Not really the weekend we wanted
The Rams despite some good and encouraging performances didn’t quite get the weekend they were wishing for. With a full Saturday program scheduled and at long last an almost dry weekend forecast the Club were looking forward with optimism. In terms of league points the weekend was given an early boost when our 4th team’s opponents conceded. This concession meant that our fourth string had moved into second place in the league. Ordinarily twenty points is a good thing but, in this case, it is a double-edged sword. The lack of opposition meant that for the third time this year the team was left without a fixture. For our development squad time playing adult cricket is far more important than twenty league points.
Our first team travelled to fourth placed Bury again looking for a back-to-back win and a ‘double’ over a higher placed side that would re-ignite their title challenge. Some overnight rain and early morning showers meant a half hour delay and another reduction in overs. The Rams lost the toss and unsurprisingly were asked to bat. The in-form Cambridgeshire pairing of Wayne White and Callum Guest again opened up and reached another fifty stand off just eighty-seven balls with White being the more fluent of the pair. The introduction of spin in the form of Ben Whittaker slowed the scoring rate, in combination with the lush outfield, and he made the breakthrough in the twenty-third over when he had White (43 from 86 balls) caught by Alex Cruickshank with the score on sixty-six. The Rams had added just twelve runs from forty-balls since reaching fifty. Guest then added thirty-two runs with Yousuf Choudhary but became Whittaker’s second victim (2-30 off 16 overs) just two runs short of the one hundred mark. The vastly experienced Sean Park taking the catch to remove Guest (36 from 81) as the Rams reached the thirty-third over. The ton was reached two balls later as singles to Choudhary and new batter Jack Beaumont took the Rams to three figures. Bury skipper Josh Cantrell then joined Whittaker as pace-off seemed to be the most effective form of attack. Cantrell was rewarded with the wicket of Choudhary (31 from 61) when he bowled the Cambridgeshire youngster with the score on one hundred and seventeen in the fortieth over. Cantrell (2-51) doubled up when he removed Lee Thomason in his next over to leave the Rams innings precariously placed at one hundred and nineteen for four. Beaumont then added thirty runs with Ben Clilverd. Beaumont (25 from 37) had just taken a liking to his erstwhile Suffolk colleague Tom Rash when the Bury bowler gained his revenge as Beaumont tried to hit the accelerator with just ten overs of the, reduced, sixty to go. Sawston were perhaps hoping for some late order fireworks from Alex Evans and James Vandepeer both of whom had provided similar momentum shifting innings during the season. Rash had other ideas as he dismissed Evans on one hundred and fifty-four for six in the fifty-second. Vandepeer helped Clilverd to take the score to one hundred and sixty-eight for seven in the fifty-sixth before he fell to Cruickshank. Skipper Dan Heath with an electric, in the context of this match, run a ball sixteen took the Rams to one hundred and ninety-five for eight before becoming a second wicket for former Mildenhall seamer Cruickshank (2-26). Clilverd (24 no from 54) and George Darlow added three singles in the last four balls as the innings closed on one hundred and ninety-eight.
The home side would have a minimum of fifty-two overs to knock off the runs. It would be no easy chase as it was clear with the number of starts gained by the batsmen and the comparatively low scoring rates that perhaps you were never really in on this wicket. Equally as it was a slow surface the bowlers would need to be at their very best to wheedle out anyone who was content just to hang around. In a game where it suited no-one to share the spoils both teams had an incentive to go for the win. In the end the Rams pushed for the win by bowling an extra nine overs.
