The first team go in search of more Club history

The first team travel to Bury St. Edmunds on Saturday; technically this will not be my first visit to the Victory Ground, as I played there for the Rams almost fifty years ago, and so I shouldn’t need to worry about my rain curse. Or should I? Albert and I are booked in for breakfast so the ‘new’ tradition continues.

The Rams will be without Jack Beaumont, doubtless still celebrating Suffolk’s amazing win against Northumberland earlier this week. The home side sit comfortably in mid-table but only have one solitary win out of the last five matches. Former Walden player Harry Gallian is their top run scorer (399 @ 33.25) in the league whereas the Rams have Ben Claydon, Callum Guest and Ethan Rice all ahead of him. Dan Shanks and Ben Whittaker lead the way with the ball with sixteen wickets apiece which is a handful behind both Claydon and Sykes. If the final day of the Suffolk games is anything to go by the game may rest on whose spinners bowl best. The home side potentially have Freddie Heldreich and Josh Cantrell to supplement Whittaker. The Rams as usual have five or six options in the dark arts section. The Rams enjoyed a comfortable win in the pink ball format in a solid all-round team display in May.

The game of the day, at least on paper, is third versus second when Copdock host Swardeston. A slip up for either may open the door for the sides immediately below them and potentially open up an even more significant gap for the leaders. Horsford host Ramsey who have had a miserable time since the red-ball matches started. Mildenhall host Downham Stow; Witham are at home to Sudbury and finally Frinton entertain AB Wanderers who are both struggling at the moment.

I believe availabilities are good for the other three Rams’ Saturday sides. With selection taking place after the midweek match, a game delayed by twenty-four hours for the World Cup game. Apparently it’s still not coming home!

The captains will want to blend their sides giving all of our promising youngsters a game that best fits in with their development. Some will get opportunities in the seconds again this week but others may be in the thirds. It is clear given the stated objectives of the new second team management duo that all the youngsters will get an opportunity at some point in the remainder of the season as we build for next year. The seconds host against Burwell who have themselves lacked a bit of that consistency that saw them challenge for the title for much of 2025. They still have talent in abundance under skipper Paul Summerskill, Cambridgeshire’s Nic Huckle and overseas Dylan Johnson to name but three. Skipper Julius Jackson will hope that Shiv Darbar has another great week and that a few others can back him up.

The SBCC thirds travel to Ashdon who are two places above the Rams. The Rams badly need to convert one of those typically tight finishes into a long overdue win. The reverse fixture was another of those torturous results where the Rams lost by three wickets off the last ball of an excellent game.

The fourth team entertain Buntingford who will be wary of Rams’ skipper Dom Cameron. Dom scored an unbeaten one hundred and fifty-seven against the team from Hertfordshire just a few weeks back. It was rumoured that the visitors were missing a few on that day, and will be seeking revenge. They currently sit two places below the Rams. SBCC who are sixth but are just five points adrift of second so the home side will want to return to winning ways.

On Sunday the first team look to make more Club history as they attempt to make it into the quarter finals of the ECB National Club Championship. They once again travel; this time to Surrey Premier League Wimbledon. The match was delayed by a week as their ground is used as additional parking for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. The hosts currently sit third just behind Nikhil Gorantla’s Esher in the Surrey league. The winners of this tie will meet another Surrey Premier side Sutton in the last eight. Interestingly the Surrey sides met in a league encounter last Saturday, where Sutton finished six runs short of a victory, seven down, in a draw. The hosts batsmen clearly like the forty over format in this competition as three batsmen Jack Boyle, Tim Lloyd and Billy Sewell have all hit hundreds in this campaign. They are a massive Club with what looks like some absolute fantastic facilities bordering the tennis and golf clubs as well as a lake! So it may well be worth a visit.( Where We Play & Clubhouse | The Wimbledon Cricket Club | England) As a small village Club we go into the match as underdogs but we are expected to be at full strength on Sunday.