Match Reports versus Ramsbottom (Away) 2015
It had been dubbed “The Clash of The Titans” as the second game of the 2015 Lancashie League season saw the current champions Lowerhouse CC and Holland Cup holders Ramsbottom CC go head to head at Acre bottom for the first time since the debacle of the last game of the 2014 season. With Ramsbottom being tipped for the League this season it was a strange feeling for Lowerhouse to go into a game potentially as underdogs for the first time since 2012.
Cricket season in England wouldn’t really be complete without the rain being around and this was very much the case on the morning of the second game of the season. With many a forecast set for rain all day any play at all was ominous but on arriving at Ramsbottom to a damp outfield, dry track and no rain, things were beginning to look a little bit better. With a brief rain delay in the warm ups play began on time after stand in skipper Matthew Walker had lost the toss and been asked to bowl by the returning Ramsbottom captain Rob Read.
Rammy has been a bit of a strange game in years passed with a lot of ins and outs and returning players occasionally meaning you had no idea who was next to come in to bat or what was going to be thrown down at you by a bowler you had never seen before. This wasn’t the case this year though as what appears to be a sense of trying to gain a bit of stability through consistency has become a key part of Ramsbottoms policy, for now.
Lowerhouse brought in Declan Bailey, to replace the missing Cottam, who missed a lot of last season through injury and now returned with a strangely shaped finger being a valuable lesson on learning how to catch the ball properly. Ramsbottom included Martin Cropper to their side from the disaster of last seasons trip and it would be Lowerhouse’s first outing against the notorious Ramsbottom professional Daryn smit. Following Daryn’s impressive stats last year it was exciting to see what all the fuss was really about.
The game started well for Lowerhouse with tight bowling from openers Pienaar and Walker. It was Cobus who reaped the rewards of the early pressure and exploited an inability to defend a swinging ball early on picking up the wickets of Parton (2) and Kay (2), both LBW without many complaints from either batsmen. This left Ramsbottom at 5-2 as they continued to struggle with Cobus on a decently paced track. Gabriel (6) didn’t last much longer than his opening partner and fell victim to an exceptional catch by Joe Martin to give Pienaar his third wicket of the game and leave Ramsbottom struggling at 15-3. This didn’t get any better for Rammy as Read went without troubling the scorers, again it was a Pienaar and Martin combination that proved successful plunging Ramsbottom to 15-4. The unkown Martin Cropper entered at number 6, following a century in one of Ramsbottoms friendlies and then a score of 6 from the first game of the season anything was possible. Following a couple of boundaries on his way to 11 Cropper fell victim to the first signs of a dying track and was adjudged LBW to a ball that didn’t bounce and wrapped him half way up the pads in front of all three to give Walker his first wicket of the game. With the game finely poised at 31-5, and the ramsbottom pro stranded at one end for just 10 thus far, it was the youngsters who took centre stage. Brad Fielding joined his professional and Joe Halstead came on from the old paper mill end to replace the Lowerhouse professional. Fielding showed a sensible head and played some very good strokes all around the wicket to stay with his professional and help Ramsbottom build a defendable total. The introduction of both Fergus and Halstead however made this very difficult and, with economical bowling and notable very good fielding from the likes of Lewis Marsden and Josh Lavin, Ramsbottom still struggled to score runs fluently. Fieldings innings eventually came to a close with the score on 104 for a very important 28. The wicket came with less than 15 overs left and the Ramsbottom batsmen looked to be coming out to attack. Jonny Dack was the next to go following two good hits for four off Bailey before following the same fate as Fielding and having his stumps broken for a quick fire 8. With the score on 112-7 and with just 9 overs left Fielding senior came to the crease to try and help Smit add some much needed late runs. Smit lived up to his reputation with some impressive hitting off the returning Pienaar and Walker sailing past his half century with good local knowledge opting to hit to the smaller square of the wicket boundaries rather than hit straight. Fielding and his professional added 53 for the 8th wicket before Fielding was cleaned up by the Lowerhouse professional for Cobus to finish with figures of 14-2-51-5 and taking him to 11 wickets for the season after just two games. Aided by two dropped catches on the square leg boundary, the easiest chance shelled by Matthew Walker running round infornt of the vocal home support, Smit managed to hit his way to an impressive 92 before being bowled round his legs with the last ball of the innings for Ramsbottom to finish their 50 overs at 171-9. Simon Read finished unbeaten on 2 and Michael Haslam wasn’t needed to strap the pads on as Lowerhouse narrowly missed out on the bowling bonus points but were more than happy with their efforts in the field.
As ever the Ramsbottom teas did the job and I’m pretty sure I saw Stuart with a full roast!
Lowerhouse faced a bit of a dilemma at half time with opener Jonny Whitehead aggravating an old groin injury whilst in the field. Whitehead made the decision to soldier on however and walked out to face the Ramsbottom bowling with new opening partner Joe Martin.
The two youngsters started well picking up boundaries with relative ease from both openers. Whitehead played a more attacking role due to his struggle with running singles and survived a scare early when he was dropped at mid-off. With the score on 27 and both openers making easy work of the Ramsbottom bowling Martin was given out leg before, much to his annoyance, to give Ramsbottom their first wicket. Fergus was promoted to number 3, in the absence of Cottam, following his heroics the week before at East Lancs. Following some further hitting from Whitehead, aimed especially at Haslam, Read called on his professional to try and make a second breakthrough. It was Read who picked up his, and Rammy’s, 2nd wicket of the game clean bowling bailey for just 3. Whitehead then followed 2 runs later, caught at long off from the bowling of Smit, to leave Lowerhouse at 43-3. Being unable to run Whitehead made a valuable contribution of 26 to help see off the Rammy new ball and give the LHCC middle order a slightly easier task of chasing down Ramsbottoms 171. Walkers first game as captain was going as well as he could have hoped and it was up to him and the professional to make sure it continued the same way. The run rate never dropped and Pienaar and walker consistently rotated the strike to ensure that the Ramsbottom bwolers couldn’t settle. Given time to get their eyes in the runs began to flow. Lowerhouse were sat nicely at 86-3 at drinks with no real scares of note other than Walker managing to chip the ball just wide of the fielders on a couple of occasions. The introduction of Jon Fielding didn’t deter the Lowerhouse batsmen either as they set about disturbing his line and length, Walker even managing to play a “bucket shot” (as described by Lowerhouse Legend Jez Hope) over his own shoulder for a boundary 4. Cobus was the first to bring up his 50 following a flurry of boundaries and finished with a magnificent 59* from 84 balls including 8 fours. Pienaar looked untroubled throughout his innings, time and again finding the boundary to help lift any pressure that may have been built. Walker quickly followed his professional to his half century and was dropped on 56 to help him finish 58*, also from 84 balls, which contained six fours and two sixes. Captain and Professional shared a partnership of 129 for the 4th wicket to keep Lowerhouse unbeaten from their first two league games.
Lowerhouse welcome 2013 champions Accrington to Liverpool Road tomorrow once again looking to prove a point to the League that the club is bigger than the players that come and go and that the Lowerhouse wheel can continue to turn even after replacing a few cogs.
