Match Report

This week the mighty Lavant welcomed our good friends from Lynchmere to the L’Oval for our first Saturday fixture, and as per tradition the Lavant skipper had to deploy the normal gentle reminders to his team mates about the different playing day….and as is also the tradition it brought forward many a joke and teasing in the group chat. 

As has been the case so far for spring 2026 much of the team were on weather watch yet again. During the week the promise of a nice sunny day had evaporated and by Friday night many players were checking radars and forecasts to be faced with the prospect of cold / wind / rain appearing in the afternoon of the game. To make it worse come Saturday morning many an aching body arose (particularly those who had played in the T20 during the week) to peek through the curtains and be bathed in beautiful sunshine?!

With the forecast now looking ok until later in the afternoon a plan was devised and agreed by both captains that the best chance to get a full game in would be to forego any drinks breaks and tea and power through (getting through overs as quickly as possible) in the hope to be completed in time (I think most would prefer to enjoy the tea at the end away from the rain anyway)! 

After buzzing around getting everything in place the toss was carried out in a slightly unorthodox way (in the car park in front of the changing rooms) and the home skipper lost the toss and was asked to bat first. 

As the Lavant skipper was last seen stomping off the changing rooms to work on his tossing he set up his batting order in the hope of the team posting a decent score to defend. 

GAME ON!

First out to the middle were Justin and Joe hoping to get off to a good start and Joe (who was on tea duty this week) didn’t hang around! There must have been a sound of a starters pistol or something because first over Joe climbed into two 4’s. The next over he faced….same again! Either Joe was seeing it like a football or had suddenly realised he had left some cakes in the oven and needed to get back.

Either way it was just what the home skipper loves to see (always wanting one of his openers to be aggressive) and Joe was delivering on the old ‘Blowball’ mantra perfectly.

With Justin being solid and watchful he was able to rotate the strike and allow Joe to continue his blitz. After 5 overs the score was already at 43! Joe continued to climb into the Lynchmere opening bowlers and wasn’t in the mood to take a backwards step. By the 10th over 72 was scored and Joe had registered his first 50 of the season in a showcase of high class aggressive batting. Well done Joe.

With Lynchmere desperate for wickets and control, the breakthrough came when Justin (looking for a 2nd run) fell short of his ground with a direct hit from the Lynchmere fielder running him out for 14.

Then the age old adage of cricket (one brings two) with Joe being clean bowled by the Lynchmere spinner for 60.

Next in were Will ‘The Master’ MC and ‘Super’ Steve Brooker looking to steady the ship and capitalise on the great start from the Lavant openers.

Both men were solid and started to build a nice partnership (with Will smashing the first 6 of the game) and things looked like they had settled down nicely ready for the team to kick on, when Will was out bowled in the 18th over for 18.

Next in was Steve ‘Fraser’s Dad’ Cox who was last seen hobbling away at Ferring with a hamstring injury at the end of the last season. After a long winter boot camp he was back and ready to go and just carried on where he left off! Getting into his work early Steve yet again showed his class with the bat and started to build a nice partnership with the other Steve. 

It was a day of doubles. Double J’s to open. Double Steve’s batting. Double Will’s bowling (more on that later).

By the 25th over the innings was moving along nicely. With the score at 125 ‘Super’ Steve was out stumped trying to up the pace for 15.

Next in was Ben ‘Bury’ Seddon  who (after a brilliant indoor cricket campaign for Lavant) was hoping to continue his good form and push the score on but after blitzing a boundary was out caught for 5 in the next over.

Will ‘T-Rex’ walked to the middle and poached a couple of runs but was then clean bowled for 2.

With the score on 148, and multiple wickets falling, all of a sudden things were looking a little dire. At this stage the Lavant skipper decided to take responsibility, steady the ship, and try to push the score up more to a decent total, but frustratingly the skipper wasn’t in the middle for long when Steve C was out bowled for 31.

Peter was next in but was out for a duck.

After the Lavant skipper clubbed away two 4’s it looked like things had settled down and as the game moved into the last overs he decided to shift into full slog mode, but clothed a delivery from the Lynchmere spinner and was out caught for 11. 

The ever reliable Dave ‘The Shoes’ Burford looked solid (blasting a boundary away) and every effort was made to complete the overs getting as many runs as possible, but Mark ‘The Chairman’ S was out caught for a duck in the last over of the game bringing the innings to an end with Lavant posting a good score of 166.

With the dark clouds closing in there was a scramble of clothes, pads, hand warmers, jumpers and (perhaps) thermal leggings in the changing room. The team took to the field with the Lavant skipper barking to them all to get through the overs as fast as possible. The race against the weather would be the defining factor in this game.

Wanting to make sure the seam bowlers got use of the ball while it was still dry, Dave ‘The Shoes’ Burford and Ben ‘Bury’ Seddon were asked to open the bowling hoping to deliver a solid start to the game.

Dave was excellent. Offering total control and bowling to his field it was a skipper’s dream. When you want to squeeze a team early and give them nothing you couldn’t have asked for more from Dave by starting with a maiden! 

Ben (after a loosener that was punished for 4) was equally effective. Bowling with good pace and hitting the keeper’s gloves hard Ben rattled through his deliveries offering the Lynchmere openers nothing.

