Ricky 2nd lose to Hayes 1sts by 7 wickets

In Rickys final warm up game before the Leagues season starts preparations were disrupted by various selection issues and fluctuating availabilities. After winning the toss Hayes 1sts surprisingly invited Rickmansworth to bat- I say surprising because as the game commenced we only had 6 players at the ground!

Paul Blackwell and Lekshay Desai got us off to an excellent start, blunting the Hayes openers Mani and Harpreet, whilst keeping the scoreboard ticking along. Both were looking good using their experience to find the gaps picking up runs using the pace of the ball. Lekshay was the first to go as he tried to smash a straight one and was bowled by Mani for 15. Stefan joined Paul at the crease and the scoreboard kept on ticking slowly but steadily. With the opening bowlers tiring, Hayes turned youth, bringing on off spinner Frost, and pace bowler Anmal. Both started with maidens, and given their ages (15 & 17) looked good. Anmals pace was particularly impressive, and in his third over he accounted for Paul for a workmanlike 14. This brought Tom Taylor to the wicket. Tom looked confident and stylish but unfortunately chased a wide one from Frost, and Hayes keeper Chahal took an excellent catch, 50-3.

When Anmals pace saw Vishal depart for 1, then the ever reliable Bobby copying Tom chasing a wide one from the off spinner, for another cheap wicket. Having stuck around for a while Stefan was joined by Billy Mohammed who quickly got into his groove. Having decided to try and set a more respectable target Stefan heaved across a straight one and was bowled by Patel for 26. Billy smashed a big six off the Hayes skipper before being caught. Shiv and Waheed both struck a lovely four a piece, before quickly being removed. Awais struck a nice boundary before being the last man out. The total of 105 was never going to be enough, and probably sixty or so runs short of giving us a total to bowl at.

After the interval the Rickmansworth players gathered in the middle to remember Rickmansworth Cricket Club legend Curly, who sadly passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning. Paul Blackwell gave a moving tribute to his close friend and teammate, a man who gave so much for Rickmansworth both on and off the pitch. Curly will never be forgotten and I am sure there will be some form fitting commemoration at the club very soon. RIP Curly.

Shiv opened the attack and opened with a wicket maiden, removing Hayes opener Singh with a middle stump yorker for the perfect start. It became apparent from this point that Hayes weren’t going to hang around going after Bobby, then Nayan. Mughol, and particularly Shah were hitting powerfully, Shah in particular hit eight fours in his quickfire innings of 36. His two escapes were a very sharp chance to slip of Shiv, and a Lekshay caught and bowled which was hit with some force. Lekshay bowled well and Tom Taylor took a tidy stumping to remove Mughol, then Nayan took a decent catch off Billy. It was good to see Billy bowling again and moving the ball a fair way. This of course largely attributed to his exceptional shining of the ball! By the time Davies came to the crease the game was pretty much over . He decided to ruin Lekshays figures by smashing two fours then a big six over square leg to finish the game.

Rickmansworth ultimately failed to set a big enough target, and a total of just over a hundred against a first team was never going to be enough. Honourable mentions to Shiv and Lekshay who both bowled well, and well done to everyone who made the effort.