The first team left with high hopes of a 2nd league win against OFCC but the bowling department was again lacking as the opposition wracked up 302 in their 50 overs. The team have now conceded over 900 runs in 3 games and it’s hard to win games from this kind of position. Harvey dismissed the best Depala’s for 94 and 67 (the first was a great catch by James Haines) and Billy May did damage at both ends of the innings with 4-39 and whilst they bowled 18 overs for 68 (3.77 an over) the other bowlers were more profligate.

What was encouraging was the batsmen remain in good form and Pradeep scored his maiden English ton with exactly 100 in 121 balls to anchor the reply. Aman also excelled with 66, however the loss of the Ricky engine room (Taz and Billy) for ducks meant the chase was always a step too far. With 18 points, Ricky stay in touching distance of the top in 5th place.

The 2nd XI got their campaign underway with a much needed win, down in the main to some excellent bowling at the beginning from Tom Bev (3-18) followed by swing and seam from promising youngster Rohan Oberoi (5-35). Rohan has proven to be a heavy wicket taker at Ricky in previous seasons and it’s hoped this will continue. OFCC 2nd s struggled to 105 all out. This may have been a tricky chase, but not with Junaid at the crease as he smashed 42 off 36 balls with some consummate drives on the off-side. Connor weighed in with 28 and the game was over in less than 20 overs. This is now starting to look like a competitive team, after 2 disappointing losses in previous games.

The 3rd XI have still yet to get off the mark, despite fielding a strong team against Hemel 4ths. Hemel batted sensibly on a trampoline deck and 7 of the top 9 made double figures as they racked up 166/7 in 40 overs. Lekshay took 4-40. It didn’t seem like much to chase, but the Hemel county youngsters bowled well and Ricky were quickly reduced to 43/6. Only one of the top 6 batters made double-figures in contrast to the Hemel players. And all were caught! Blackwell Snr (25) and Keshav (13) put on a decent partnership but by then we were just batting for points and finished on 108 all out.

In contrast the 4th XI won their second game on the bounce in extraordinary fashion. Batting first on a wet one, Ricky struggled to just nelson (111 all out) with Vijay (33) and Pras (21) the main contributors. Manny was feeling a little down at this stage, but the Harpenden captain quipped that his team were better bowlers than batters, so the game was in the balance. And so it proved as the Harpenden fall of wickets looked more like the Fibonacci Sequence – 2,4,9,9,15,15,19 – as Harps collapsed to 19/7. After Anwar had taken 2 wickets, Prasanth weighed in with his best Ricky figures of 7-18 in 8 overs, which also proved to be the 2nd best in all of Hertfordshire this week Harps skipper put on a fight but when he was dismissed the team fell away to 81 all out. Is Manny dreaming of a promotion push yet ?

The 5th team were involved in a mismatch which is common against new team Studham this season. But the game was not about the result but the particpants! After Max’s heroic 33 last week at 14 years of age, this week it was the turn of Issy Raine, who took her first wicket for the club (and certainly the first by a 14 year old girl) and also took a catch off her Dad’s bowling! Dad finished with 3-45 to roll back the years, but it looks like the Raine name will live on at Ricky for many years to come. Well done Issy. Ricky had less luck with the bat, though Max’s maturity continues to shine as he scored 20 and Gordon 22 to enable Ricky to get 2 batting points on 95. It’s all about the fun.

The Sunday team, under Ronesh, had a good win, racking up 195 thanks to Ronesh (36) and a welcome return to form for the Chairman (48). Also impressive was new boy Aarav Mohan who will bat higher after his 22 at no.10. Aarav is also a decent spinner and took 2-41 whilst Harvey and Nikhil also took 2 each. Harvey was denied a hatrick when the umpire admitted he wasn’t watching when the batter was stumped. Harrovian finished on 172/9.

It’s a full set of League fixtures this coming Saturday. Good luck to all the teams.