The dream is over…

On Sunday Spicers was invaded by a friendly, but vociferous, force as the massed ranks of Shepherds Bush supporters descended on Sawston to support their side in the Rothesay ECB National Club Championship semi-final. Anyone visiting the ground for the first time might have thought that they were the home side! The side from the Middlesex Premier League had certainly left no stone unturned in their desire to reach the final; having rested some key personnel on Saturday they all booked into a local hotel on Saturday night.

The Rams won the toss and opted to bat but were soon under pressure as the opening pair of bowlers Ramon Bailey and Idris Otto-Mian were making the ball talk and being backed up in the field by athletic and enthusiastic work. Otto-Mian made the first breakthrough on thirteen when he had Ralph Hayward snaffled at first slip. He doubled his wicket count when he had Ethan Rice (14 off 11) caught at second slip with the score on thirty-one. Chinmay Mullapudi (1-53) replacing Bailey, with like for like left arm seam, had Ben Claydon adjudged leg before with the score on forty-seven. Otto-Mian (3-32) with four balls of his spell remaining then removed the Rams’ skipper Guest (21 off 46) with the score on sixty-four in the sixteenth. Dan Andrew and Lee Thomason came together with the Rams in need of a steadying but productive partnership. The pair got the Rams to eighty-five for four at drinks at the half-way point (20 overs). With the visitors squeezing, Andrew (30 from 39) attempted to break the shackles and go big but holed out on the midwicket boundary to give Henry Blofield (1-25) some reward for a tight spell. At ninety-for five in the twenty-third over, and despite batting deep, some of the Sawston faithful were looking for a score of one hundred and fifty; hoping for one-eighty and dreaming of two hundred. Thomason was joined by Jack Beaumont and the pair added forty-five (off 59 balls). Beaumont (15 off 32) then  clothed a full toss from Adam Chislett (1-38) as the sixth wicket fell on one hundred and thirty-five with eight-overs and one ball to go. Wayne White joined Thomason and the pair added twenty-four (off 22 balls) before White was caught by Luke Matthews on the boundary. Ben Clilverd (16 from 16) then joined Thomason as they added a useful thirty-eight runs (off 24 balls) before Clilverd was bowled by the impressive Bailey (2-44). Thomason had once again played a crucial innings when it was required as he finished on sixty-three not out (off 68 balls) as the innings closed on two-hundred and three.

Despite the feeling that the home side may have been a few runs short they typically fought back to take two wickets in the power-play. Raj Singh accounted for opener Marcus Howard (15 off 21) and Otto-Mian leg-before to leave the visitors on thirty-three for two. That quietened the crowd but they soon returned to full voice as opener Sidney Thomson and leading run scorer Mitchell Crayn steadied the ship.  Crayn (13 off 28)  was then dismissed by an absolute ‘worldy’ of a catch from Hayward off Beaumont. The ‘worldy’ phrase is often over used but in this case it is justified; a long sprint, a full-length dive and a grab just inches from the ground. The Bush skipper Fin Trenouth then joined the opener Thomson and they took the visitors to ninety-one for three at drinks; the Rams at this point were twelve runs ahead on DLS. The score had just moved into three figures when the Rams went bang-bang as Trenouth (30 off 21)  and then Chislett went within three runs of each other to leave the reply on one hundred and eight for five. Singh (3-24) returned to account for Trenouth and Chislett was bowled by White (1-43). Just when the game had swung towards the Rams the visitors dug deep, Thomson and new partner Luke Matthews then added a vital fifty-eight runs (off 58). With home hopes fading despite the required rate climbing to almost eights; the resilient Rams struck back to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Beaumont (4-33) removed Thomson (60 off 98) before completing a hat-trick to dismiss Harvey Jupp and Mullapudi with consecutive balls. At one hundred and sixty-six for eight, which was effectively nine as one of the Shepherds Bush players had dislocated his shoulder in the field the Rams were looking favourites. Matthews, however,  had other ideas and two big overs put the Bush well and truly back in the game. Matthews moved to a half-century (off 39 balls) and with excellent support from Bailey (10 off 10), they took the total to one hundred and ninety-three with two overs to go. They scrambled six off of the penultimate over; and crucially kept Matthews on strike for the last over. This meant that even if they lost Bailey to a run out, the brave but injured Blofield could come out and stand at the non-strikers end and leave it to Matthews. The nail-biting drama was ended on the third ball when Matthews (68 no off 49)  hit Beaumont for six over long-on as the visitors reached the final with three balls to go. There were some wild scenes as a mass pitch invasion started the long and raucous celebrations. The singing could still be heard from a local pub a couple of hours later!

So well done to the victors, and whilst we didn’t enjoy the result we certainly enjoyed your company. Their willingness to muck in and help us clear up clearly shows that they are a well run and supported Club. We wish them well in the final, which is at Wormsley against New Farnley who chased down Smethwick’s two hundred and sixty-seven in the other semi.

Finally I must say well done to our own side where our travels and games have highlighted that although we are a big club in our own patch we are minnows, except on the pitch, in terms of a lot of the sides in this national competition. Unfortunately 2026 will not be the year of the underdog!