Battle of the Basement teams sees Ricky 2nds sink to the bottom

Turning up to a locked pavilion and on a pitch that achieved all of 1 point last time around, Ricky skipper Stefan feared the worst when losing the toss. And Greenwood Park did the obvious and said they would have first use of a pitch that was only going to get worse. But first Ricky had to get in the changing rooms!.

Youthful Joe Monk and Shiv Gandecha bowled a good tight line, and straight away it was evident that the bounce was inconsistent to say the least. Some kept low, some didn’t bounce at all and a couple cleared the batsmen by some distance. Joe took two early wickets ( both catches at point by Saffy) and Shiv one (a smart catch behind by Fred standing up as Shiv was bowling at half-pace ) 14-3 soon became 35-4 as Saffy completed a hat trick of catches to give Joe his third of the day. Asad and Khawar then decided to take the game to Rickmansworth and put on 87 for the fifth wicket. At this point 122-5, Ricky felt in control, and before long Saffy had a couple wickets and Smithy three. Dropped catches and wayward bowling then proved costly as a tenth wicket partnership of 47 then proved costly. Very few proper cricket shots were played amongst the Greenwood Park runscorers, however they utilised home knowledge and took risks that paid off.

Rickmansworths innings got off to the worst possible start. Tom was bowled by one that didn’t bounce, and Stefan snicked off trying to leave one that got too high. Bobby and Hailey followed for ducks and Ricky were 16-4. Waheed, Saffy, Shiv and Callum WH showed some resistance, however the pitch was only helping one team at this point. The 180 that Ricky were chasing might as well have been 1800 !

With Smithy last man out having hit a rare 4, Rickmansworth were 74 all out. A truly awful batting performance, on what has to be the worst pitch in the league, based on the marks it has received so far. Five batsmen were done by balls which did not bounce, and poor shot selection doing for the rest. Dropped catches at the back end of the Greenwood Park innings left Ricky chasing a total which should have ben much lower. A big improvement is required next week if Ricky are to have anything but a long fight against relegation.