Rambo double seals victory

Chris Morgan writes...

The game of cricket has a known history beginning in the late 16th century. Having originated in south-east England, it became the country's national sport in the 18th century and has developed globally in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In recent times T20 has brought plenty of innovation to the game but this contest just goes to show that there are still some benefits to playing other, age old formats of the game and apart from the bish and the bash cricket of the modern format and that cricket can present a "lexicon" of challengers.

Following on from a poor performance the previous week, Reigate's very own Swampy (Captain Brickely) won the toss and decided to bat, this decision left many, including himself feeling bemused. His rashness was attributed by the captain to a temporary case of amnesia that caused him to forget the format of the game, it must have been the unusual pre match preparation of spending Friday night in his own bed rather than a dumpster of car park stairwell that led to this temporary moment of madness.
Having elected to bat the amount of limited overs cricket played by the Priory players in recent times clearly had transcended into the longer format of the game with the top order dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground but losing wickets at regular intervals.
Geoffrey Boycott would certainly not have approved of the reckless nature shown by the Llamas but you could fault the intent or wish for better entertainment. Light starter Bukhari lead the way with a swashbuckling 53 and Rory Haughton not far behind with an entertaining 56. The middle order of Morgan, Ireland and Ramsden all got starts but fell to the wily Thom who bowled with great height and lack of pace finishing with a four-for to add to his career total of 5million wickets.
With the Priory going at 6 runs per over the
run rate was never an issue but being 150-6 being bowled out was a distinct
possibility. Then a terrific partnership between Ross McInley and George Elliston put on 80 for the 6th wicket with McInley finishing on 45* when the captain declared. In scenes Ross thought comparable to England Captain Mike Atherton declaring in the 3rd test against Australia in Sydney in the 95 series with Graham Hick on 98*. Little did the skipper know at the time how (spoiler alert) well judged the timing of that declaration would be.
The Priory innings finished on 237, leaving Walton 52 overs to chase down our total or survive.
On a benign pitch the Llama bowlers made early inroads, leaving the Walton innings in tatters with McInley seaming the ball prodigiously and Elliston bowling with pace, guile ad nous and learning new words to assist him in his pursuit of an A at GCSE English!!!
The opening pair left Walton reeling on 79- 8 and the Llamas thought the result was a formality but dogged old timer Thom and number 10 Allen put on a mammoth stand reminiscent of Jack Russell and Mike Atherton at The Johannesburg Wanderers ground in the 96 series against Hansie Cronje’s South African side.
The pair came together in the 25th over remaining intact until the 52nd! It was a chanceless stand. In terms of winning and losing the game was over as a contest and showed the virtues of the declaration format. But would there be a final twist?
With the Priory needing two wickets in the last over to gain a victory, Brickley tossed the ball to M Ramsden, our wicketkeeper from the week before; surely he couldn't break the stand. In what was to prove to be another inspired decision the captain brought himself to short leg and with his look inspired by Charles Manson, him of Helter Skelter infamy rather than the Hollywood actor.
With this intimidating presence standing up close to the batter you could see the fear in his eyes, sure enough he duly obliged and popped an easy catch to Brickely at short leg sparking wild celebrations - surely the Llamas couldn't win it from here.
With three balls to survive the Walton Number 11 strode to the crease with a serious case of pad rash. With two balls to spare, Ramsden got one past the outside edge and the ever alert Sam Hall stumped the batsman sparking delirious scenes of celebration, reminiscent of the London riots a couple of summers back (fair play to their umpire for giving a close one – Ed).

This game was truly a great advert for the declaration game and showed that there might be some life in the old dog yet!