixty tons and one hundred and seventy-one fifties. Perhaps the perfect man for the situation. With absolutely no scoreboard pressures he added another half-century to that list as he put on one hundred and eighteen with Rhys Howell (34). Rams skipper Phillips (2-29) picked up Howell and Jack Woollard to earn the Rams another point but Freear ensured the win went back to the Fens finishing unbeaten on eighty-two as the visitors won by four wickets.

The first team were again held up and frustrated by the weather, at Sudbury, as two heavy and largely unforecasted showers meant another reduced over game for the second week running. Last week the minimum of one hundred and twenty overs was reduced to seventy-one on Saturday a minimum of eighty-one overs was finally arrived at. The Rams had safely negotiated the first nine overs of the game as Callum Guest and Noah Thain opened up when the rain arrived again leaving the Rams on forty-two without loss. There was then a rain break of almost three and half hours, which included lunch, before play resumed and the overs reduction calculated. Thain and Guest brought up the almost obligatory fifty stand off just seventy balls. Thain (38 from 46) was bowled by Jonathan Gallagher (1-35) fifteen runs later and this brought Guest and his fellow Cambridgeshire captain, making his seasonal debut,  to the crease. They had added twenty-eight to take the total to ninety-three at the end of the twenty-third when Guest (44 from 72) was well caught off the bowling of home skipper Paddy Sadler with another half-century awaiting for Cambridgeshire’s white-ball skipper. Sawston’s Cambridgeshire pair at three and four then added sixty-four for the third wicket with the number three reaching his fifty off sixty-five balls. Thomason (19 from 43) in at four had found fluency difficult perished soon after hitting a maximum as the Rams lost a trio of Cambridgeshire batsmen for just five runs and in seven balls.

Sudbury’s Sri Lankan overseas Manelker De Silva picked up two and his skipper (2-50) the other. At one hundred and sixty-two for five with just less than seven overs to go the innings had reached a crossroads. The explosive Alex Evans had again been promoted up the order to hopefully take advantage of the small straight boundaries. And he was joined after the flurry of wickets by James Vandepeer who had been bumped up a couple of places from his usual number nine berth. This plan then suffered a setback when a misunderstanding led to Evans being run-out. Vandepeer with the assistance of George Darlow and Luke Spears, both of whom were largely close-up spectators then smashed the bowling to all parts, with the adjacent terraced housing roofing and beyond taking a fearful battering. Vandepeer’s fifty came off just twenty-four balls (with 5 x 4, and 3 x 6). Vandepeer added thirty-one with Darlow (3 from 4) before the latter became De Silva’s third scalp (3-66). De Silva had spent the previous summer up in Manchester and so he was used to the wet conditions! With a final flourish Vandepeer raced to seventy not out (32 balls with 8 x4 and 4 x 6), and with Spears took the total to two hundred and forty-three.  This total would have been much more without some outstanding ground fielding by the home side. The Rams skipper had that unenviable predicament of whether to risk a declaration in order to give his side more overs to bowl out the opposition or bat on and risk a lack of ambition in the resultant chase.

The Sudbury reply commenced with the familiar face of Darren Batch leading the way with Adam Jones. They had largely come through the opening salvo unscathed despite the efforts of Vandepeer and Mark Smith. Jones however took on Smith in the outfield looking for a quick two but Smith moved well and Jones (16 from 30) was run out with the score on forty (at the end of the tenth). The Rams continued with the all-seam attack without any further success for another couple of overs before spin in the form of Darlow was introduced in tandem with seam from the Rams number three. The Rams struck in consecutive overs as Darlow removed the stubborn Batch (31 from 51) with the Cambridgeshire red ball skipper taking the catch, who then followed this up by trapping Ben Parker (11) leg before as the innings lurched to sixty-four for three in the sixteenth. The spin and seam success in consecutive overs was repeated with the score on seventy-seven with the spin of Darlow (2-10) capturing Isaac Toombs (10) before Manelker was trapped with a short-ball sting from the seamer at the other end. Five down at just about the half-way point gave the Rams some brief hope of an unlikely win. The home sides pair of Bobby East and Alex Quinn (11 from 24) then frustrated the visitors for another six overs before Guest (1-14) removed Quinn. Despite very attacking fields with lots of bodies around the bat East and James Poulson survived until the last over. They added thirty-six runs from seventy-one balls with only a few scares before Poulson was dismissed by the Cambridgeshire seamer (3-30) with just three balls to go. East (18 no), showing maturity beyond his years frustrated the Rams (with whom he had trained with during the winter before opting to join Sudbury) had survived for fifty balls to earn his side a draw with the Rams seeming to run out of ideas in the end.

Elsewhere and despite a few more rain interruptions there were some magnificent run chases. Copdock maintained the only unbeaten record in the EAPL when they chased down third-placed Mildenhall’s impressive 278 for nine in forty-nine overs. The in-form Walden also chased a similar score, in fifty-five overs, following Horsford’s sporting declaration. Witchingham need only thirty-three overs to chase Frinton’s 238. Newboys ABW built on last week’s tie with Rams to record their first ever red-ball victory against Witham. Second placed Bury were well beaten by the improving Swardeston. Copdock’s impressive win means they are the side everyone needs to catch as they sit on the summit some seventeen points ahead of Mildenhall. Defeats for three of the top four now means second and sixth places are now separated by just twenty-two points, with the difference between third and sixth just a dozen! The Rams are now fourth on their own but the menacing shadow of Swardeston is just four points and two places behind. At the bottom ABW have moved off the bottom at Frinton’s expense and dragged Witham into that mini-league.

The Third team’s hopes of successive Walker Cup triumphs were extinguished on Sunday. In a repeat of the 2023 Walker Cup Final Sawston, the holders, were drawn away to Senior League Thriplow. After a slow start on a pitch that offered a bit of variable bounce, particularly with the new ball, Julius Jackson (38 from 52), Dom Cameron (29 from 21) and Jake Ellis (15 from 10) got the visitors to 128 in their 20 overs. The home side knocked these off with ease as Thriplow’s young openers Toby (53 off 32) and Oliver (41 no off 52) Weston added eighty-one for the first wicket before Jackson had Toby trapped leg before. Ex-Ram and new dad Peter Richer (34 from 22) delivered the final blows and at least saved us from Scotty Douglas’s pink socks. Oliver Humphreys and teenager Sam Ronco with tight spells were the pick of the Rams attack.  Thriplow join Linton, Cottenham and Ramsey II’s at the Walker Cup Finals Day at the end of July.

There was some success for the Rams boys on Sunday when the Cambridgeshire trio of Callum Guest, Wayne White and Lee Thomason helped Cambridgeshire to a Group topping win against George Darlow’s Bedfordshire team played at ‘Darlowville’, better known as Southill Park. Lee Thomason with sixty-odd not out got the Cambs boys over the line by two wickets. This sets up a NCCA Trophy quarter-final against Jack Beaumont’s Suffolk next Sunday, at Exning.