Ricky late surge but fall to 3rd consecutive defeat

It's tough trying to get teams out in August, which is why Ricky ended up facing promotions hopefuls Boxmoor with a team made up of 3rd and 4th team players and indeed only 10 of them. Boxmoor put Ricky in to bat and despite losing Owen for 1 and Alex for 0, Oz and Ken got the score up to 25 before Ken was caught and bowled. At 44/3 Ricky were hoping to push on for 3 figures but after Hanamann was out for 10, Ricky lost Neil (0), Andy (0), George (0) and Richard (1) in quick succession. Oz was our own King Canute holding back the tide as he took the score to 71 of which he contributed 40. It would have been nice if someone could have stayed with him. But 71 it was.

After opening bat Cottrell scored 18, Boxmoor expected to romp home, but Andy with 2 and Hanamann with 3 (3-11) made it hard goingOnly Hammond reached double figures, but the hardest pill to swallow was the 26 extras that Ricky conceeded which helped Boxmoor get within 3 runs of victory. Despite taking 3 further wickets, Boxmoor just made it home in what was a very tight finish.

Ricky are well clear of relegation, but will be hoping for a better performance this week against the bottom team , to hopefully finish the league season with a flourish.