After winning the toss and electing to bowl on a sunny Sunday at Eton, the scene was perfectly set for a Ramblers top order collapse. At 10-3 on a flat pitch with clear blue skies, Rob Ponti and guest James Wilkes-Green were left quite the challenge to restore some dignity to the innings. Fortunately the pair managed a well work partnership of 81, which gave some backbone to the Eton.s efforts. Ed Rowell.s snappy 42 helped tip the total over the 180 mark when time constraints forced the declaration. The Ramblers ended on 187-7 and took to the field to begin the challenge at hand.

In a similar vein to Eton’s innings, Marlborough lost two early wickets, one victim to Ed Reynolds (guest) and the other caught behind off the in-swing of Fergus Boyd towards the beginning of his mammoth 14 over spell. Frustratingly, the opposition 3 and 4 foresaw the later showers and took the reins with some aggressive batting. Leaking runs and catches galore, the match was beginning to slip from the Ramblers. grasps. However, the successive wickets of the two danger men revived Eton.s spirits and it began to look as though the contest was still alive heading into the final 7 overs. Sadly more missed chances ruined our opportunity to take away a victory, Marlborough Blues reaching our total with 3 wickets in hand and a few hours to spare. Next year we will have to return and reclaim the W after two years of fruitless battle.