After the disappointment of a narrow loss to Ex Blues last weekend the Ramblas returned to fortress Ex Blues in the hope of securing a victory that would mean ending the season with as many wins as losses.
In the absence of Ramblas legend, and skipper, Michael Cooper, Matt Rudgyard was tasked with leading the team out against Battersea Eagles. This was to be the third game of the season between the teams but unfortunately with the Eagles leading the mini series 2-0 there was no deciding result to be had – more the chance of restoring the Ramblas’ pride.
Into the side came Geoff Parrett, Jon Loughlin as replacements for JP Aubin Parvu and Drew Smith. And back for his first appearance of the season came Ed Gibbs as replacement for the skipper.
As appears to be fast becoming a tradition between these two sides the toss was uncontested and the Eagles were put into bat. The Ramblas were keen to disrupt their harmonies early and to see if they could unsettle this particular group of Eagles in a manner not unlike at Long Beach, California on the 31st July 1980.
The stand-in Captain turned to James Dilley and Chris Thomas with the new ball and success was almost immediate, with Dilley removing the opening batsman Raj LBW in only his second over. The less said about his first over the better – though the feeling from the bowler was that the new ball was slipping from his hand with alarming regularity.
Thomas was, as ever, neat and tidy, putting the batsmen under pressure with plenty of dot balls and had his reward in his third over when he removed Gul, caught by Parrett in his third over and then had Safi caught expertly by Luke Sheridan without scoring.
The pair continued in tandem through the first 10 overs and Dilley was reward with another wicket removing Kul Want LBW with another unplayable delivery.
Rudgyard then turned to youth and tossed the, thankfully less polished ball, to Ben Sheridan and Ollie Travers to see if they could make a further breakthrough before drinks. Sheridan and Travers bowled tightly and with skill and expertise that belied their status as young guns of the team. Travers taking the prized wicket of the verbose Eagles captain Harris – another LBW victim.
Drinks were taken with Battersea Eagles rocking at 82 for 5 and the Ramblas were already sensing an early tea break.
Mike deep in thought at the drinks break
Alas, the Eagles fortunes recovered after the break. The new batsmen Affan and Faisal set about making a recovery and Rudgyard turned to his mystery spinners in Parrett and Alloway to se if they could give the batsmen something further to think about.
The running between the wickets at this point suggested that a run out was definitely on the cards but surprisingly it was a catch taken by Luke Sheridan off the bowling of Parrett that dismissed Affan after a smart call by the skipper to station Sheridan at deep cover.
Parrett picked up another wicket shortly after – again combining with Luke Sheridan to see Zeeshan dismissed, caught for a duck.
Faizi entered the fray at number nine and unlike your average late order batsman promptly set about attacking the bowling of Alloway and Parrett – launching the ball to all parts of the ground, amassing a very quick 41 runs before being caught by Loughlin at midwicket off the bowling of Parrett. A wicket that brought Parrett level with Dilley for most wickets in the season.
In terms of the catch itself, it’s difficult to find the superlatives to say how good it was – Loughlin was quick to see the ball off the bat but initially his only thought would have been to try to prevent the boundary. However, he is like a greyhound which meant he was able to stick out a paw and take a stunning one handed catch on the run at midwicket.
Rudgyard brought Luke Sheridan into the attack for a short spell before turning back to Dilley and Thomas to finish of the innings and to attempt to stem the flow of runs in the final overs.
Faisal continued to bat superbly, barely giving a chance to the Ramblas bowlers and putting away bad balls when they arose.
Battersea Eagles finished their innings on 251 for 8 – a very decent total given where they were at the halfway point but a total that the Ramblas felt confident of chasing down.
Tea was taken while Rudgyard considered how best to set up the batting to accumulate this challenging target.
He decided on an initial pairing of Luke Sheridan and Jon Loughlin. Rudgyard was keen to see Sheridan spend as much time at the crease knowing that an innings of 104 would see him take the record of most runs in a season.
Jon on the attack
The pair started cautiously but soon found their rhythm, and the boundary, with some regularity before Loughlin’s stumps were dismantled by Captain Harris for 15.
At 63 for 1, next in was Jason Christensen, who with a decent bit of form recently probably felt confident of supporting Sheridan and boosting the run rate which had already started to lag a little. Unfortunately, despite a pre innings Jaeger bomb, his innings was short lived as he was bowled by Shaq for just 6.
Joining Sheridan at number 4 was Gibbs and surprisingly, given his lack of match practice, he started confidently. Clearly, he has a good eye and as no slouch himself was ably supporting Sheridan between the wickets, who’s calls of ‘looking’ are fast becoming part of the Ramblas folklore.
Drinks came and went with the Ramblas at a healthy 83 for 2 of 17 overs. Shortly after however, the batsmen took one risk too far – Gibbs run out just after making double figures.
Having seen Ollie Travers bat with some distinction the previous week his skipper sent him in next with the message to enjoy himself and play his shots where possible. Unfortunately, Travers didn’t get the rub of the green and was bowled for a duck by Farrukh.
Dilley, who had also enjoyed some decent form recently, was sent in but suffered quickly at the hands of Farrukh – also bowled.
Perfect poses from the batsmen
Rudgyard strode to the crease with the intention of sticking with Sheridan through to the end of the innings – in his mind this was to be a magnificent captain’s innings, perhaps a quick fifty for himself and then seeing Sheridan through to his record breaking innings – a cigar and a pint to finish of a memorable day.
In reality, his innings ended abruptly given out caught behind of the bowling of Joelle for just the one run. It’s thought that the Arsenal supporting umpire had just had a notification that Rashford had scored to make it 3 -1 at Old Trafford and that this might have influenced him to raise his index finger in the direction of the United supporting captain.
Parrett swaggered (or should that be staggered) to the crease – and Sheridan’s fifty soon followed.
Luke celebrates another 50
It was time for Sheridan to put on the afterburners and he quickly moved into the 80’s (like the New Romantic he wishes he was) but then calamity struck as he was bowled by a good ball from Farrukh on 89 just 15 runs short of the record. Whilst a record wasn’t achieved on this occasion (and we can almost guarantee he will break it at some point) he did surpass 1,000 career runs as a Rambla during this innings.
Thomas joined Parrett for the 8th wicket partnership and we were soon to see a partnership that was not unlike watching Gower bat with Botham. Thomas playing the cultured shots, guiding the ball to the boundary with a finesse not often seen at the Ex Blues Sports Ground and Parrett simply smashing the ball to all parts with some extraordinary hitting that endangered the neighbours windows and the 16.32 to London Bridge.
Parrett’s 50 came up rapidly and then he was gone – like a cricketing Will O’ The Wisp he was caught behind off Safi for no further score.
Geoff salutes a magnificent 50
Ben Sheridan came in at 10 and showed us that he has a few batting tricks up his sleeve – his older brother giving solid encouragement from the boundary. This lad is not short of confidence as we saw when he walked down the wicket to the bowler and put a ball over his head for a superb boundary.
Thomas was still going well and between the pair they put on a further 25 runs between them before stumps were called. Unfortunately, the Ramblas fell 25 runs short of the Eagles’ total and had to accept a loss in a tightly contested game.
All smiles at the end of the season
So the season ends and we wash our whites for the last time (you too please Geoff), put our various bits of equipment into storage (remember to get it back out again in time for the start of the next season please Coops), and reflect on the season that has been, it’s fair to say, an absolute cracker!
Ramblas MVP: There were some outstanding performances, notably from Luke Sheridan with this 89 runs and three catches but for his three wickets and his splendid, rip-roaring fifty, this week’s MVP is Geoff Parrett.