As the cricket season reached the halfway point of the season, and with people gripped with World Cup fever, the Ramblas took a break from the rigours of said season and hosted their inaugural family day.
Players, fans and family piled into fortress ex-Blues to watch the England vs Panama game. And as England comfortably put Panama to the sword, focus soon fell on the upcoming cricket match, with Rozy Trotter and Lucy Brewer elected captains for the day.
The Ramblas celebrate Kane’s first goal
Sadly, due to myriad players dropping out, many unannounced, only 15 players were available for selection. But that didn’t dampen the spirit of the players and following a live draft, teams were selected and battle lines were drawn.
Team lineups:
Brewer’s Bashers: Lucy Brewer (c), Chris Thomas, Geoff Parrett, Sam Ford, Pete Ford, Dave Brewer, Steve Fitch
Rozy’s Rascals: Rozy Trotter (c), Michael Cooper, Mark Loughlin, Doug Danks, Steve Cleverley, Alex Danks, Colin Thomas, Matt Rudgyard
Trotter won the toss and after much contemplation, elected to bowl first. And with the heat beating down and reduced numbers, the captains wisely agreed on a 15 over contest.
D. Danks and Loughlin were tasked with opening the bowling for the Rascals and both picked up wickets in their first overs. D. Danks claimed the scalp of S. Ford, who danced down the track and was smartly stumped by Rudgyard. Loughlin then dismissed Parrett thanks to a good catch from Cooper at square leg for three.
Geoff goes big and Matt celebrates his stumping
The two early wickets brought P. Ford and D. Brewer to the crease and while P. Ford looked dangerous early on, he was clean bowled by Loughlin for six.
Skipper L. Brewer joined her dad as the pair looked to rebuild after the loss of early wickets. And at the same time Trotter replaced Loughlin and D. Danks with Cooper and Cleverley.
Dave looking dangerous
The pair were initially watchful but soon brought out the big hits, with D. Brewer looking in particularly fine form. Cleverley made the breakthrough when he clean bowled D. Brewer for 19.
Dave offers words of advice to Stitch
S. Fitch came in at six and immediately hit a flurry of boundaries to help keep the scoreboard ticking over. L. Brewer, sensing now was the time to attack hit a couple of delightful boundaries to take her score into double figures.
The partnership was broken when a suicidal call from Fitch saw him comfortably run out for 11. Ch. Thomas was the next man in and hit a couple of boundaries before being caught by D. Danks off the bowling of Co. Thomas for eight.
Al keeping it real in the field
The dismissal of Thomas brought S. Ford back to the crease and he was in no mood to waste his second chance with the bat. L. Brewer played the anchor role as S. Ford dispatched the ball to all parts as the pair helped the Bashers reach 128-7 off 15 overs.
After a quick turnaround from both teams, Rascal’s captain Trotter chose to open the batting with Cooper. But despite putting on a partnership of six, with neither player scoring a run, Trotter was bowled by Fitch for a duck.
Cooper fell for a duck the next over, clean bowled by Ch. Thomas trying a big drive through the covers. Ch. Thomas picked up his second wicket when Co. Thomas was caught for a duck.
A. Danks and Rudgyard were tasked with rebuilding the innings, but that plan was hampered when Rudgyard was bowled by Fitch for a duck.
Cleverley was the next man in and along with A. Danks hit some important boundaries off the bowling of L. Brewer and S. Ford who were rueing the lack of bodies in the field. The partnership was eventually broken when Cleverley was run out for 13 attempting a risky second run.
D. Danks joined A. Danks and the pair kept the scoreboard ticking over nicely. A. Danks was in glorious touch, dispatching the ball all around the field as he dragged the Rascals through the chase.
After scoring a breezy ten, D. Danks was bowled by Parrett. This brought Loughlin to the crease and along with A. Danks brought the Rascals to the brink of victory.
But a shrewd bowling change by L. Brewer saw a twist in the tale. The Basher’s skipper brought Thomas back into the attack and he picked up the key wicket of A. Danks who departed for a fantastic 46.
And not content with dismissing his dad earlier in the innings, Ch. Thomas then dismissed his girlfriend with a one handed catch off his own bowling.
Cooper returned to the crease with the Rascals needing 15 runs off the last over to claim victory. After hitting four of the first three balls, Loughlin scampered a single off a bye on the fourth.
This left Cooper needing ten off the last two balls to steal the win, and after drilling the ball back over the bowlers head for four, had the fans dreaming of an improbable comeback. Alas, Cooper couldn’t complete the fairytale finish and the Bashers won by five runs.
Following the thrilling match, both teams celebrated with another fantastic BBQ put on by the Fitch clan. A brief presentation ceremony saw Parrett received his 100th appearance tankard, Mr Fitch getting a bottle of wine for his services to BBQs and D. Brewer picking up the MVP award.
All in all, it was a fantastic day for the club, with a convincing England win, a sumptuous feast of food and a dramatic game of cricket. Can’t wait for next year’s rematch!
Presentations all round
The first and last time we ask Ash to be our photographer…