Dom-ination: Cameron's Unbeaten 157

On Saturday the Rams entertained third placed Copdock in a red ball encounter at a sultry Spicers Sports Ground. It ended in a draw, and a frustrating one for the Rams, a result that does neither team any favours in trying to keep up with the leading two in the AVL EAPL.

Copdock won the toss and decided to bowl, which probably meant that both camps  were happy! Skipper Callum Guest opened up with regular partner Ralph Hayward and once again they gave the innings a fine start moving to a fifty partnership in ninety-seven balls. Shortly afterwards Guest was caught off a leading edge to give off-spinner Thomas Harper his first wicket. Hayward was joined by the inform Ethan Rice and the pair took the score into three figures in the twenty-eighth over, before moving to their half-century stand off seventy-two balls. Hayward then brought up that individual milestone (off 98 balls). The pair had almost seen the home side through to lunch when a well flighted ball from Fergus Atkins (1-23) deceived Rice (47 from 60); the break came twenty-runs later with the score on one hundred and sixty-two.

Hayward was in sight of a first ton for the Rams (89 from 153 balls) when he was trapped leg before by Andy Hanby (1-50). The fall of the third wicket allowed Dan Andrew to the crease after a couple of weeks of pad rash; he added thirty runs with Ben Claydon (off 42 balls) when he was caught behind, by Jacob Marston, to give Harper a second wicket (2-69). When Claydon (35 from 49) followed just two runs later a first victim of the day to the Suffolk sides’ overseas Mihlali Mpongwana (1-29) the innings was in danger of being derailed. The experienced pair of Lee Thomason (21 no from 24) and ex-Copdock player Jack Beaumont (30 no from 24 balls) ensured the last forty-six balls of the innings yielded exactly fifty runs.

Copdock needed two hundred and seventy-one from a minimum of fifty-six overs, however a rain interruption would reduce this to fifty-one overs. The visitors moved sedately to fifty (from 115 deliveries) before reaching tea with the openers unbowed and the score on sixty-five (after twenty-five overs). They then lost Ollie Burle (34 from 75) almost immediately after tea when he was caught behind, by Thomason, off Beaumont. Beaumont then added a second to remove the other opener, Luke Froggatt (37 from 98) at the end of the thirty-first. Ishaan Rakesh (23 off 46) then handed the Suffolk County spinner his third wicket (3-47) with the score just into three figures. The Rams then smelt blood as Mpongwana, Marston and Harper all fell within seven runs and ten balls to leave the visitors on one hundred and twenty-five for six. James Sykes continuing in his rich vein of form removed all three. Douglas Mlambo (13 from 31) and Liam Mays (21 no from 28) then added twenty-nine for the seventh wicket, but crucially eating up fifty balls; Mlambo with just three balls to go had a swish at Sykes as the left armer finished with another four-fa (4-33) as the visitors’ innings ended on one hundred and fifty-four for seven.

Elsewhere in the AVL EAPL 2026 there were comfortable away wins for the leading two Horsford (at Bury) and Mildenhall (at Frinton). Frinton’s troubles deepened when Sudbury thumped AB Wanderers. With Swardeston winning at Downham and Witham at Ramsey that completed a clean sweep for the travelling sides!

Fourth team skipper Dom Cameron stole the headlines as fourth placed SBCC visited third place Buntingford in Division 4s. Despite losing makeshift opener Adrian Platt and number three Trevor Nicholl with fifty on the board young opener Nathaneal Vice and the skipper then added one hundred and nineteen for the third wicket. Fourteen-year-old Vice, an emergency call up just five weeks ago scored another half-century and took his five-match adult cricket aggregate to two hundred and forty runs (at an average of forty-eight)! The skipper then plundered another sixty-nine runs with Richard Nicholl (3 no); to finish on an astonishing one hundred and fifty-seven not out (off only 79 balls). He however didn’t set a personal best as this innings was still nineteen runs shy of his career best. Hutchinson (2-53) and Neill (1-31) were the only successful bowlers as the home side were set two hundred and thirty-nine to win in their forty overs.