Even the usually frenetic and established pairing of Nikethan Radharkrishnan and Alex Maynard struggled to score quickly on the deck. They in combination with the docile surface managed to blunt the usually potent attack of Vandepeer and Mark Smith, who have this year and over the years managed to provide the Rams with early breakthroughs. Smith was making a swift return to Bury following his transfer back to the Rams a few weeks earlier. The Bury openers had added just five more runs to their own fifty run partnership (off 62 balls) when Guest struck to dismiss Radharkrishnan (23 from 32). Guest struck again in his next over as Maynard (32 from 46) followed with the score on sixty at the end of the fourteenth. The Rams followed the home side by switching to pace off as Guest and Beaumount slowed the scoring rate. William Routledge and Cantrell negotiated this danger but only added twenty-five runs in the next seventy-eight balls. The introduction of Darlow, after a brief return to the pace of Vandepeer, had a dramatic impact as Jack Beaumont took a second catch to remove Suffolk teammate Cantrell (13 from 41 balls) with the score on eighty-six. Bury crawled their way to ninety-eight as Routledge and Rash added thirteen runs from thirty-nine balls. Darlow then gave the Rams an opening when he removed Rash (9 from 20) and Routledge (18 from 73) within the space of four balls in the thirty-sixth over. Rash was caught behind before Darlow took a catch off his own bowling to remove the obdurate Routledge. The home side reached three figures at the end of the over. Beaumont(1-47) then picked up the wicket of Max Whittaker (8 from 21) to open the door for the Rams with the score on one hundred and twelve with the last thirteen runs arriving at a snail’s pace (29 balls). The experienced Park was then joined by the other Whittaker, Ben, an they added thirty-one valuable runs from sixty-four balls and appeared to be steering the home side to an unambitious safety. Darlow struck to remove Whittaker (18 from 35) with Thomason taking the catch with the score on one hundred and forty-three for seven in the last of the scheduled fifty-two overs. Darlow struck in extra time to remove Cruickshank (1 from 6) to pick up his second five wicket haul of the season (5-45) but unfortunately, he had bowled his full quota! Park (34 from 64) and Oliver Riddick (13 from 28) then saw out the match to the sixty-first over with the home side finishing on one hundred and seventy-four for eight.
The result and the handful of points for both sides did neither side any favours as wins for the leading three sides Copdock (v Witchingham), Mildenhall (v Sudbury) and Horsford (v Witham) meant that the gap between the top three and the chasing pack widened. There was further bad news for both, and for all the other sides with title aspirations, as Swardeston gained an easy thirty-point win at home to Walden and now sit third, pushing the Rams down to a distant sixth! At the bottom AB Wanderers secured useful points in a draw at fellow strugglers Frinton just when the home side looked like securing a much-needed win. Frinton remain bottom with AB Wanderers moving up a couple of places to eighth.
The Rams seconds pushed a strong Foxton Granta side before going down to a three-wicket defeat. The Rams had to dig deep into their resources as the experienced trio of skipper Ant Phillips, Miguel Machado and Charlie Lewis missed the game. Lewis was away football training (has the previous season finished yet?). The visitors won the toss and were perhaps looking for a short afternoon, having bowled the Rams out very cheaply in the reverse fixture, and perhaps with half an eye on the Village Cup game the next day. Foxton’s opening pace attack used the helpful conditions well and had both openers Christy O’Brien and Luke Herdholdt back in the hutch with just under thirty on the board and only six overs gone. O’Brien succumbed to a beauty from Sam Beer before Herdholdt who had played some nice shots (18 from 20) was undone by overseas Fergus Fergusson. Julius Jackson and Will Bailey (12 from 13) had almost doubled the score. Beer however dismissed Bailey and then Ethan Rice with the score on forty-four. It was looking ominous again for the Rams. However, Jackson and third teamer Oli Borley then progressed the score to seventy-seven before Fergusson returned to dismiss Jackson (14 from 70) and then Borley (22 from 41) got over ambitious against the wily Lewys Hill (1-25) as the innings again lurched to eighty-three for six. Another couple of third team regulars Torin Phelps and stand-in skipper Nick Griggs then managed to add twenty-three precious runs before Phelps became Fergusson’s third victim (3-53). Griggs and another player promoted from the third team Oliver Humphreys staged a brief counter-attack to take the score to one hundred and twenty-eight. Beer, however, returned to remove Griggs and Raven to pick up a five-fa (5-37) to complete an impressive spell. However, Humphreys and seasonal debutant Oli North combined to add a defiant twenty-eight and get the Rams to two batting points before ex-Ram, Henry Campbell (1-32) closed the innings on one hundred and fifty-six in forty-five overs. Humphreys batted sensibly and with no less skill to finish on thirty-three with five boundaries (from 38 balls) and almost live up to his own billing!
