International cricket comes to Ramsey

It was time to forget the Ryder Cup, for the other major sporting event was just up the road at Ramsey Cricket Club!! I had send it advertised as Englands Ladies Cricket Team v. a celebraty team. I wasn't sure what the day would be like but as Nancy has developed a rapidly expanding interest in, and knowledge of, cricket we headed up. I did know that the England captain, Charlotte Edwards, is from near Ramsey. She was the organiser of the day which was raising funds for MacMillian Nurses.

It started at 10 30 so we walked up there and settled down to watch the days fare. As we were informed there was to be 2 games one in morning which was against a team made up of local players and some past women internationals and one in the afternoon againsy an England XI. I wasn't quiet expecting that and some of the names to be playing in the afternoon game included current England stars - Monty Panesar and Ashley Giles and former starts Phil 'the cat' Tuffnell and Nick Knight. All this in Ramsey!!

In the first game the 'Has beens and wannabes' batted first and reached 128. The highlight was a towering 6 that completely demolished the rear windscreen of a Peaugot in the car park. In response the England women started very well and with Charlotte Edwards at the wicket looked set to easily reach the target but then a couple of quick wickets lead to a loss of momentum and they came in one run short.

After a very long lunch break by which time the stars had arrived being mobbed by local children armed with autograph books. To even things up a bit the England women fielded with 14 players and this lead to restricting the men to scrappy singles and boundaries. As they came more desparate some of the big names - Nick Knight, Ashley Giles and Monty to be caught on the boundary. I was most impressed with the catching and general fielding of the ladies team. The main damage was done bu Paul Nixon who hit the first five balls of the penultimate over for six, but was then bowled with the last bowl. From the 20 overs then a target of 130 was set.

After a tight opening spell, a combination of some looser deliveries (you saw why Nick Knight never bowled for England) and some big hitting from the local heroine Charlotte Edwards the England Ladies were closing in on the target. It was also good to see a few overs from Monty who reduced the run rate and took a wicket. The final over was good fun. Tuffers bowling abd just as it seemed that the ladies would fall short he bowled a no ball with the last ball. The extra deliver was then despatched for a six (or close enough) and to the joy of the crowd the day belonged to Charlotte's team.

It turned into a really fun day and I was amazed at the size of the crowd which must of been approaching 2000. This was helped no end by a late burst of summer sunshine. Happy smiling faces all around as the day ended (except for the poor person who owned the Peaugot).