After a scratchy end to the first half of the season, Ricky had the chance to put it right and regain top spot against arguably one of the 2 best teams in the Division, in Ickleford (the other being us, of course). They turned up early and looked impressive , but winning the toss and batting first meant the pressure was on them to get through the long Ricky line-up. Yash (24) and Jeevan (13) looked impressive but failed to turn a start into a big one, and when Matt was out for 25 and Azeem given out first ball to one that seemed to brush his shirt (though the writer was 100 yards away, so the umpire was better placed) Ricky were 62/4 on what looked like a 300+ outfield. Billy dug-in for 35 and whilst Rameez went for 15 to a wonder catch where the player defied gravity to stay within the ropes, he was ably supported by Aman who batted the way he tells the kids too – put away the bad ball and keep out the good ones. Every year Aman produces a gem of an innings and his half-century was one of those today. It was 155 when Billy was given out lbw by the umpire and so Bev and Aman did well to take the score to 195. Yes maybe 50 short of a decent total but still a target that Ickleford had to get.

After Aman’s and Billy’s heroics, it was time for Rameez to shine and he certainly did, removing Crouch (1), Ashish 0) and Dalyrymple (0) to put Ickleford back beyond the start line at 11/3. Having big Tom bowling at the other end going at 2.5 an over without any extras (the Harvey role) helped Rambo hugely and then meant Billy could get his ace-in-the-pack Azeem on to bowl in ideal circumstances. Ickleford stayed resolute but the rate was climbing and Azeem got into his work well bowling tirelessly for 3-25 from his 10 overs. Ickleford batters didn’t know whether to stick or twist and dug in like an England back-line against Mexico. Finally it was time for triple-captain Billy to come on and yet by resolute defending and nicking runs, Ickleford found them selves needing just 12 runs off 12 balls to win. What happened next was inexplicable – the same lad who Harvey bowled to tie the game 9 weeks ago tried to hit a maximum to long-off but Matt was ready for it and took a catch. 184/9. 2 balls later Akthar chose to try exactly the same shot and the result was the same. For both games, Ickleford had failed to win from positions of strength and Ricky took 50/60 points from their promotion rivals. The result – Ricky go back to the top of Division 3.

The 2nd XI had a easy walk-out against bottom side Frogmore. Tom Mc finally got his just rewards with a well-crafted 40 and contributions all down the order from Hamza (26), James Haines (53), Connor 39) and Waqqas (30) resulted a huge 235/8. Would Manny’s 1 off 1 ball prove crucial ? It ended up as not so much, as Josh (3-38) with his hostile pace and Shiv (5-43) with his gentle away swing demolished Froggies chances within just a few overs. At 15/5 there was no comeback and so it proved as Ricky coasted to a win by 133 runs and could return to see the 1st team win as well.

Though the 3rd XI bowled well to restrict Luton to 170 – Gaurav taking 3-22 – it was an unreliable batting performance that once again meant a disappointing outcome for the green and gold of Rickmansworth. Snhal with 46 and Stefan with 29 should have seen Ricky home, but the supporting cast was lacking and 122-4 became 151 all out as Ricky crumbled under the pressure. The last 3 wickets fell for 3 runs with just 22 needed to win.

It was a familiar story for the 4ths as a commanding position presented by the batters (226 on the top pitch) was then wasted by some fielding and bowling woes. Waheed (65) and Ethan (42) put on 125 for the 7th wicket and those runs should have been enough. But Ricky had lost Nasser to a Saturday morning emergency and were a bowler short as a result. Needing 80 off the last 14 overs with 8 wickets down, this was not a game we should have lost. But we did and for the 2nd week in a row, Ricky failed to stop another team slogging a win. Well played Luton.

The 5ths had a memorable win over Chorleywood to retain the Simon Dare Cup. Memorable in particular for Anuj Babber who racked up an amazing 94 to ensure Ricky reached 199. Made even more remarkable by the fact Ricky had a record breaking 4 golden ducks in the innings. Thank goodness for Vikrams 27 and Isabel’s 17, both scoring more than their age, and 17 from Matt on his birthday (deffo more than 17 years of age!). Chorleywood had No answer to Ricky’s youngsters as they ripped through the much older Chorleywood team. There was some calls for eligibility to be checked as Roshan (3-12) and Isabel (3-7) did the majority of the damage, ably supported by Rainey, Sam Shaw (2-7 on debut) and Dom (1-30). Well done for Bobby and the Ricky club in supporting youth as 8 wickets were taken by boys and girls who were 15 or less.

So once again, Ricky had a 60% win ration on Saturday. It’s what we do !