It’s red ball crunch time

SBCC meet Swardeston at Spicers on Saturday having both won their first two red ball matches; so something must give at the weekend. However, with some talk of the prospects of as exceptional summer it would, almost inevitably, appear that both sides may have to beat the weather first.

Most thought that the visitors would need time to transition following the loss of the Taylors and former skipper Lewis Denmark over the last two seasons. However, they have built an excellent squad around captain Alfie Cooper; stalwarts Peter Lambert, Adam Todd and Richard Sims, and the now anglicised Saranga Rajaguru. That was a smart move in getting your overseas married off. If only we’d had done  that with Haggy, but then again perhaps not! They have also recruited an Australian overseas Tim Ward, a left-hander with Sheffield Shield and BBL experience. Ward was named as the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year in 2021-22. To supplement the experience they have a couple of youngish seamers in Tom Bailey and Lewis Reader; and recruited another youngster Jonah Wicks from the Witches. Ben France and Matthew Taylor have also returned to the first team squad having helped the second team at the back end of 2025. No one has starred with the bat so far but that’s not really surprising as they haven’t had many to chase in the last fortnight of red ball cricket after demolishing Frinton and Bury. This form has moved them into second in the AVL EAPL. They also enjoyed a pink ball win over the Rams at the back end of 2025.

The Rams will have been delighted with their own work over the last fortnight with three wins, including a National Club Championship win on Sunday. They would have been even more delighted to see normal service being returned as Ben Claydon played two unbeaten knocks in the weekend. On top of this he moved to the top of the ladder in the race to be the top wicket-taker; he is currently on nineteen league scalps. Adam Todd is Swardeston’s leader and also the leading seamer. The Rams are likely to make a couple of changes with the return of the schools and schools’ cricket.

Elsewhere the unbeaten leaders, Horsford, take their impressive record and form to Mildenhall. Copdock will be looking to make up ground when they visit bottom club Frinton. Downham Stow and Witham will both be looking for a win and a return to better form when they meet in Norfolk. Ramsey face a tricky trip, in all senses, when they make the journey to AB Wanderers. Finally Bury will want to arrest their dip when they face Sudbury at home, with the visitors looking to build on their draw last week.

Two struggling sides meet at the picturesque Southill Park when the Rams will be hoping to get off the mark and finally get their season moving. In echoes of last season’s poor start at least this year they are able to look back at some encouraging, if incomplete performances. This is also the start of the red-ball campaign and both sides will be hoping that it will offer a change in momentum. The home side have yo-yoed between the two top divisions. Only the weather defeated them in their Onyx Two title win last season. The Rams welcome back vice-captain Julius Jackson and midweek skipper Oli Humphreys with overseas recruit Paarth Thakur making his second appearance. The home side still contain a number of familiar names from contests with them over the last five years or so but also seem to have one or two newish faces including handy all-rounder Hitesh Chauhan. Both he and Ajay Momi have hit league centuries this season. However neither, unlike Vibhor Yadav and Miguel Machado, appear in the division’s top ten run scorers. Vibhor doubles up as he is amongst the leaders in the wicket-taking ladder.

The Rams third team are also on their travels and looking for that elusive first win; they make the trek down the M11 to Birchanger. It could be a nail biter as it would appear like the Rams they too love a close contest. They have two wins from four games. A review of their season so far seems to show that they have found runs at a premium but have a habit of one of their batters making a decent score. They seem to have plenty of wicket-taking options with the ball and a couple of all-rounders led by captain Elliot Sellears.  

The fourth team have a toughie when they face unbeaten and runaway leaders Stapleford in Division 4s. The opposition from across the river are led by former Ram Gareth Everson, and their leading run scorer, and indeed the leader in the Division, is Arnav’s father Varun Wadekar. The Rams have new season recruits sitting in the top ten, and Nathanael Vice and Faheem Noushad will be hoping to chase him down. To combat the Division’s top run scorer the Rams hope to have the Division’s top wicket-taker Adrian Platt back in action this week. Stapleford have the skipper’s son Rohan and Rajesh Nair amongst the leaders in the bowler’s ladder.

The Thirds could make history on Sunday when they are due to play in the Invitation Cup for the first time. This competition was for many years at the pinnacle of Cambridgeshire Village cricket, just behind the Senior league. The Competition sponsored by Mr Groundsman will make its own history this year by becoming the first competition played under the Hundred format; good luck with that one captains! The Rams are at home against Girton from Senior Three. The thirds are not the first ever Junior league side to play in the Invitation Cup, however that honour remains with Sawston CC who were parachuted into the competition as a Junior 3 side in the early nineties; they made it all the way to the final. They were blessed with a classy opening bowler, if my rose-tinted memory serves me well!