Match Report Ramsbottom 1st XI v Littleborough 1st XI – 9th July 2023
RCC 83 all out (37.4 overs) LCC 32 for 5 (18.3 overs) – Match abandoned due to rain
Scorecard here
IT NEVER RAINS IT POURS
With the regular roving reporter crying off for a second week running the trip was made to Littleborough carrying the official pen and note pad. I’ve visited Hare Hall several times in the past but never when it’s been bathed in glorious sunshine and what a fabulous ground it is. A natural amphitheatre in the shadow of the mighty Pennines with tremendous facilities to boot.
Captain Tom won the toss and elected to bat. The skipper strode out with his old comrade, the recalled Jonny Dack, and the Rams made a steady start against some tight bowling particularly from Ryan Miskella at the bottom end. However, the breakthrough came at the other end when Parton cut to second slip from a ball that popped a little. The first signs of a damp patch just short of a length coming in to play. However, it was only when Littleborough professional Bryce Street came down the hill that it really started to show its claws. First, he had Ben Pearson caught by a brilliantly positioned fly slip then Jason Pyke literally punched one back to him off his glove. In between the miserly Miskella had induced an edge from the bat of Dack and got the pro to pop one high into the air. Bilal’s three took the combined total of professional runs to 248 for the season. Seb Schofield offered some brief resistance before the recently dethroned King of the Red Ink Matt Burdaky smote some hefty blows. We finished up all out on 83 with Jonny Dack top scoring on 24 and Bryce Street taking 6-25 for the opposition.
Tea was taken. England kept the Ashes alive, two Brits stood on the podium at Silverstone and the troops were reminded of the heroic defeat of the House the previous week. Agincourt may even have got a mention. A tough ask but if Billy and the Bird could make early inroads into the top order who knows what might have happened. Well, they did but we’ll never know. Burdaky (2-22) steamed in with half the team around the bat and Bilal (3-10) wove his magic with the whole blooming lot of them in there. Alas, after 18.3 tense overs, with Littleborough wobbling on 32-5, the heavens opened and didn’t close until there were puddles all over the ground. Despite word getting through that other teams were going back on it never looked likely here so both teams will go away thinking what might have been. Rammy will rue the fact that the storm didn’t wipe it’s feet for a while (nine balls to be precise) before barging in but Perron Senior was still at the crease and would have fancied chasing whatever random number DLS threw up.
So we remain undefeated in the second half of the season. A solid start to the impossible dream. May the streak continue!
