What a difference a day makes – Ramsbottom suffered their ‘away day’ blues once again with a comprehensive defeat against a Darwen team who started the day in the bottom two.
Away Day Blues
Losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, one would have hoped that the bowlers who had done so well the following evening would have the bit between their teeth. No such thing.
Consistent short pitched bowling on an excellent track allowed the home side to score at will and post a substantial total of 243 for 5 by the end of their innings. The only plus point for the Rams was that the ground fielding showed a marked improvement from the previous week. A good start was essential but luck was not on our side when JJ Fielding was bowled off the only delivery that shot along the ground all day. Skipper Tom Parton and Alex Olpin then got the runs flowing at a rapid rate before Tom agonisingly played.
Professional George Linde came to the crease and he also looked in good order before inexplicably holing out to deep mid-on. At this stage Rammy were well in front of the run rate but again the middle order batting let us down. With the exception of Dave Bowden who took 2 for 25 off his 12 overs the Darwen bowling could be best described as ordinary so it doesn’t do us much credit to be bowled out for 145 with over 10 overs of the innings still remaining.
The warning bells are starting to ring and we are seriously going to have to improve our away day form, start putting some runs on the board and bowl with more consistency or we could be in peril of falling into the dreaded bottom two positions.
Mick Everett
1st Team Manager