A six wicket haul from Ramblas captain Michael Cooper wasn’t enough, as Lamorbey Park secured a 69 run victory.
After the previous week’s fixture against Locksbottom fell foul of the weather, there was a genuine fear amongst the Ramblas faithful that another fixture was going to be washed away. Luckily the outfield dried up in time for the Ramblas to take on new opponents Lamorbey Park.
Cooper once again had no issues getting a side out, with James Dilley making his return to action and Ex Blues regulars Neil & Koby Radburn completing the XI.
The hosts opted to bowl first after an uncontested toss, with Chris Thomas and Dilley opening the bowling. Thomas nearly got the Ramblas off to a perfect start first ball but Cooper couldn’t keep hold of a tough one handed grab at extra cover.
Fortunately for Thomas he only had to wait five more deliveries before nabbing the first wicket, bowling Mann for a duck. Dilley was showing no signs of rustiness after time away but was unable to pick up a wicket in his opening spell.
The agony and the ecstasy for Thommo
Thomas and Dilley were replaced by Cooper and Geoff Parrett respectively and it was the captain who picked up the second wicket of the game. Lamorbey Park’s opener Wood mistimed his shot and his top edge saw Thomas and Mark Loughlin both converge on the ball before Loughlin called for (after Parrett’s instructive cries of ‘talk!’), and claimed the catch.
All smiles in the end
Two left handers at the crease saw Cooper’s radar go amiss and after a couple of expensive overs, he was replaced by K. Radburn. Radburn and Parrett bowled well in tandem to keep the visitor’s free flowing middle order in check.
Parrett was at his miserly best, but is was K. Radburn who picked up the crucial wicket before drinks. The young leg spinner clean bowled Lamorbey Park’s opener for 57 as the visitor’s reached the drinks break at 121-3.
The Ramblas celebrate Koby’s wicket
While Parrett’s seven over spell didn’t garner a wicket, it only went for 17 runs to help wrestle back control for the Ramblas. Cooper came on in place of Parrett and the skipper made an instant impact, claiming his second wicket of the day thanks to a fantastic reaction catch from Luke Sheridan at silly point.
Cooper picked up a second wicket in the over when he clean bowled Howes for 1. Wickets were tumbling for the visitors as K. Radburn claimed the sixth wicket of the day, clean bowling Sampson for a duck.
The Ramblas skipper was on a roll and nabbed his fourth wicket thanks to a simple catch at mid wicket from Parrett. And he wasn’t finished yet, dismissing Wood for 40, who was caught at deep square leg by Luke Sheridan.
He claimed his six-fer three balls later, eliciting a fine edge from the batter that was ably snaffled by N. Radburn behind the stumps.
Coop claims his sixth wicket
Thomas and Dilley came back on to wrap up the innings but weren’t able to pick up the final wicket as Lamorbey Park finished on 176-9 off their 35 overs. To restrict the visitors to just 55 runs off the last 17 overs was a fantastic effort.
Jason Christensen and L. Sheridan opened the batting for the Ramblas but a high quality opening bowling attack meant runs were hard to come by. Christensen, sensing the need to put the pressure back on the visitors, unleashed a trio of boundaries before he was caught at mid wicket for 14.
L. Sheridan took a while to get off the mark but did so with a four, before following it up with a mighty six over the mid wicket boundary. Sadly he was dismissed shortly after, bowled by an unplayable delivery that pitched well outside off stump, before clipping the top of off.
Jason & Luke open the batting for the Ramblas
Ben Sheridan and Tom Howgego were in at three and four and were tasked with rebuilding the innings. And the pair were initially watchful but some sharp running and a smattering of boundaries helped double the score to 46 before Howgego was caught at mid wicket for 9.
Mark Loughlin was in at five and, after dispatching a huge six over the deep square leg boundary, was out caught and bowled the very next ball. B. Sheridan was bowled the next over for 13 to leave the Ramblas struggling at 56-5.
Tom & Ben pick up a quick single
Things got markedly worse for the hosts with three more wickets falling in the blink of an eye. N. Radburn was trapped LBW for 7 with a ball that came back in and crashed into his pads. Parrett fell two balls later to a similar delivery, although he couldn’t even get pads to it and was bowled for a duck.
Dilley’s stay at the crease only lasted five balls before he was clean bowled to leave the Ramblas on 62-8. The mini collapse bought K. Radburn and Thomas to the crease as the new batters looked to make the scoreline a little more respectable.
Koby keeps the tail wagging
Thomas unleashed his trademark leg glances, much to the Ramblas sideline’s joy, alongside some big hitting from K. Radburn as the pair took to score to the cusp of the century mark before Thomas was bowled for 10.
Cooper was the last man in and saw K. Radburn hit two more boundaries to take the score to 107 before the skipper was bowled for a duck in the final over.
While a defeat is always tough to take, the performance in the first innings, especially the ground fielding, was excellent. And to dig in with the bat against a strong bowling attack rather than capitulate is another testament to the character of this team.
The Ramblas host Chislehurst next week, keen to avenge their defeat to them last month.
Ramblas MVP: Honourable mentions to Geoff for his figures of 7-1-17-0 and Koby for his two wickets and an unbeaten 25. But for his six wicket haul that kept the visitor’s score in check, this week’s MVP is Michael Cooper.