Is this super-Saturday?

The Club has some fantastic fixtures this Saturday with all four sides scheduled to play and a belter of a day promised. It is also Sponsors and VP Day at Sawston.

The first team entertain current EAPL leaders Copdock and Old Ipswichians, the visitors have continued to surprise a few with their ongoing form. The only blot on their record has been a narrow defeat at the reigning champions Swardeston. Having lost Jack Beaumont, to Sawston, and the overseas express Tim Oakley the Suffolk side have recruited well in securing the services of Kiwi Michael Rae. Rae has impressed in his debut season and has also made an impact in the County Championship with Warwickshire!  They were also quick to pick up the experienced Andy Handy, the Norfolk captain, following his decision to leave Witchingham a couple of weeks ago. It will be an interesting battle up front as both of Copdock’s opening batters, the prolific Sam Athurton, and Nico Boje, are featuring the EAPL top ten run scorers and will be faced by our opening pace attack of James Vandepeer and Mark Smith both of whom are up there with the leaders in the competition. There will be a similar battle upfront in the Rams innings with the in-form Callum Guest and Wayne White facing Rae, Hanby and Rajan Singh in a talented trio that are all prominent in the wicket-taking list. White has moved up to eleventh in the run scoring charts despite playing half the games of many of his peers. The Copdock side are a well-balanced unit with the likes of Alex Oxley with the bat and the long serving Chris Swallow with the ball providing the back up. The Rams make one change as the five wicket hero from last week George Darlow is unavailable and is replaced by Ethan Rice. The Rams are boosted by Alex Evans getting an extended spell with the ball for Bedfordshire this week.

With the Rams sitting a distant sixth it may seem that it’s a must win game for the Sawston side. With them thirty-odd points adrift a loss may be critical for their title hopes.  However, with such a slender lead and the top four only separated by twenty points do the leaders also need a win? With only three points for a draw is there an incentive to play positive cricket? The chasing sides with Swardeston at Witchingham, Mildenhall at Walden and Horsford at AB Wanderers will all be looking for wins against sides in the bottom half. The Swardeston trip to the Witches looks to be an intriguing one with the Witches making further additions to their all-star line-up, despite losing their skipper Hanby. Fifth placed Bury visit Witham. Sudbury entertain Frinton with both sides in need of a win.

The Rams second team visit the lovely surroundings of Southill Park looking to build on that encouraging performance of last week. The Bedfordshire side have lost their last two games and the Rams will want to take advantage in order to move themselves up the table. Southill Park are just two places above the Rams.

The third team visit Fitzwilliam College to face NCI II’s who are currently second in the Junior One table. With the exception of the leaders Bassingbourn all the sides in this competitive division are capable of beating each other. The thirds need a win to get back some of the momentum they gained when they defeated the runaway leaders a few weeks ago. As is common with the second or third strings of clubs a lot depends not only the availability of your own side but also on the availabilities of those in the higher ranked sides in the Club.

The fourth team who currently sit second in Division 5s largely due to being the recipients of three lots of twenty-points from concessions from other sides, hope to finally get some cricket at home. Bassingbourn, the visitors, sit third but are in touching distance of the Rams and league leaders St. Giles; and are realistically looking for promotion. The Rams inflicted the only defeat the visitors have suffered so far this term in that incredible game where they scrambled a run off the last ball for an unlikely win just a few weeks ago. The Rams have certainly enjoyed playing sides from Bassingbourn this term with three wins from three games so far this season.