Match Report Ramsbottom 1st XI v Rochdale 1st XI – 7 May 2023
RochCC 191 for 7 (50 overs) RamCC 173 for 8 (50 overs)
Scorecard here and livestream here
Lack of support from amateur batsmen lets both Harry and the Rams down
Rammy remain rock bottom of the Lancashire League after another defeat against an experienced Rochdale side.
With Acre Bottom looking in pristine condition and the weather good it came as no surprise when the Rochdale captain elected to bat first after winning the toss.
This decision was soon justified and the Rochdale openers looked in no trouble against our attack. TP was soon forced to make a bowling change, introducing our pro Sen. With the Bird at one end and Sen at the other we did manage to curtail the rate but at the half way stage Rochdale were 95 without loss. Birdy having completed his 13 over spell and only conceding 32 runs, an excellent effort.
Tom replaced Birdy with Saturday’s 3 wickets taker Alex Olpin. The Pin’s first delivery was a leg side wide and he followed up with a wide half volley which Zimmy Khan, who had just reached his 50, took wild swing at, got an edge and was brilliantly caught by Harry Caton who was stood up. The look on Birdy’s face was a picture. The Pin the proceeded to bowl seven more wides before being replaced after 2 overs.
The Rams reverted to all spin attack and success came when Sen deceived the opposition pro, Hunt, who was well stumped by Harry. When he had the dangerous Dawson caught in the deep and Denty dismissed Aughey via another brilliant stumping with the score on 131, we had made an admirable fight back.
We then kept it tight with the bowling but our fielding, which had been good the previous day, was sloppy and we let chances slip. Nevertheless a final score of 191 was way below what most of our supporters had thought.
What we needed was a decent start but we knew we faced a good bowling attack. As per the rest of this season so far we were soon struggling, losing our first three wickets with only 25 on the board.
As at Lowerhouse Sen was left with Harry and they were required to repair the damage. Slowly but surely they built up momentum, running well between the wickets and putting the bad balls away.
The score had reached 93 when disaster struck. Going for quick single Sen was run out by the rocket arm of the Rochdale pro who only had one stump to aim at. 9 times out of 10 the throw would have missed and Sen would have got in. Such is our current luck.
After this it became the Harry Caton show. Despite none of our middle order assisting him he took the game to Rochdale hitting eight 4s and a six before falling to a boundary catch for a magnificent 92, which gained us four valuable bonus points.
Man of the Match – Harry Caton
Footnote – next week we play Clitheroe and we are without three bowlers. We have one of the best grounds if not the best in Lancashire and yet we struggle to get two teams out. Do people not want to play cricket anymore ? Every week we have cry offs. If we are going to survive as a 1st division team we have to have a settled squad plus our batsmen (only two amateurs have reached double figures in League matches so far) need to pull their finger out
