Cricket’s back and we luv it!
Insomniacs fear not; after months of sleepless nights relief is on its way as my match previews and match reports are restarting this week. Get some rest!
As you may be aware from previous social media posts the SBCC first team squad has been refreshed. The losses of Mark Smith, George Darlow, Yousuf Choudhary, Henry Wilson and Tarun Mouli have been balanced by the recruitment of Raj Singh, James Sykes, Ralph Hayward, Dylan Hardy and Dan Andrew.
Unfortunately, one of our other ever presents has succumbed to a long-term injury and a desire to have a sabbatical in order to refresh his batteries. James Vandepeer has been one of the constant and consistent parts of the Rams journey, and successes, that has taken us from the Cambs and Hunts Premier league to the very pinnacle of East Anglian cricket. He has played a large part in our five title triumphs in the seven seasons he has spent as a Ram. His Rams record shows one hundred and thirty-five wickets, with most of these taken in the EAPL. His opening spell generally set the tone, providing regular early breakthroughs; and had he received the luck his efforts deserved his wicket take would have been closer to the two hundred mark. His best 8/39 coming against Wisbech. He was also a very handy performer with the bat; one of those rarities that have batted at numbers one and eleven! His most memorable knock, although there were plenty of important runs, was his house clearing seventy not out against Sudbury. Being churlish I refuse to mention his only hundred on his play cricket record, as that was against us for Chippenham! We will miss JVP on the field but hope to see him around in between the multitude of holidays he has planned. The Rams had planned to replace JVP with an opening bowler from Tasmania but unfortunately he has just dropped out due to injury.
On Saturday we face Mildenhall who will be looking to bounce back into a more challenging position than they achieved in 2025; where they finished eighth. They welcome back Kc Cariappa for his third season where the Indian allrounder will be aiming for a hattrick of EAPL leading-wicket taking titles. He is also dangerous with the bat. They have also recruited George Bartlett, a middle order batter and off spinner, who has represented Somerset and England U-19’s and is currently with Northants. This is presumably as a replacement for Saif Zaib whose exploits have made him a regular with Northants in all three formats. The Northants pair are probably suffering from pad-rash as neither were required as their County plundered 684 for two against Kent! Other than that we expect to see plenty of familiar faces led by skipper Tristan Blackledge and Cambridgeshire pair Joe Tetley and Jack Loveday. In the absence of Jack Potticary the batting will look to Suffolk’s Darren Ironside and last year’s leading run scorer Matt Allen.
The Rams skipper, Callum Guest, has a full squad to choose from in week one. The skipper will be joined in the squad by his faithful Cambridgeshire lieutenants Wayne White, Ben Claydon, Lee Thomason, Ethan Rice, Ben Clilverd; and Suffolk’s Jack Beaumont. The five new boys will be pushing for debuts and so the skipper may have a few tricky conversations to manage.
This year’s EAPL is expected, by a good few observers, to be very competitive although the form book from recent years means that you would place Horsford, Copdock and the Rams amongst the pre-season favourites. My pick would be Horsford as they are perhaps the most settled side and are perhaps the most consistent side in terms of player availabilities. Like the Rams they have plenty of options with bat and ball but perhaps their squad depth makes them my title favourites!
Horsford start with a trip to AB Wanderers; Copdock visit Downham Stow, new boys Ramsey host Sudbury; a much-changed Swardeston host Witham and the other tie sees Mark Smith’s Frinton visit another of his previous clubs Bury.