Camden I v Little Downham (away)

02/05/26

SEASON OFF TO A WINNING START

No teething trouble for Captain Sutton

Little Downham (5pts) 120 lost to Camden (20pts) 123-4 by 6 wickets

The big news during the off season was that Captain Redfern would miss the 2026 campaign. The gammy wisdom tooth which had forced him out of last season’s climax had, on closer inspection, turned out to be a cyst in the jaw bone. A successful operation had left the skipper unable to smoke for a fortnight and with a long period of cricketing inaction while the jaw healed. Sutton had agreed to take over the reins, and the interim skipper began with a trip to Little Downham. Along with Redders, Camden were also to be without the services of Subbu – enticed by the prospect of playing in a higher league with TAC I. Asked to bowl first, we would get a first look at his replacement.

Ankit is the 181st player to turn out for the Thirds. First impressions were that there can’t have been many better. Tall, quick, skilful – the left-armer, even on a largely lifeless pitch, was too good for Little Downham. 6-3-9-1 wasn’t a bad first spell, and the wicket – caught at slip by Prathyush – felt suspiciously like proper cricket. Either side of which, Farid bagged a couple of wickets of his own – caught by Clarke and Krishna. The home side had limped to 23-3 from twelve overs, and Sutton turned to Mukesh and Karan. Prathyush took another catch, off Mukesh, but by this stage the hosts’ skipper had begun to hit out. Time to put the Ketul on. Sure enough, last season’s Player of the Year had the danger man in his first over – caught behind by Clarke. Mukesh (2-37) struck in the following over, and then took a catch off Karaan (1-29). Ketul 3-20) and the returning Farid (7-2-13-3) polished off the tail, restricting Little Downham to 120.

One thing was certain – Sutton would not be making it three centuries in three appearances at Little Downham. Krishna had bruised a thumb in the field, but was fit to open with his skipper. The pair started sedately, reaching 21 in the eighth over when Krishna (11) was bowled. Prathyush (15) hit three fours to get the innings going, but then rather gave it away – skying a catch to mid on. That brought Nish, a name familiar to long-suffering Camden fans, to the middle. A first Thirds appearance since 2015 ended on 11 with a return catch.When Irtaza (1) followed, Sutton – with his side faltering at 72-4 – may have been thinking it was a case of ‘if you want something doing, do it yourself.’ Ketul had the same idea, hitting 29 from eighteen balls and finishing the game in a hurry – culminating in a trademark six over extra cover. Sutton somehow escaped being run out, ending up 39 not out. The skipper faced 91 balls and failed to find the boundary, but had proved to be a banker of an anchor. All in all, the stand-in skipper could reflect that this six-wicket win was a hugely encouraging start to life back in Junior 2 North. 

Man of the Match: Ketul Saharan