The 1st XI continued their progress at the top of Div 3A with a convincing 147 run win over Hemel Hempstead at Park Road. Batting first, Ricky had a little wobble early on with the Blackwell brothers back in the hutch with 36 on the board, but young Jeevan was now into his stride and with Matt pushed the score onto 86 before Matt fell for 20. Billy was in next and batted as he has all season with calm and assurance. Keevan was out for 58 – an innings much admired by his playing colleagues – and the platform was established with Ricky 117/4 with 20 overs still to go. Rickys powerhouse middle order were waiting in the wings. With 10 overs to go Ricky were 198 for 6 which was exactly where the team like to be. Rameez smashed 45 including 4 maximum’s and when he was out Aman came in and also hit 42 off just 34 balls. Billy was having fun also at the other end cruising to a season’s best of 85 including 12 boundaries. He now averages 49.5 in league games this season. A final total of 284/6 was well deserved as the young Hemel bowlers wilted under the sustained assault.

Hemel now needed a strong start, but were foiled by the twin-prongs of Rameez (back to bowling quickly) and Harvey (probably at his best on this kind of wicket with new ball in hand). After 3 overs the scoreboard read a sorry 8-3. Waterton and Morgan are Hemel’s best batsmen but Waterton in particular struggled to get the ball away and decided just to hang in and support the classy Morgan. When Waterton was dismissed run out, the resistance was broken and the spin twins Aman and Aman were into their strides. Morgan played well for 73 but was pretty much the only resistance scoring 24 more runs than the rest of his team combined and after he was well-stumped by the quick hands of Owen the curtain fell on the Hemel innings. Harvey ended up with his season’s best of 4-20 as Hemel’s tail were skittled and the team finished on 137 all out. The last 4 wickets falling for just 3 runs.

Ricky are now 31 points above 3rd place Ickleford and just need to keep winning in a division where even those relegated will probably win 6 or more games. As always , the next 2 games are the vital ones.

The 2nd XI also won to strengthen their promotion hopes, with a close win against a combative Hemel 3rds. Batting first, Tom (28), Bobby (24) and Waqqas (24) and Hamza (22) all got decent starts but couldn’t push on – Bobby and Waqqas both falling to LBW’s. However at 149/5 captain Shiv would have been hoping for a score closer to 200 but it didn’t work out that way. Oli (15) and Alec (22) also contributed well until the tail fell away and Ricky scored just 163 with 8 overs still left.

In the Hemel reply, Ricky only bowled 1 over of spin as Shiv had plenty of medium pace bowling at his disposal. James ‘bomber’ Lancaster took a wicket with his first ball – the first of the innings and though Howard and Khan combined with some good strokeplay, Hemel were 5 down for 78 with Adamson also taking 2 alongside 2 for Lancaster. The Hemel captain Moulster batted well for his 28 but he couldn’t find any support and Hemel collapsed to 151 all out and fall further into the relegation zone.

Sadly the 2 wins above were all that Ricky could muster on a hot Saturday afternoon. The 3rd XI came across Amandeep Singh in imperious form. Having cracked 90 on the same pitch a fortnight ago, this week he scored 107 including 7 maximum’s (on what is perhaps the leagues smallest ground and maybe not one suited to Div 8). Koonj got both Singh and Ali (65) out but not before 223/4 was on the board and it was Ricky’s luck that the subsequent batters were not able to get the ball off the square. 254 was a daunting total and although Snehal (41), Gaurav (35) and Nitish (59) but up a brave fight in reply, it needed someone to go on and score a big one and it didn’t materialise. 190 all out was the final score for some good batting points but little else by way of comfort.

The 4th XI were similarly chastised by players who are playing way too low for their ability. It’s not Chipperfields fault that they are in regional Div 10, but players like May and Sylvester have played so much higher grade cricket and it’s hard to compete. Ricky did ultimately well with the ball, restricting Chipperfield to just 173 on a wicket that has seen 200 posted batting first in every game in July. Abhishek took 3-23 in his first 3rd XI game of the season. But it was now the Donnel Sylvester show as the ex-Chenies overseas pro ripped through the Ricky batters. It’s tough as a 15 year old facing someone of his pace and skill, who has played rep cricket in the West Indies and so it proved for the dads as well! May took 3-14 and Sylvester 7-33 as Ricky fell for 71 and Anuj with 25 the only player to reach double-figures.

The 5ths was a game played in great spirit with plenty for the young-un’s to be proud of and also for one person at the other end of the age spectrum. Isabel Raine took 3-49 in tough bowling conditions and Rohan 3-20. Both u15’s for Ricky. But Langlebury still cruised to 248. Ricky needed a heroic couple of players in return and Hasan threatened with 34 before getting bowled. After that it was the Mark Raine show as he rolled back the years with a wonderful knock of 96 off 80 balls. Manny with 40 kept him company for the last 5 overs but couldn’t quite get Mark over the line for his first to as he finished an agonising one shot away from glory. Nevertheless, an amazing performance and a proud moment for Dad and Daughter to both excel in the same game.