Tough day awaits!

Looking at the fixture list there doesn’t appear to be an easy game for any of the Rams sides on Saturday. It could be worse, we could be facing Switzerland!

The first team commence the second half of EAPL 24 on the back of that fabulous performance against Frinton, last week, when they entertain Horsford. The Norwich based side are just three points and one place above the Rams in fourth position. They boast a host of Norfolk county players in their ranks and recruited well by adding South African Jordan Neil to their squad in the close season. The Rams would perhaps like to forget Neil’s EAPL debut where he took five Sawston wickets and added an unbeaten eighty as they defeated the Rams by seven wickets in April. Neil has continued to flourish with the bat and has hit four hundred and twenty-seven league runs to sit at the top of the EAPL run scorers. His skipper Neil Hornbuckle sits third with our own Callum Guest just behind the leader. Horsford despite having a talented and varied attack don’t have a bowler in the top ten unlike the Rams who have Guest, Vandepeer and Smith on the first page. The Norfolk side are in good form with an excellent win over Great Witchingham last week, and despite a surprising defeat to Walden as they gambled to force a win. Horsford had the upper hand in the drawn time game last year.  The Rams however have a good home record against Horsford.

The Rams with Noah Thain still away on England U-19 duty make just one change as ‘bucket’ hands George Darlow is unavailable. Ethan Rice fresh from some decent knocks for the seconds, as he works his way through to full fitness, is added to the squad. Rice has had a nightmare season with back and quad injuries but none-the-less has made a positive impact with the Rams following his move from Eaton Socon. The Rams will be hoping that its opening bowlers can maintain their excellent form, reminding everyone of that potent attack that was crucial to our successes in 2020 and 2021.

The game of the day at the top of the EAPL table is undoubtedly at Mildenhall, who sit third but are only seven points ahead of Swardeston in sixth. That shadow cast by the reigning champions continues to grow. The leaders Copdock will want to prove last week’s loss was just a blip when they visit Walden. Second place Bury have a tricky trip to Witchingham. There are some critical matches at the lower reaches of the table as Witham host Frinton in an Essex derby, and AB Wanderers host Sudbury.

The seconds face a short trip to the outskirts of Cambridge when they meet Histon, a side that sit second in the Onyx Premier. Histon are one of the form sides having won their last two red ball matches., and defeated the Rams at Spicers on the first day of the season. The Rams will be hoping to build on their encouraging draw last week despite losing Rice. There may be a seasonal debut for Matt ‘Basil’ Day as he makes a rare return from his London lair. Skipper Ant Phillips after his five-fa last week will be looking to add to his fifteen wickets and will want Will Bailey and Miguel Machado to build on their decent first half performance.  The Histon side’s batting is led by young Cambridgeshire batsman Henry Wilson and Australian Dan Cummins both with almost four hundred runs each. Their outstanding bowler has been John Turner who has twenty-six league wickets double that of skipper Ben Leach who is second on the Histon charts.

On paper the Rams third string’s tie looks the easiest of the four ties for us on Saturday with the opposition second from bottom. However, there is rarely an easy trip to Newport and the side from the Essex border flexed their muscles with a high scoring chase last weekend against Foxton. Newport’s line up contain some dangerous batsmen. The Rams will hope last week’s inactivity will not catch them cold as they also look to continue their excellent form. They will however not wish to repeat the last ball drama of their last match. They have agreed to an early start and a reduced over (35) match with apparently something on the TV on Saturday! They add Joe Latham and Alex Day both back from University and Nick Griggs to their squad. Griggs will add to an all-ready strong seam bowling unit that features new recruit Dushyant Patel, the returning Dom Cameron and youngsters Vivaan Kilaru and Arya Saeb-Parsy.

The fourths host unbeaten St. Giles II’s in a repeat of that astonishing match earlier in the season which was dominated by young bowlers. Our own Alex Myles with seven for ten did the damage to the then leaguer leaders before the Rams lost their last six wickets for no runs as St Giles won by five runs in a lower scoring classic. Both sides will again look to use as many of their youngsters as possible and hope that the more experienced players can lend a hand. The Rams in particular need more consistency and more people to contribute with the bat to compliment their excellent attack.