With the team responding to the skipper’s call and getting into position quickly after the end of each over, you could already start to feel the pressure being applied to the opposition. After 10 overs Lynchmere were only on 35 runs!

With the openers looking to push on it felt like a good time for a change in the bowling. Both Ben and Dave delivered their skills brilliantly and both men should be proud of their efforts setting the game up for the rest of the team.

Dave finished his 5 over spell 0 for 17 and Ben finished his 5 over spell 0 for 18. Terrific effort from both.

Next the team turned to ‘the double Will’ knowing this would be a critical part of the game as Lynchmere would have to push on soon if they stood any chance of chasing down the total.

And things started with a bang with Will ‘T-Rex’ seeming to have the Graham Swann knack this season of grabbing a wicket in his first over. Firing down a full straight delivery he was able to knock over the Lynchmere #1. Next over a maiden. 4th over clean bowled the Lynchmere #4. 5th over a wicket maiden (also bowling the Lynchmere #5)! After taking a bit of tap in his 6th Will ‘T-Rex’ showed why he’s the Apex predator and came roaring back in his final over bowling the Lynchmere #8!! T-Rex had delivered a simply devastating spell of bowling and was able to blow the game wide open finishing his 7 over spell with 4 for 26. Great work T-Rex!

At the other end Will ‘The Master’ MC was just doing what everyone has kinda got used to but trust me when I say that we never take what Will MC brings for granted and it is such a critical part of the team’s success. He also started with a wicket of the #2 batter in his first over (assisted by a smart catch by Joe). After a couple of overs offering nothing to the Lynchmere batters the pressure was really ramping up and in his 5th over picked up a plumb LBW of the Lynchmere #3 AND clean bowled the #6 for a double wicket maiden. His 5th over another maiden! In his final over Will picked up the wicket of the Lynchmere #7 catching a thick edge which looked to be flying away down to 3rd man until Steve Cox (who was stationed at slip) out of nowhere stuck out a paw and took a worldie of a one handed catch! Will MC finished his 7 over spell 4 for 13. A top top effort.

As the game moved into the 25th over (and Lynchmere only managing to score 86) the sky was dark and full of grey clouds. Light rain had started to fall (Joe had to leave the field to deploy the open tent for the scorers and people watching to shelter under). The message was re-iterated to the team on the importance of keeping the standards up and trying to close out the game while the opportunity was still there before the weather conditions became unplayable. 

The Lavant skipper turned to his ‘spin twins’ of Mark ‘Mr Chairman’ S and Peter ‘The Professor’ in the hope of getting through the overs as fast as possible and securing a much deserved win. It must be said that the spinners were slightly sacrificed in the game to allow the seamers to be able to bowl with the dryer ball. With the rain starting to fall it wasn’t an easy task to bowl with a wet ball but both men showed willing and it was appreciated by the team.

In fairness to Lynchmere the rear guard display was quite something. Suddenly the #9 and #10 decided to go on a full blooded counter attack as a last throw of the dice to try and reach the total.

However Mark and Peter stood up to be counted in difficult circumstances (as did the whole team). With the field spread, the rain falling and the wind howling, many Lavant players were willing to put in 100% in the field and block any runs and not rest on any laurels. 

With Mark whirling away he was able to retain some control of the situation and finished his 3 over spell with a respectable 0 for 19 to keep things in good order.

Peter had started well but the Lynchmere #10 had clearly decided to target the Professor. Moving around in his crease and advancing way down the wicket the #10 started to climb into the Lavant academic, however the ‘Professor’ was able to have the last laugh. Seeing the batter advancing once again the ‘Professor’ fired in a quicker delivery which the #10 got caught up in and was only able to spoon the ball over his head for it to land behind him and roll onto the stumps! Peter picked up the last remaining wicket of the day, bowling out Lynchmere in the 30th over for 121 and giving the home side a brilliant win.

With the heavens opening up both sides took shelter happy to have completed the whole game before it became too much. They were rewarded for their efforts thanks to Joe’s tea which many people were seen going back more than once to tuck into!

A great home win against a decent side started by the blistering scoring of Joe and solid batting from Steve C to allow the home side to post a competitive total, then followed up by solid and disciplined bowling from both the opening bowlers to allow the ‘double Will’ to take effect backed up by another brilliant effort in the field. Well done everyone…on to the next! 

Man of the match 

Regular readers of my match reports know how much I respect and admire the tough job that the bowlers have to do (and this game was no different with some brilliant bowling displays) however the stand out performance for me that not only set up the game but also laid the foundation for the rest of the team (on a tricky wicket score) was from Joe. I umpired for most of Joe’s innings and it was a showreel of destructive batting that put the opposition under pressure from ball one. Well done Joe.

Champagne moment

Only one winner. Like most village cricket Lavant has a tricky relationship with slip catching so it is a bit of a collectors item when one happens at the best of times, but the catch from Steve ‘Fraser’s Dad’ Cox was right from the top shelf. A wicket keeper by trade (which automatically makes him highly agile and intelligent) the ball was past him and just when most had thought it was sailing to the boundary out came the hand and it stuck. A breathtaking one handed catch! Great job Steve (and he didn’t pull any muscles this time)!