A rare blank weekend for the Rams

The Rams played some aggressive cricket in an attempt to revive their own title hopes by inflicting a first defeat on the unbeaten leaders Horsford. Despite outplaying their hosts in Norfolk for much of the game they were ultimately thwarted by some ‘rain’ and the rain rules.

In an attempt to maximise their chances of a much-needed win Sawston skipper decided to insert the home side after winning the toss. It was clear from the parched outfield that this part of Norfolk had been sweltering in the last week. This was a brave decision given that Horsford had been scoring runs for fun in the first half of the season. The home side started ominously with the aggressive Neil Hornbuckle hitting Raj Singh for four boundaries in the first six balls. Lee Thomason, the Rams keeper, then forced the opener to revise his game plan when he decided to come up to the stumps shortly after. This paid almost immediate dividends when the Sawston seamer gained revenge by bowling Hornbuckle (22 from 14 balls). Singh doubled up (2-53) when he had the other opener JC Malherbe smartly caught by Ben Clilverd. James Sykes then removed home skipper William Rogers with a ball that seemed to grip leaving the home side on twenty-nine for three, with the hosts losing three wickets for just one run. Two of the hosts prolific batters Jordan Neil and Charlie Hood then attempted to rebuild. Hood was then ‘caught’, spectacularly by Clilverd when he was on just six. Unfortunately for the Rams the umpire disagreed. However, the Rams hit back almost immediately with a very unusual run out, the unfortunate Neil was sacrificed by his partner. After two conferences the batsman was eventually given out; which apparently was the correct decision in the end. This left the hosts on forty-two for four. William Bowman then joined Hood offering sensible support to his more expansive colleague. The pair moved to a half century stand (from 89 balls) before they saw Horsford into three figures in the twenty-sixth over. Bowman’s resistance (30 from 66 balls) was broken with the pair just one shy of a century stand, when he was bowled by Ben Claydon. With the Rams hoping for one more wicket before lunch the hosts again frustrated the visitors as the break arrived, with the game interestingly poised, at one hundred and forty-eight for five (after 39 overs).

After lunch the Rams appeared to wrestle back control as Nathan Muggeridge was caught in the deep off Claydon (2-55) with the score on one hundred and sixty-seven. Hood then completed a superb century (off 151 deliveries) before the Rams struck with three wickets for just nine runs in thirty-three balls. Ethan Rice (2-26) bowled Hood and Ryan Findlay with successive deliveries before Ben Panter was caught by Guest to gives Sykes a second. With the home side on one hundred and ninety-eight for nine and still four overs of the possible sixty-four to go the Rams were hoping for a few bonus overs. However the last pair Callum Metcalfe (22 from 60) and Alex Lincoln (14 from 10) had other ideas, adding twenty-five and taking the innings into the last over, before Sykes (3-46) again combined with Clilverd to remove Metcalfe.

The Rams needed two hundred and twenty-four from fifty-six overs to inflict a first defeat on Horsford.  They had progressed nicely to sixty-five for two at tea. The Rams having lost Ralph Hayward and Ethan Rice both off the bowling of Findlay. The chase was set up nicely with another one hundred and fifty-nine required from a possible thirty-three overs. Some very light rain arrived at the end of the tea break. In cricket the regulations state that you cannot commence or re-commence play if its raining. So the Rams were then left frustrated as forty minutes were lost leading to a reduction of thirteen overs! Ironically if play had re-started after the break and before the rain arrived then play would have been possible for the full allocation of overs. The delay meant that the Rams would now need to score at eight runs an over. That would be difficult enough in a fifty-over match with fielding restrictions but almost impossible with no such limitations and technically no limit to the number of overs each bowler could bowl. The Rams gave it a good go and revised the batting order to maximise their chances. Despite Claydon (65 from 71 balls) anchoring the innings the Rams continued to lose regular wickets in an attempt to chase. They lost Guest (37 from 67); Dan Andrew; Lee Thomason (22 from 20); Miguel Machado; James Sykes (16 from 13) and Dylan Hardy as Findley picked up six for seventy-three and Hornbuckle a brace (2-36). The chase was finally called off with four overs to go and the Rams finished on one hundred and eighty-two for eight. To add insult to injury the league leaders ended up with more points than the Rams! As the Rams would testify to win the EAPL title you need to have all the skills and play well consistently but somewhere in the campaign you’re going to need some good fortune and it appeared that Horsford had a little bit of that on Saturday.