The visitors struck early as teens Joel Jordan (2-18) and Josh Coleman (1-22) reduced the home side to thirty for three. King (28 from 36) and Cakebread (22 from 18) counter-attacked for Buntingford. They added thirty-nine before Cakebread was dismissed by Alex Myles. King and Wisson then added eleven more before a collapse saw the innings rapidly close. The hosts lost six wickets for just five runs. Essex Disability squad player Myles finished with four for eleven and the experienced Platt weighed in with three for twenty-six as the innings closed to give the Rams a massive one hundred and fifty-three run win.

A weakened Rams second string faced the daunting trip to third placed Eaton Socon in the Onyx Premier. Despite fielding a number of teenagers with a three stepping up from the thirds they put up a decent performance with an exceptional team spirit.

The Hunts side won the toss and decided to bat. One of the more experienced players Geo Varghese, who had been under bowled this term, picked up two prize wickets (2-32) when he removed the experienced pair of Matt Pateman (22 from 34) and Jon Carpenter (29 from 41) after the pair had added fifty-four for the first. For a ten over spell Varghese and fellow opening bowler Dylan Hardy (an emergency seamer rather than his usual off spin) held the opposition in check. Tom Banks gave Hardy a deserved wicket (1-58)  and a reward for his useful twelve over spell. Olly Jeffries (22 from 43) and Jamie Vale had just hit the accelerator when Zane Denington stepping up from the thirds had Jeffries caught in the deep by Ari Sen. The game was then grabbed by the scruff as Vale (71 from 71)  and Harrison Mitchell (71 from 66) added ninety-nine for the fifth. Shiv Darbar (3-62) did his best to restrict the damage by removing Vale, Ray Jordan and Joe Dawborn. The home side then declared after forty-eight overs on two hundred and fifty-eight for seven. 

In reply the Rams lost Henry Cotton and Dan Barnes (after a boundary rich 18) both victims of Scott Stevenson (2-48) with only thirty on the board. That brought the Rams most experienced pair in the batting line up together, Hardy and skipper Julius Jackson. Their fledgling partnership was interrupted by a sickening blow to Hardy’s head from the express pace of Jordan. The heavy rain not coming quick enough for the floored Ram. There was a short break due to the treatment of the stricken Hardy and the rain. The Rams teens after witnessing the upsetting scenes were asked whether they would prefer not to bat or even go down the order. Showing great courage, determination and team spirit they were adamant that they wanted to bat in their allotted positions.

On resumption, Jordan accounted for Sen and fourteen-year-old Dhrona negotiated Jordan’s last ball (1-10) before he was ‘kindly’ withdrawn from the attack. There was no respite as the experienced Joe Dawborn entered the fray and gave all the remaining batters a real working over in all senses of the word! Dhrona succumbed to an attempted hook with a ball that got a bit big on the diminutive batter to give Dawborn his first wicket. At fifty for four the Rams were in deep trouble. Fifteen-year-old Dan Pretorious (29  from 43) then joined the skipper, and batted with impressive maturity, and they added forty-seven runs. With three figures in sight Dawborn trapped the teen in front. Shiv Darbar followed fourteen runs later, another victim of the former Cambridgeshire paceman. Dennington (11 from 22) following on from his superb innings in the thirds last week then applied himself excellently to add an important thirty-three with the skipper. JJ Hewitt (2-12) then picked up Dennington and Varghese before the skipper saw the Rams to a first batting point before he was caught, for fifty-six (off 94) to give Dawborn (4-29) and the home side another win.

The third team again lost another tight one when they lost to Whittlesford by two wickets with just three balls to go.  SBCC skipper Jake Ellis who was missing a few players this week won the toss and opted to bat. Matt Ellis making an emergency appearance hit a sparkling fifty-six (from 57). Despite Jake Ellis (25 from 36); Niall Barber (19 from 34); Etienne Lamb (15 from 41) and Ayra Saeb-Parsy (22 from 27) getting starts no-one could make a sizeable contribution and a total of one hundred and ninety is always chaseable at the Churchman Ground. Tom Burdett (2-19), Odane Williams (2-58) and Akshaj Krishnan (2-23) all picked up braces but Krishnan Kumar with eight tight overs also put the brakes on.

In reply the visitors were indebted to Akshaj Krishnan’s eighty-seven (off 86 balls) and twenty-five late on from Williams (off25) to get Whittlesford home despite Lamb’s quartet of wickets (4-36) threatening to take the home side to victory. Jake Ellis, Faheem Noushad and Arnav Wadekar picked up solitary scalps for the Rams.