OK so this was it….the equation was simple. After a hard fought season in which only one game had been lost, the 3rds just needed to beat Chipperfield to secure the 9W title. Chipperfield to be fair had been on a horrific run of form of late, so with what looked a strong line up, things were set fair for the big game at home on Saturday. The pitch, although somewhat green, had held up well to the mid-week deluges so in theory there was plenty to be excited about!

Aside from the obvious chasing of the title, there were plenty of other issues to be settled on the side:

Who would win the orange cap competition (main contenders Callum, Owen & Bilal)?
Could Snehal score 10 runs to overtake Owen as the top run-scorer for the league season?
Would Gaurav get the top wicket taker honours in the league?
Would Stef remember his whites this week?

Well anyhow, the all-important coin toss was duly lost by Gaurav and Ricky were sent into bat first. With Owen choosing to watch England play a dead rubber vs Sri Lanka at the Oval rather than play in the most important game of the season, it was left to Doug to support Snehal for the opening overs.

Things started really nicely. Doug was tucking into anything loose from the bowlers and unfurled a number of cuts and drives to get the innings off to a brisk start. It didn’t take long for Snehal to get in on the act and after a couple of trademark pulls to the boundary, he had overtaken AWOL Owen to top the run-scoring stakes. But then disaster struck….the bowlers had started to find some fairly hefty lateral movement and he hit one such delivery straight to square leg and had to depart after being caught out on the pull.

Bobby was next to the crease and started brightly. His new aero-dynamic shape saw him chasing quick(ish) singles. However, before long the sideways movement got the better of him and a big in-dipper from the opening bowler sneaked through the gate and castled the Ricky talisman.

To restore the righty-lefty combo, Callum strode to the crease knowing that a not out or 40+ score would be enough to secure him the Buffalo bat for the orange cap competition. Unfortunately, the next few overs proved to be pretty challenging and the run rate slowed considerably in the face of some accurate bowling. By the drinks break the team were still in a healthy position of 64-2 – plenty of batting to come and hopefully the main bowlers out of overs.

Having smoked the first ball after drinks to the boundary, Doug then smoked the next ball straight to mid-off. Had the ball gone a yard either side it would have cruised to the boundary, however the fact it didn't meant the disconsolate opener had to trudge back to the sidelines for a well made 33.

Well that is about where the good news ends for the innings. What followed was unfortunately a bit of a calamity as batsman after batsman contrived to get themselves out through false shots or run outs. Callum stuck around but unfortunately too often found the fielders when the odd loose ball came. The innings finished just a couple of balls short of the 40 on 112. From 68-2 this was a real let down in all honesty – the pitch whilst being far from a road, didn’t appear to hold many demons and the score was realistically about 30 under par.

The Chipperfield innings started briskly – one of the openers as it turned out was very strong on the leg side but equally limited on the off side. It took a couple of overs to discover this, and by that point the score had motored to 20.

Despite the best efforts of the bowlers and sub-fielder Ewok Iveson (once randomly using his jaw to stop the ball), very few chances were created and the innings crawled along to the target. The following figures give a good indication of how things unfolded: Syam 7-0-9-0, Saffy 8-0-18-0, Hanuman 8-2-21-1, Gaurav 8-2-25-1.

Chippo’s previously prolific opening batsman Moore, hit the winning runs in the 36th over to finish on 29 not out. This was definitely a game for the Bazbal aficionado!!

So unfortunately the 3’s season ended with a bit of a whimper. The news that Berko had despatched West Herts was not a massive surprise so 2nd place it would have to be. In all fairness Owen wasn't absent for long - all was forgiven as he returned to the club to join in the celebrations / commiserations. Team spirit is never in doubt for this team and promotion is still a great achievement and so onwards to Division 8 the 3’s march!

A couple of very important things to add to the end of this report:

Famous Chokers:
Jimmy Hendrix (1970 - vomit)
Queen Mother (1982 – fish bone)
Greg Norman (1996 - US Masters 1996)
AC Milan (2005 - Champions League Final Istanbul)
South Africa (Literally every cricket tournament played ever)
Rickmansworth CC 3rd XI (2024 - Herts League 9W)

How to treat severe choking:
1) Stand behind the person and slightly to one side. Support their chest with 1 hand. ...
2) Give up to 5 sharp blows between the person's shoulder blades with the heel of your hand (the heel is between the palm of your hand and your wrist).
3) Check if the blockage has cleared.
4) If not, give up to 5 abdominal thrusts.
5) If not, score more fricking runs in the first innings!