Ramsbottom 1st XI v Clitheroe 1st XI – (H) 7 August 2022
CCC 176 all out (47 overs) RCC 178 for 5 (45.4 overs)
Scorecard here and livestream recording here
Kieren Josh proves to be perfect meal ticket for Rams
On a glorious day in front of a good crowd the Clitheroe skipper Peter Dibb won the toss and had no hesitation in electing to bat.
The move looked to have paid dividends as the openers Lord and Ross took advantage of some loose bowling on a good deck and raced to 50 in no time before a double bowling change slowed them down and brought the first wicket when Trig caught and bowled Lord. The second wicket fell five runs later when Grimmy bowled the dangerous Jack Dewhurst.
This brought the Clitheroe pro Kazi to the wicket and he immediately settled in and looked dangerous, seeming to have plenty of time to play a variety of clever strokes. With Ross now seeing the ball well the pair prospered and took the score well past 100. It seemed with so many overs left the Rams would be chasing a total in the region of 250 until with the score on 141 our sub pro Bryce Street was reintroduced into the attack and trapped Ross LBW for 61.
Only three more runs were added when Trig, showing he still has plenty left in the locker (he was stiff as a board later) by bowling 15 overs on the trot, had Charlie Dewhurst caught behind. With plenty of batting in the shed and the pro still at the wicket Clitheroe were still on for a big score but this was about to change. With the score on 154 Grimmy captured the prize wicket of Kazi, well caught behind by Harry. By this time Josh had took over from Trig. Under normal circumstance he would have bowled much earlier but he felt unwell, having problems with his asthma having forgotten to bring his inhaler with him to the ground.
The rest must have done him good, cos he hit his straps running getting his length spot on and extracting plenty of life out of the wicket. Aided by a fine stumping and some good outfield catching he took the last 5 wickets for only 4 runs reducing Clitheroe to 176 all out.
This was quite an incredible fightback by the Rams. Even when under the cosh the ground fielding had been good and every chance given was bagged.
Despite restricting the opposition and gaining two valuable bonus points we knew it was not going to be an easy task chasing down Clitheroe’s score and we got off to the worst possible start losing both our openers with only 10 on the board.
This left our skipper Grimmy in with our sub pro Bryce. Both played sensibly and took their time against some tight bowling building their innings slowly until Grimmy decided to up the tempo and brought out some of his famous reverse sweeps and flicks over the wicket keeper’s head. He outscored Bryce and was first to a half century and it came as a shock when he went down the track to Kazi, missed the ball and was comprehensively stumped for a magnificent 65. The pair had put together a 110 run partnership.
The game was far from over and Clitheroe added a 4th when Jason Pyke was stumped. Harry then joined Bryce who took his score past 50 in an 18 run partnership before Harry was bowled.
The next man in was Brad and the opposition must have fancied their chances as they immediately left the field for a helmet and put a short leg in place. Brad’s response was to smash the next ball for six over deep midwicket. He was then the main scorer in a partnership which took us to success finishing the game with a massive six onto the old paper mill wall off Kazi and ending with 24 not out. A lot of credit has to go to our sub-pro Bryce who ended up on 66 not out playing a very responsible innings.
This was a vital 12 points for the Rams but we still cannot afford to take our eye off the ball. Two more league wins should see us comfortably save our first division status but we have proved we can beat the top teams so let’s go all out for the last month of the season.
Hopefully next Sunday will be a lovely day and our Acre Botton ground filled with spectators and we seize the opportunity of claiming the Worsley Cup.
Amateur man of the Match – Despite a brilliant knock by the skipper Josh Dentith with the fabulous figures of 5 wickets for 4 runs earns the vote.
