A rip-snorter of a game saw the Ramblas come out on top against friendly foes Hildenborough in a low-scoring thriller.

Having enjoyed the Ex Blues family day the previous Sunday, it was back to the business of trying to best Hildenborough, who were on a run of three successive wins over their hosts going into the game.

The game marked a remarkable milestone for the Ramblas… No, not the 200th appearance for the club Michael Cooper, but captain Matt Rudgyard actually won the toss. Although there were a few groans when it was announced the hosts were batting first (the Ramblas are creatures of habit after all), the logic for doing so was sound, as the sun baked pitch looked to be a good batting deck.

A late change to the line-up saw Duane ‘Village’ Hall replaced by debutant (not only for the Ramblas, but to the sport of cricket) in Cameron Hancock, while the visitors’ were temporarily one shy after Rudgyard managed to lock one of the opposition in the away changing room. Captain Chaos strikes again!

After the pre-match kerfuffle, it was onto the action, with Rudgyard maintaining faith in regular opening partnership of Seth Clifford and Jonny Stocks. The pair got off to a watchful start, the Hildenborough opening bowling unit of  White and Webb not giving much away in terms of scoring opportunities. However, where the opportunities came the Ramblas pair took full advantage to keep the scoreboard ticking over, reaching the drinks break at 63 for the loss of no wickets.

Unfortunately, the break in play did nothing to assist with Stocks’s concentration, who departed shortly after the resumption, bowled by Davies for 22 as he looked to up the ante.

Tom Howgego joined Clifford, the pair continuing to build on the Ramblas’ solid start, with Clifford reaching a chanceless 50 and Howgego making a composed 35 before being bowled by Sands who had replaced Russell.

Mark Loughlin joined Clifford for the final two overs of the innings and they took the score to 168/2 from their allocated 35 overs, the latter finishing on 83 not out – his innings a study of calm authority and vicious attack when presented with the occasional loose ball.

A delightful tea was taken (kudos to Loughlin, Cooper and Rudgyard – and Mrs C) for putting on a fine spread that was enjoyed by all. With a certain Geoff Parrett enjoying it a little too much as he had to be reminded to change into his whites on more than one occasion…

The feeling amongst the Ramblas and their supporters was that while a target of 169 was certainly defendable, early wickets were surely going to be key.

Again, Rudgyard went for his tried and trusted opening bowling partnership of James Dilley and Chris Thomas who once again set about their work in diligent (Dilley-gent? Ed.) fashion. However, the Hildenborough opening batsmen appeared to be in quite a rush to knock off the target and dispatched anything loose to the boundary.

The Ramblas captain went for a double change bringing in Parrett and Cooper to look to try to reduce the rate of scoring by taking a bit of pace off the ball. The change had the desired effect and, while there were no victims (despite Cooper seeing a fair chance put down), the Ramblas managed to keep Hildenborough to 81 at the mid innings break.

Looking to maintain momentum, Mark Loughlin was brought into the attack from the Tennis Court End, with Parrett swapping ends to replace Cooper up the hill.

The effect of this change was almost instant, Loughlin drying up the runs and taking the wickets of Davies (49) and Shivhare (1) in successive balls at the end of his second over and the beginning of his third – both batsmen clean bowled and the wicket splayed.

The Ramblas now sniffed an opportunity and felt that with another wicket or two and some good ground fielding, a victory could be on the cards.

The Captain needed to make the right decisions for the win to be secured and with the assistance of his Vice Captain and his bowling partner Dilley a plan was hatched that saw Jon Stocks and the debutant Hancock deliver the final 10 overs of the game between them.

Despite his lack of cricket, Hancock bowled superbly and seemed not to be suffering any nerves on this stage. Likewise, Stocks was on fire and between them they finished things off: opener Smith (45) caught by Thomas off Stocks; Waite (10) caught Dilley for Hancock’s first wicket for the club; White (12) bowled by Hancock; Sands (4) caught superbly on the boundary by Dilley off the bowling of Stocks and Robertshaw (0) bowled by Stocks.

Credit to both sides for engineering a tense thriller played in the right spirit, but the Hildenborough innings ultimately fell 14 runs short of their target to close on 155/7.

Post-match, as well as the inevitable discourse on a thrilling game, lots of talk was left for the incredible achievement that marks Cooper’s dedication to the club since its inception. Without doubt he has been one of the foundation stones of Kent Ramblas – an original who played in the first fixture and captained the team for 7 seasons of the 14 we have contested to date – congratulations on this milestone – we look forward to the next 200 appearances! The fact that the Ramblas remained in their whites for a good hour after play suggests a certain pride in the shirt that wins of this nature inspire – either that or they were too knackered to shower and change!

Ramblas MVP: Always difficult to select a Ramblas player of the match on these occasions when the whole team has fought so hard for each other. A nod must go to Jon Stocks for this all round performance with bat and ball, Mark Loughlin for his key wickets and to Cameron Hancock for an outstanding debut with ball in hand. However, on this occasion, it is only right that Seth Clifford takes the plaudits for his fine 83 that set up the victory.