The visitors would have sixty-five overs to knock off the runs. The usually fluent opener Adam Webster went early for a fourteen-ball duck as Rice took a low catch off Bailey as the Rams made an early breakthrough. Richard Kaufman (17 from 31) and the experienced Johnny Atkinson were making steady progress when Griggs (1-21) trapped Kaufman in front with the score on thirty-five. The Rams and their supporters hopes raised when the vastly experienced Alex Hooley fell victim to Jake Raven (1-38), caught by Griggs, just three runs later. However, these hopes looked like being totally extinguished as an ex-Ram Junior Harry Hopwood added sixty-two runs with the patient Atkinson. Jackson (1-38) then bowled Hopwood before Humphreys, clearly enjoying his day out bowled William Brown some six runs later. Atkinson this time with Fergusson again steadied the ship adding twenty but then Humphreys (2-20) removed the Aussie and Bailey (2-29) then dismissed Clark ten runs later to leave the visitors on one hundred and thirty-nine for seven. With a low total the last couple of batsmen you would want to see in the middle are probably Atkinson and Hill (or Freear!) and this experienced pair saw Foxton Granta home for another win.
With a weakened team up against one of the better teams in this division the Rams showed that they can compete, and on another day if they had held onto some of their chances, half chances and had a bit of luck with a marginal umpiring decision they may have pulled off a spectacular win. There was lots for the Rams to be proud about in this performance and in particularly from Borley, Phelps, Jackson and my hero Humphreys as each of them have made or were making a huge step up in terms of experience and in the standard of the opposition. Jackson in his first year with the Club and a huge step up and in a difficult year for the side, has given us glimpses of his abilities and has given his best at all times despite the results. He and the others will become, paradoxically, better cricketers out of the experiences gained this year!
The third team suffered a home defeat against Aspenden, Standon and Puckeridge when the sides met at Babraham. The visitors won the toss and it was no great surprise given another week without a great deal of sunshine that they elected to field. This was not looking a great decision as veteran Wes Potschul and apprentice Henry Cotton added sixty for the first wicket at just shy of four runs an over. This gave the Rams the perfect platform to post a challenging score. However, the visitors then introduced Charlie Peace into the attack where he snaffled Potschul (37 from 51 balls) and then Cotton (21 from 59 balls). Peace then added a third when he removed Niall Barber. The Rams woes doubled when R Fitzgerald joined the attack and he accounted for Alex Day as sixty for none became seventy-two for four. Vice-captain Dom Cameron joined skipper Jake Ellis and they set about steadying the ship but Fitzgerald then dismissed Cameron just before the hundred mark. Fitzgerald added another scalp when he dismissed young Ethan Hayes Fernandez. The Rams hopes of a respectable score then disappeared when Peace (4-22) dismissed the Sawston skipper (33 from 34 balls) before Fitzgerald (4-21) outdid his colleague when he picked up the wicket of Dushyant Patel. Teenager Sam Ronco was left unbeaten on six as the innings closed on one hundred and thirty-two for nine.
With no scoreboard pressure the visitors also had a half-century opening stand as Scott Caine (38 from 52) and skipper Luke Worsley Clifton added fifty-one in fifteen overs. Skipper Ellis (2-33) gave the Rams brief hope as he dismissed Caine and then Thorpe as the visitors stumbled to fifty-nine for two in the nineteenth. With the Aspenden skipper anchoring the innings (55 not out from 107) and getting solid support from Jake Vincent (34 not out from 49) the visitors got home, to leapfrog the Rams in the table, by eight wickets. There were some excellent spells from teenagers Zane Dennington, Sam Ronco and Vivaan Kilaru but the Rams were unable to break the partnership.