Ricky 2nds escape relegation on final day

With just 2 points needed for safety, the 2nd XI were set up nicely for a comfortable afternoon. Or so it seemed! After an early lbw for Yash, the Ricky team were made to wait another hour before Yusuf bowled the other opening bat Ed Gray for 22 to secure Div6 for another year. But still Greenwood Park continued to build momentum with Chris Kent scoring freely due to some generous bowling. After drinks, and with the ball 23 overs old, Harvey was brought into the attack and immediately got a wicket 3rd ball.

After Inteshaam bowled Otter, Ajmal went on the offensive and he and Kent were destructive to anything too short or full. And Ricky provided plenty of both. Harvey came back to castle skipper Kent for 79, but now GPCC were flying. Asad bowled well and also removed Ajmal for 36. Yusuf bowled Ali, whilst Harvey then bowled Jenkins and had Palai caught at the wicket, but the runs continued to flow and the last pair put on 35 unbeaten runs as the Ricky fielders ran out of steam. All the bowlers were expensive on what was again a belting batting track, except Raunak and Yash. But an extras tally of 42 will once again haunt the team. So many times this season have we conceded 20% of our runs this way. 7 wickets between the youngsters with Harvey 4-55 the most.

Chasing 259, when the game was meaningless for Ricky was always going to be hard, but losing 3 wickets for 3 runs made the task an impossible one. Yusuf and Raunak tried to rebuild and reached 30 before Yusuf cut a wide ball straight to slip. Yusuf has shown great promise this season – effectively his breakout season – and he can be proud of what he has achieved. Harvey came to the wicket and he and Raunak showed just what the club have in talent as they cut, pulled and drove the team up past 50. Raunak in particular was beautiful to watch on the cover drive, just like many Cambridge students before him, like Mike Atherton.

The boys took the score to 82, a partnership of 52, when Harvey, having just hit a big 6 into the stream, was adjudged lbw. Worse was o come as 4 balls later Raunak pulled the ball into the hands of backward square and Ricky were now 82/6. Sad to say the remainder was a short procession, with a few lusty blows that took the score to 125 which was 2 further batting points.

Greenwood Park bowled just 3 wides in 33 overs and no no-balls. A lesson to be learned. Greenwood Park also came into the Division as Champions of 7b in 2019, so a team with good experience of winning. Sadly winning wasn’t enough for them, and they finished 3rd in the table. So we will see them again in 2022.

For Ricky it was a lower middle table finish. We beat promotion winning Watton, twice, and won 7 games in total, which was just 3 less than the promoted team. With 3 more points we could have finished 2 places higher. Next season we must value every run and every wicket. In 9 losses we got just 14 points. That is an average score of 120 which is not good enough.

Bobby showed the way with the bat (353 at 27.15), with Harvey (163), Shammi (163) and Yusuf (162) separated by just one run. Shammi took the most wickets with Yusuf and Harvey next in line.

Perhaps the most telling statistic of all – 35 players represented the 2nd team in 2021. That is more than 3 different teams. And maybe the place to start next year. Winning is a team mentality.

See you all at the club dinner.