Defeat takes the gloss off Claydo’s special milestones

The Rams first eleven tasted defeat for the first time since the first Saturday in July when they stuttered to a thirteen-run defeat away at Swardeston.  The hosts had shuffled their pack in order to help their second eleven stay in the top division of the Norfolk Alliance; the result was a very unfamiliar and youthful side that greeted the Rams. This fresh approach matched a very smart upgrade to their kitchen facilities!

The home side won the toss and, perhaps, surprisingly opted to bat. First impressions suggested that this part of East Anglia had seen a bit more rain than Cambridgeshire as the outfield was lush in comparison and a slightly damp wicket had some greener patches. The unique shape of the field at The Common was exaggerated  by the fact that the playing strip was towards the extreme edge of the square closest to the road; leaving a tiny boundary on that side. The Rams unusually, for them, opted to open with seam from both ends. The normally reliable paring of Mark Smith and James Vanderpeer both  had ‘radar’ issues and eight wides (sixteen runs) helped Jordon Taylor and his new fifteen-year-old opening partner Oli Longdon to get off to a flier. The pair added fifty-eight in the power play.  Sawston then opted to go with spin at both ends half way through the powerplay and were rewarded when George Darlow (1-43) had Taylor (23 from 31) caught by Jack Beaumont on the first ball after the powerplay. The youthful opener was joined by veteran Richard Sims; the Rams managed to get some control over the scoring rate which was trickier with the combination of a left (Longdon) and right-hand combination. The pair brought up their fifty partnership (off 71 deliveries) before steering the home side to one hundred and twenty-two for one at drinks. Longdon moved to his maiden, and not his last on this showing, first team half-century (77 balls) before Sims also reached his own fifty (68 deliveries). The team’s one hundred and fifty was reached at the start of the thirty second over. The Sawston skipper then ended Longdon’s knock (52 from 87) when he had the left hander caught behind by Thomason. Swardeston’s skipper Alfie Cooper then came to the crease to join Sims with the Rams continuing to squeeze and generally upping their intensity. This resulted in a bonus wicket when Sims ran himself out, the batters had only just survived a tight one, when they took on the same fielder Beaumont with disastrous results. Sims (74 from 82) was dismissed with the score on one hundred and eighty. With ten overs to go the home side where handily placed with their two leading batters at the crease; although the Rams will have been pleased with their tighter performance in the thirty overs since the first powerplay. Guest (2-37) then trapped his opposite number Cooper (26 from 42) just after the two hundred mark was reached. Saranga Rajaguru then did what Suranga does with some powerful hitting, and not just to the short side, with five sixes and one four he raced to forty-seven (from 28 balls). Ethan Rice (1-46) gaining a bit of reward as he was entrusted to bowl towards the death when Ben Clilverd eventually held on to remove the dangerous left hander with the score on two hundred and fifty-seven with ten balls to go. Beaumont (2-57) picked up the late wickets of Benjamin Chapman (18 from 23) and Lawrence Williams (12 from 5) as the innings closed on two hundred and seventy-five.

In recent weeks the powerplay has been excellent for the Rams however it started badly as Beaumont got himself in a bit of a tangle in the first over and then Rice was smartly taken by keeper Johnny Shaw  to leave the reply on twenty-one for two . The first wicket fell to young seamer Lewis Reader before first team debutant Darshan Raj picked up Rice. Raj’s back story is quite remarkable as he has now played for all of Swardeston’s four teams this season and before Saturday his best performances had been for the third team. The Cambridgeshire duo of Wayne White and Ben Claydon carefully started to repair the damage taking the Rams to forty-six at the end of the powerplay. The fifty coming up one ball later; before the pair moved to a fifty stand (from 61 balls). White (34 off 57)  was then adjudged leg before to Rajaguru with the score on seventy-four. It was beginning to look like a very big chase when the skipper was dismissed by the same bowler with the score on ninety-six. This brought Lee Thomason to the crease and the Rams were in need of yet another partnership between the pair. Claydon moved to fifty (for the eleventh time in nineteen matches) from just sixty-two deliveries; before he brought up another fifty stand with Thomason (off 71 balls).  With ten overs to go and despite a feeling that the Rams were a little bit adrift they were actually one run ahead of the home side at the end of forty overs. They still required eighty-five runs but had two set batters. Claydon then moved to his fourth EAPL century of the season (from 105 balls). This astonishingly took his league runs tally into four figures and his overall total to over fifteen hundred for the season! The hundred partnership was then brought up (off 105 balls). The Rams then lost both set batters as Claydon smashed a Reeder half tracker low and flat toward the shorter boundary, although toward the pointy bit of the triangle and Rajaguru was grateful to accept the catch whilst retaining all of his fingers. Thomason (47 from 51) followed just eleven runs later when he was bowled by that man Rajaguru (3-60). The tail required fifty-four runs from just thirty-eight balls; and despite a few boundaries that gave them hope they succumbed to scoreboard pressure and fell thirteen runs short. Reeder (4-43) and Raj (3-49) both picked up two wickets in a frantic finish where Clilverd (10 from 11) and Vandepeer (16 from 13) couldn’t see the Rams home. In the end the home side’s superior boundary count was probably the difference on the day.

