In what is fast becoming a character building season, the Ramblas returned home to take on Sherwood, aiming to get their season kick started. And with glorious weather and a much hyped Danks tea, the Ramblas were ready for action.
With Dave Brewer rested after wearing a few last week, Johnny Stocks and Sam Ford returned to the line up. Captain Cooper lost the toss and the Ramblas were put in to bat.
Alex Danks and Stocks opened the batting for the hosts but it wasn’t long before Stocks was back in the hutch, caught at first slip off the bowling of Hill for a duck.
Johnny departs for a duck
A. Danks looked far more like the player of previous seasons and together with Ford, helped give the innings some momentum. But with the score on 31, A. Danks mistimed a drive down the ground and was caught at deep mid on for 19.
Al and Sam keep the scoreboard ticking
Matt Rudgyard was the next man in and along with Ford was tasked with rebuilding. The former hitting a couple of delightful boundaries before a change in bowling saw the runs dry up. But the pair couldn’t kick on after Ford was caught for an uncharacteristic seven off 46 balls.
Sam and Matt try to rebuild the innings
Cooper came in at five and it wasn’t long after when Loughlin came in at six, after Rudgyard was clean bowled for ten by Augustin. Cooper and Loughlin steadied the ship, with the former playing the stoic anchor while the former attempted to fight fire with fire.
But sadly, as with most of the season, when wickets fell, they fell in clusters. Cooper was bowled for one by Augustin and Louglin fell the same way for five as the hosts found themselves at 57-6.
Mixed emotions on the sidelines.
Ed Gibbs and Doug Danks were the next cabs off the rank, and after getting on the mark with a sweep to the square leg boundary, Gibbs mistimed a pull shot and was dismissed for four. D. Danks departed soon after, clean bowled by Augustin for one.
Up, up and…out
Ramblas originals Chris Thomas and Steve Fitch were at the crease and thanks to sharp running and solid forward defensives managed to drag the score to 78 before Thomas was clean bowled by Kerr for seven.
Parrett was the last man in, and despite his own struggles with the bat this season, looked in great touch as he hit a quick fire 14 to take the total to 98 before being bowled by Kerr.
Geoff calmly swats the ball away for a boundary
Another underwhelming performance with the bat saw the Ramblas head to the pavilion in a sombre mood. But thanks to a truly fantastic effort from A. Danks’ better half Jess Ellis, the Ramlas’ spirits were lifted by arguably the tea of the season so far.
After being well fed, the hosts headed out to the field knowing the had to be sharp from ball one to have any chance of stealing the win.
Cooper opted to open the bowling with Loughlin and Thomas, and the former made an early breakthrough, clean bowling Webster for one.
Matt celebrates Mark’s wicket for him
Hobbes came in at three for the visitors and was in no mood to hang around, hitting five boundaries before eventually being caught, just, by Thomas off the bowling of Loughlin.
Thomas & Loughlin were replaced by D. Danks and Parrett respectively. But unfortunately for D. Danks, Sherwood’s number four, Daniels, took a liking to his bowling and after conceding a few maximums was taken out of the attack.
Sam with a sharp stumping effort
Fitch replaced D. Danks for two overs before being replaced by Gibbs as the visitors raced towards the target. Parrett was bowling at the peak of his powers and got his deserved wicket when he trapped Daniels LBW.
Alas, that wicket couldn’t inspire house of cards level collapse from Sherwood and they wrapped up the innings with a boundary in the seventeenth over.
Niamh, once again, sums up the day perfectly
It was another frustrating day at the office for the Ramblas, with runs seemingly impossible to come by. But as ever, there are always positives to take. Loughlin took his 150th wicket for the Ramblas and Parrett notched his 100th appearance for the club.
We move on to next week’s game at Chislehurst, aiming to get revenge on last season’s defeat.
Ramblas MVP: Alex Danks looked more like his old self with the bat for a run a ball 19, and Geoff Parrett bowled beautifully. But for a truly epic tea on debut that helped keep the morale of the troops up, this week’s MVP is Jess Ellis.