Summer is still to Arrive! Ramsbottom got back to winning ways on Sunday with what in the end proved to be a comfortable success over Clitheroe.
Having won the toss, the opposition skipper Dibb asked the Rams to take first knock, no doubt having the weather forecast on his mind.
Runs did not come easily against the experienced bowling pair of Marcus Sharp and the ex Rammy player Sam Halstead. Sharp claimed both openers and when skipper Parton was bowled by the Clitheroe Pro who had just replaced Halstead, Ramsbottom looked in trouble at 46 for 3.
Professional Linde then joined the reliable Hanson and the pair set about repairing the damage. They had taken the score to 91 with some excellent running between the wickets when George was brilliantly run out by a direct throw from Halstead.
Hanson was well caught 5 runs later for a valuable 36 and the advantage had turned back in the opposition’s favour.
Enter Brad Fielding who seems to have come back to form. Brad picked up from Friday striking the ball well right from the start. When he lost Martin Cropper who had made 7, he was joined by his dad Jon. The pair scored freely with the opposition struggling to contain them and they took the score past 150 before Jon fell for a solid 21. Brad fell soon after for an excellent 38 and the tail managed to take us to an all-out total of 174.
Having seen how the wicket was taking spin, the Rams total looked formidable. However, the main worry was the weather situation. No doubt this was in the mind of skipper Parton, as he opened the attack with John Fielding backing up Jack Wynn. Trig was soon amongst the wickets and after four tidy overs – Wynn was replaced by the Rammy Pro (Linde) setting up an all spin attack. Both bowlers got plenty of turn from the track and the Clitheroe batsmen struggled as the spin duo raced through their overs in order to get the requisite number of overs in (20) to constitute a game. This, they managed to do comfortably and when 25 overs had been sent down, the rain came. The rain continued and the Rams were comfortable winners on the Duckworth Lewis scoring system. Fielding finished with 3 for 20 off 12 overs and Linde 2 for 6 off a miserly 8 overs.
This was a much-needed win which will hopefully give the lads a confidence boost.