While bad weather put paid to England’s hopes of play, the Ramblas didn’t let some light rain and cloudy skies put them off their game at home to Wrotham St George. And following last week’s strong performance against Dormansland, the hosts were looking for more of the same.
Chris Thomas returned to line up, as did Ramblas originals Johnny & Laurie Stocks, and Duane Hall as Michael Cooper had the great fortune of having a lineup sorted with little difficulty. With clouds forecast throughout the day, Cooper won the toss and elected to bowl, hoping the conditions would prove fruitful.
Thommo & Doug with the new ball
Doug Danks and Thomas opened the bowling for the Ramblas, the pair miserly in the opening overs, giving the batsmen very little to work with. Thomas’s four over spell went wicketless and he was replaced by Cooper.
The breakthrough came on the cusp of drinks, when a sharp piece of fielding, and some hesitant running, saw Mark Loughlin run out Pickford for 31. Danks rattled through his spell was unable to conjure that elusive wicket but his figures of 7-1-22-0 were a testament to his performance with the ball.
Mark with the run out
With Danks bowled out and keen to apply some more pressure, Cooper made a double change, replacing himself with Loughlin and Hall coming on in place of Danks. Loughlin claimed the wicket of the other opener Harrison in his second over, trapping him LBW for 42.
Hall then picked up his first of the day when Wrotham’s number three popped up a simple chance at point to Cooper. The Ramblas had picked up wickets in quick succession and the visitors were now 91-3.
Cooper & Hall combine for the third wicket
In order to keep Loughlin back for the death overs, Cooper brought himself back on, hoping that a significant change in pace could keep Wrotham’s big hitting middle order in check. And once again, the Ramblas skipper’s wicket taking knack was in effect, picking up a wicket in consecutive overs.
His first wicket came when William mistimed a pull shot and Matt Rudgyard took an easy catch behind the stumps. And his second came thanks to an excellent catch at deep mid wicket by Haydn Evans, much to the delight of the player and his team mates.
Thomas and Loughlin replaced Hall and Cooper respectively but the pair couldn’t pick up any further wickets as Wrotham finished up on 201-5.
Despite some earlier drizzle, the rain departed when it came time for the Ramblas to bat. Opening the innings was J. Stocks and birthday boy Simon Triggs. The pair, while initially cautious, punished any loose delivery.
Simon and Johnny on the attack
On the cusp of drinks, the partnership was finally broken on 95 when J. Stocks was caught behind down the leg side for a well made 42. Rudgyard was in at first drop and looked in good touch early doors, hitting a pair of sizzling boundaries.
Triggs was the second man to go, four runs shy of his maiden Ramblas fifty when he was caught in the covers off the bowling of Rothwell. Christensen was in at four and he’d barely found his footing before two batting partners came and went in successive balls. First Rudgyard was bowled for 11 by Rothwell, and then Evans was also clean bowled next ball.
Matt hitting the ground running
Christensen was dismissed shortly after and the Ramblas were in trouble. From 95-0 to 117-5, the hosts needed a big partnership to drag themselves back in the game. Loughlin and L. Stocks were the men tasked with building that partnership.
L. Stocks got off the mark with a delightful boundary, smashing the ball back over the bowlers head to score his first Ramblas run since 2014. Alas, his stay at the crease didn’t last much longer as he was bowled by Bragg for 4.
Cooper was in at eight with the aim of supporting Loughlin as he kept the scoreboard ticking along. But as the run rate continued to increase, Cooper was dismissed for 4 by Rothwell, clean bowled going for a heave to the leg side. Hall was next man in but was clean bowled first ball leaving Rothwell on his second hat-trick opportunity in the innings.
Varying degrees of success with the bat
Danks saw off the hat trick ball but shortly afterwards Loughlin was out for a 22 ball 34 when he edged one to the ‘keeper off the bowling of Rothwell. Thomas for the last man in, but didn’t last long as Rothwell pinned him LBW to pick up his 7th wicket of the game.
Despite a decent start with the bat, some strong middle over bowling from Wrotham saw them emerge victors by 34 runs.
Ramblas MVP: Simon Triggs. An excellent 48 with the bat that helped build a platform in the run chase that the Ramblas weren’t quite able to build on.