Hemel Hempstead give Ricky 2nds the Heave-ho

For the second week on on the bounce Ricky lost the toss and were invited to bat on a green but flat looking wicket. Stefan put a lovely cover drive away for four first ball of the innings but the going was generally tough against steady line and lengt bowling. Hemel captain Petchell took the ball from the road end and started with a tight line which rarely erred. Ali and Stef looked solid enough until Stefan was adjudged LBW with the score on 16. Doug quickly followed playing round one from Petchley which took his leg stick. Meanwhile Ali was solid, if not at his fluent best, scoring largely in singles, hoping to keep the partnership together.

At the other end his partner Bobby played a leading role, scoring his runs with deftly timed four; his first twenty runs coming off only 16 balls. This was proving to be a valuable partnership for Ricky and when Bobby did depart for 45, the score had reached 109/3. Young Matt joined Ali at the crease but unfortunately only lasted a couple of balls scoring a single which in turn brought our talisman with the bat, Waheed, to the crease. Waheed did score 18 runs including two fours and a six however he never really looked in the groove. Hemel to their credit used home knowledge to their advantage and had their slow bowlers bowling even slower then I'm sure they normally would have done. With Ali departing for a very creditable 37, Fizzy and Saffy picked up the mantle. Experience and good running kept the scoreboard ticking along nicely, and with eight overs left a score of 240 was looking on the cards. But disaster struck as Fizzy called for a quick single, but Saffy stayed rooted, so Fizzy departed, upset for a decent 24. Saffy atoned slightly with a six and a couple of fours, but unfortunately missed a straight one from Rameez. Neither Waqqas nor Fred could make much impact and the innings closed on a slightly under par205 for such a good batting line up .

Hemels innings started like a runaway train. Loose bowling from Ricky saw Smith and Costard race to sixty odd before Smith holed out to Waheed off Smithy for 25 which included six boundaries. With Saffy and Fizzy struggling Stefan had turned to Smithy ten overs earlier than he normally would and pretty quickly Fred took a very sharp catch behind to dismiss Hemels young number 3. Waqqas bowled 3 good overs then suffered at the hands of Costard and Rameez. So with the game slipping away Waheed was brought into the attack, and he did not disappoint . Waheeds unpredictable ( clever variation) of pace and wicket to wicket bowling was rewarded with the prize scalp of Costard. He had though by this time plundered 66 including three maximums and seven fours. Saffy came back into the attack following four tight overs from Bobby, and instantly had Rameez trapped LBW for 28. Waqqas then took two screamers at first slip off Waheed to leave Hemel 150-8. The game was Rickmnansworths to win, however Khan, was Hemels last hope , and although not the most sylish or textbook batsman he can certainly hit a ball. Hard as Ricky tried, the luck wasn’t on this occasion with us, and he plundered the necessary runs. Fifteen points instead of thirty , despite a remarkable 5-23 from Waheed. Though Ricky are still in a creditable 3rd place in the table with all to play for next week at home.