Sawston & Babraham go top of East Anglian Premier League table with victory over Great Witchingham

Captain Dan Heath is hopeful that his Sawston & Babraham side have found form at just the right time.

Saturday’s 75-run victory at Great Witchingham – coupled with defeats for Mildenhall and Copdock & Old Ipswichian – saw the Rams end the weekend top of the Thurlow Nunn East Anglian Premier League table by a one-point margin from Horsford, who themselves jumped up two places to second.

And with just five matches remaining, Heath’s men, who saw Wayne White (169) and Callum Guest (138) put on a club-record 307-run partnership at the weekend, are in pole position to regain the title that they won in 2022 and 2023.

He said: “We always knew it was going to be very, very competitive this season up and down the entire division.

“Third and fourth before the weekend all of a sudden became first and second and I’m sure it might chop and change a bit more before the end of the season.

“But we’ve been playing some good cricket and have hit a nice bit of form during a tough run of games against teams around us.

“We’ve now won four on the bounce and it definitely feels like we have a bit of momentum behind us.”

With the 2024 campaign now heading into the home straight, it is the stage where the pressure of leading the way can result in unexpected points being dropped.

But with a squad that won back-to-back titles not so long ago at his disposal, Heath is confident that the levels of expectation will be well managed.

“The core of this team have won the league title twice and that is not the sort of thing you forget,” added the wicket-keeper.

“We all remember what it took to win those titles, how hard we had to work so we know what to expect.

“That sort of experience is always important when you reach this part of the season, but we’ve got to use it properly.

“And even some of the newer members of the group have enjoyed success elsewhere and that’s a big positive as well.”

Sawston & Babraham are going to need all of that ‘experience’ on Saturday (17 August) when they welcome third-placed Mildenhall to the Spicers Sports Ground.

The visitors from Suffolk are just five points adrift of their hosts – meaning that the winner has the chance to open up some daylight on the losing side.

“There’s five to go and after we play Mildenhall we play all of the teams in the bottom four,” said Heath.

“That’s taking nothing away from any of those teams and we won’t be taking any of them lightly because we know in this league it will come back to bite you.

“But Mildenhall is our toughest game and it’s always a big game because we see them as one of the best teams in the league.

“It’s a chance for us to create some space between us, but they’ll be thinking exactly the same thing I’m sure.

“There’s so much work to be done, but we know that five top performances and five victories will see us win the league again – it’s a nice position to be in.”

Sawston & Babraham could potentially have Essex youngster Noah Thain and the fit-again Ben Claydon available to face title rivals Mildenhall, but Alex Evans is unavailable.