This defeat and another Copdock stroll , at home to the Witches, saw the Rams lead at the top of the league cut to a mere eighteen points. If you think that’s tight it’s nothing on the other end of the table as just seven points separate the bottom three. Bottom side  AB Wanderers beat Norfolk rivals Downham Stow to record back-to-back wins. Second bottom Mildenhall were ‘Hornbuckled’ as Horsford’s Neil Hornbuckle almost smashed his second double ton against the Suffolk side this year (192 from 152). Third bottom Frinton lost at home to Witham who continue to press for a top three finish. Bury eased any relegation fears with a second successive win this time away at Sudbury.

The second team’s three match winning run came to an end when title chasing Burwell and Exning defeated them by twenty-eight runs at Spicers. The visitors won the toss and decided to bat. Despite Tom Griffith making it to thirty-one (off 54 balls)  the visitors were in trouble at fifty-five for four including the important wicket of the Division’s top run scorer Paul Summerskill. This early damage was inflicted by Ed Ball (2-15), with Miguel Machado (1-24) and Tarun Mouli (1-17) picking up important scalps.  The visitors dug in and Nik Huckle (11 from 34) and overseas Tom Mangelsen (21 from 30) helped to add forty runs but when Jaykishan Plaha (1-7) and Matt Day (1-6) combined to remove them both the visitors were in big trouble at ninety-five for six. However Charlie Sorensen (45 from 76) and Nick Jones (50 from 57) then combined to add a decisive eighty-seven for the seventh. Darcy Murphy (3-52) came back to claim the wickets of Sorensen, Jones and James Pope. A Matt Day run out ended the innings on one hundred and ninety-one.

The Rams reply got off to a chaotic start as they lost Yousuf Choudhary and Miguel Machado within the first three balls of the reply delivered by Ed Manning (2-22). When skipper Dan Heath succumbed, to Huckle,  just five overs later the home sides’ hopes were looking lost; particularly with the inform Alex James absent through injury. Youngster Henry Cotton then dug in with Julius Jackson and the pair added forty-eight from eighty-nine balls. Cotton who is very highly rated within the Club and at County Age Group level has endured a challenging year, but hopefully a character and knowledge building one by staying with the two’s rather than taking the easy option by dropping down. This week he scored a creditable thirty-two before being winkled out by former EAPL star Josh Arksey. Unfortunately Day followed just three balls later leg before to the left arm spin of Arksey. Jackson was approaching another half century (44 from 60) when Burwell teenager Dylan Hardy struck in successive balls to remove Jackson and Plaha. It was left, again, for Murphy to marshal the tail with the innings lurching to one hundred and fourteen for seven. Unfortunately, his main ally in this rearguard Tarun Mouli was caught behind by Summerskill off Huckle (2-27) just five runs later.  Murphy with forty-four (from 60) became Arksey’s third victim (3-31) with the score just past the one-fifty mark. Ball intent on batting for the draw, in a win-lose game,  added another eleven runs with Geo Varghese before the latter was bowled by Hardy (3-22) to end the innings on one hundred and sixty-three.

The third team’s season after so much promise fizzled out like a damp squib. Asked to bat by their opponents Aspenden, Standon and Puckeridge they were undone by Devonshire (6-32) and Clark Baxter (3-17) as they plummeted to one hundred and twenty-eight all out inside of thirty overs. Only Roshika Hannage (39) and fourth team skipper Dom Cameron (34) made any progress. In reply the home side raced to an eight-wicket win inside twenty overs. Scott Caine (75 no) put them to the sword as he and fellow opener Michael Thorpe (30) propelled them to a win that saw them overtake the Rams into third place in Division One. Skipper Jake Ellis and Cameron were the only successful bowlers.