I was harshly singled out for criticism, mainly by Cindy,  following my first visit to Horsford, and the return of my first visit rain curse (adding to trips to Swardeston, Copdock, Downham Stow (snow) Sudbury, and March (with Cambs)). Albert later confessing that although it was his second visit there  hadn’t been a ball bowled all day on his previous journey to Horsford! The good news for the first team is that I’ve only got one remaining first visit left in the EAPL (Bury)!

Second placed Mildenhall continue to look the biggest threat to Horsford for the AVL EAPL title as they put in another impressive performance to defeat Bury. Swardeston remain title outsiders as they defeated Ramsey. Copdock demolished AB Wanderers; Downham Stow thrashed Sudbury and Frinton held on for a draw at Witham.

The second team endured another difficult afternoon with the bat against high flying Saffron Walden. They were briefly in the game when Walden slipped from ninety-seven for no wicket to one hundred and fifteen for four, as our spin twins Shiv Darbar and Adi Datta shared the wickets. Our spinning duo who have contrasting levels of experience both bowled their maximum allocation (14 overs) with Shiv (2-24) and Adi (2-42) both picking up braces. The early runs were scored by Michael Turner (61 from 53 balls) and Ben Spargo (32 from 49). The experienced pair of Finn Karsten (68 off 94) and Alex Sears (30 off 19) ensured that it was as good as it got for the Rams as they helped the visitors post two hundred and sixty before declaring in the fifty-fifth. This week’s ‘guest’ seamer was skipper Julius Jackson who along with Oli Humphreys and Dan Barnes all picked up solitary wickets as the hosts with the help of a run out captured eight wickets.

The home sides reply never got going with only fifteen-year-old Ethan Hayes-Fernandez (26 no) and Ari Sen (13) making it into double figures as the home side were bundled out for a paltry sixty-two. Spargo (4-17); overseas Nimnaka Jayathilake (3-26) and Sears (3-5) were too good on the day. Sears even managing to penetrate the Rahul Dravid like defence of Humphreys!

The thirds contrived to lose another very tight game when losing to Great Shelford by ten runs on a Lords like wicket. The hosts posted one hundred and ninety-eight all out; thanks to some excellent ball striking from Raj Rangasamy (61 from 52) and a slightly more sedate Jeff Wilson (41 from 50).  The Ellis’, Skipper Jake (3-35) and his father Gary (2-21,) led the way with the ball; before fourteen-year-old Gaby Harter returned to pick up three wickets (3-39) assisted by  another teen Arnav Wadekar (2-26) to bowl out the hosts.

In reply the Rams skipper scored a run a ball forty-four and added seventy-four with Etienne Lamb (26 off 36) and the Rams looked handily placed at seventy-seven for one; however both were then dismissed with no addition to the score. Faheem Noushad (15 off 13) helped last week’s half centurion Matt Ellis (29 from 53) recover to ninety-seven for three before the Rams again lost two wickets in close succession as they slipped to ninety-eight for five. Sam Ronco (17 off 30) and Ellis seemed to be steering the Rams home as they added thirty-four for the sixth; before Gary Ellis (13 off 15) joined Ellis to add another thirty-four. At one hundred and sixty-six for six the game was in the visitors’ hands until Ellis was undone by a ‘pea-roller’.  Gary Ellis followed five runs later and despite Harter (11 no from 9) the Rams ran out of steam just ten runs short. There were braces for Henry Wilson (2-43), Jeff Wilson (2-14) and Mark Milne (2-30)  with Lee, Pickthorn and Sakthivel all gaining one scalp. 

The fourth team’s luck ran out when they came across a Birchanger side containing Robert Tyler and James Cole. The pair had combined spectacularly earlier in the season when leading the visitors to a two hundred and ninety run winning chase at Ickleton; both hit unbeaten hundreds that day. On Saturday Tyler hit one hundred and twenty-four whilst Cole failed with a mere eighty-two; Dave Cole added a useful unbeaten thirty-four as the Essex side finished on two hundred and seventy-six for six. Leading wicket taker Adrian Platt (3-45) picked up three expensive victims with teenager Josh Coleman (2-40) picking up two top order batsmen for ducks; the unfortunate consequence was that it brought Tyler and Cole to the crease together!

Teenager Nathaneal Vice (34) continued with his amazing run of league scores and formed a useful partnership with Richard Molton (39) but these two were the only significant scorers as the home side were bowled out for one hundred and twenty-five. Tyler (4-24) and James Ferguson (3-34) led the way with the ball with Greg Solomon (2-24) chipping in with two wickets.