As the sun beat down on an idyllic setting for a game of cricket, the Ramblas visited Wrotham St George’s, hoping to get the monkey off their back and claim the first win of a tough 2018 campaign.
Drew Smith, Chris Thomas and Sam Ford returned to the lineup in place of Tom Danks, Pete Ford and Dave Brewer in what was a relatively easy effort to get a full side out. And it was a special day for Doug Danks, who made his 50th appearance for the Ramblas; congratulations Deadly Doug!
Doug receiving his Baggy Blue from the skipper
Captain Cooper won the toss and elected to bowl first on a very green wicket, with Mark Loughlin and D. Danks once again tasked with opening the bowling and neither disappointed.
Loughlin’s initial five-over spell was electric, getting lift and pace off a pitch that seemingly offered neither. The paceman was unlucky not to claim a wicket, with the batsmen finding the edge more times than a U2 lookalike convention.
From the Pavilion End, D. Danks was back to his miserly self, offering the batsmen little room to get their shots away. And with Geoff Parrett having replaced Loughlin, the spin tandem put the pressure on the opening batsmen.
And that pressure finally told when a full ball from Parrett saw Witts’ attempted sweep find the top edge and Alex Danks claim a simple catch at slip.
With the breakthrough made, the Ramblas bowling attack smelled blood. D. Danks got his first wicket of the day when Pickford went for a drive down the ground but could only find the safe hands of Loughlin at mid-off.
The spin kings relaxing in the field
The pair repeated the trick three balls later when Fleming mistimed a drive and was out for a duck. D. Danks and Parrett bowled excellently in tandem and put the visitors in a great position at the halfway point of the innings.
Steve Fitch and Chris Thomas replaced D. Danks and G. Parrett respectively and, a few looseners aside, carried on the good work of their predecessors. As Humprhreys and Dallison looked to rebuild for the hosts, some strong fielding from the Ramblas kept the scoreboard in check.
Thommo in full flow, sadly minus the headband…
Fitch bagged his first wicket of the day when Dallison’s attempted pull shot picked out Smith at mid-wicket who took a good catch. And the Fitch-Smith axis struck again a mere two balls later when Rogers failed to learn from Dallison’s mistake and popped the ball up to Smith who took a simple catch.
With Fitch bowled out, Cooper brought himself on for a quick two-over spell and the captain continued his happy knack of picking up wickets. His first came when a leg-side ball strangled Humphreys for room and he was clean bowled. Cooper then picked up his second wicket in his next over when Butler played around a straight one.
Cooper bewitched by the ball
While wickets were falling around him, Wrotham’s skipper kept his head and batted brilliantly as he kept the hosts in the game. After driving the ball down to long on, J. Ives was run out thanks to a spectacular throw from Fitch who uprooted the stumps at the striker’s end.
Despite his struggles towards the end of his spell, it didn’t stop Thomas from springing into action to run out A. Ives at the non-striker’s end. After Patterson drilled the ball down the ground, Thomas managed to deflect the ball onto the stumps with a deft touch from his right foot.
Lovely footwork from Thommo to run out A. Ives
Loughlin came on for a final burst and took the wicket of the captain for 51 thanks to a truly exceptional catch from A. Danks at slip. A slower ball from Loughlin saw a prod from Patterson find the edge and A. Danks took a low, diving one-handed catch to scoop the ball out of the air to end the innings on a high.
The greatest catch you’ll never see…
With the hosts all out for 154, the Ramblas headed to tea knowing that their excellent bowling and fielding performance had given them a great chance to claim a maiden victory this season.
After tucking into an excellent tea that got the Parrett thumbs up (the Michelin star of cricket teas), A. Danks and Ford headed out to kick of the Ramblas run chase. And the pair looked in great touch from the get go thanks to some quick running and a healthy smattering of boundaries.
The pair put on 57 for the first wicket before Ford was dismissed after a fantastic one-handed caught and bowled by Rogers for 26. Ford was in disbelief at the dismissal, to the point that several onlookers thought he was refusing to walk…
Rehan Qureshi was in at first drop and initially reined his attacking instincts as he found his feet at the crease. Unfortunately for Qureshi and the rest of the Ramblas, A. Danks was another victim of a superb catch when he was caught behind for 33 thanks to a diving one-handed catch from the ‘keeper off an inside edge.
Smith was the next man in and took up the role of the anchor, while Qureshi started smacking the ball to all parts. Anything full was getting the treatment and many a fielder was dispatched to look for the ball after a bruising six into the bushes.
Rehan swinging from the hips
Alas, with the score at 116, Qureshi fell victim to another excellent caught and bowled, departed for a brilliant 46 off just 31 balls. With 39 runs needed to secure the win, the Ramblas were in the driving seat. But as has been the way this season (and the preceding eight seasons…), a middle-order collapse is never far from sight.
Rudgyard came in at five and, after getting off the mark with a single, was caught at mid-wicket mistiming a hook shot to start the procession of wickets. Cooper was the next man in and after a couple of decent shots was soon out, clean bowled for five. Loughlin attempted to steady the ship but after a delivery kicked up out of the rough, he could only glove his pull shot to the man at leg slip, while Parrett only lasted three balls before being clean bowled for a duck.
A rare duck for Geoff
The Ramblas had gone from 116-2 to 126-7 in the blink of an eye, with Smith and D. Danks tasked with hanging in there and chipping away at the target. D. Danks was now playing the role of anchor, but he finally fell when caught by an excellent running catch from the fielder at mid-on.
Fitch came in at 10 and attempted to hang around with Smith and see the team over the finish line. But another mistimed pull shot saw Fitch depart for two, but not before he had helped take the score to 142-9.
Smith keeping the Ramblas fight alive
Thomas was the final batsmen in and a delightful tickle down the leg side saw him get off the mark and take the score to 144. With the visitors now 11 runs off victory, the Ramblas dared to dream that they might be able to claim victory.
But disaster struck the next over, when Smith was clean bowled for 15 and the Ramblas lost by 10 runs. In what was a beautifully scrappy and hard fought innings from Smith, his crestfallen features mirrored those of his team mates.
The patented Thommo leg glance
The Ramblas had seemingly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and left many player scratching their heads/cursing under their breath on just how they failed to get the win.
But now is not the time to dwell on such matters, now is the time to regroup and refocus on returning to home comforts as the Ramblas take on old rivals Chevening Amblers next week.
Ramblas MVP: Doug Danks (2-23), Mark Loughlin (1-19) and Geoff Parrett (1-11) all excelled with the ball to give the Ramblas a good total to chase. And an honourable mention to Drew Smith whose 15 very nearly dragged us over the line. However for his bruising 31 ball 46 that should have set up a winning chase, this week’s MVP is Rehan Qureshi.
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