Sunday 5th May

Match report

After a week of hope and teasing from the UK metoffice Lavant was expecting good things for the second game of the season and after a glorious saturday the day before woke up ready to go. However being a bank holiday it of course rained before the start of the game and with a chill in the air the enthusiasm levels were low. 

Thankfully one man braved the weather to set up coverings over the pitch and this action made sure the wicket was ready come start time (big thanks once again to ‘Tam Tarps ™ ‘)!

The burst of rain made the choice of toss interesting and the Lavant captain trudged out to the middle muttering ‘might be a good one to lose’ showing an undecided mindset. Alas being the best tosser in Lavant he won and elected to bowl first (with the hope of making the most of the damp conditions). 

Tam ‘saw off the opener’ (by finding a very odd amount of bounce from a damp pitch) and the unfortunate opening bat being hit in the head and having to be taken to hospital. I’ve been in contact with the opposition captain and have been informed he is ok and has put his name down for next week’s game. We obviously wish him well and I personally would advise the wearing of a helmet next week! 

Lavant started amazingly well keeping things very very tight. After an issue of trying to find someone to open the bowling at the pavilion end, only one man put his hand up (after his arm being a little twisted by the captain). That’s right….our own resident sheriff of Nottingham Dave ‘the shoes’ Burford. As per normal the ever reliable man didn’t let the team down keeping the finances…err…I mean runs down and, in conjunction with Richard working his magic at the other end, had Westborne stuck with very little runs on the board and not going anywhere fast. A captain’s dream.  Well bowled to both men.

Once Dave had finished his spell Lavant welcomed back James C to the fold and this leaner and meaner version didn’t let us down and continued the tight bowling and kept things tidy (good to have you back James)! On another day could (and probably should) have more rewards for his efforts. 

Lavant had a debutant in the ranks and making his first appearance was a bit of a baptism of fire for Matt. Asked to bowl from the river end he found it hard to blow away the cobwebs from a long time not playing. I’m taking responsibility for the barrage of double bouncing deliveries as I asked Matt to embrace the dambusters spirit (I just wasn’t expecting that it would be more Barnes Wallis than 617 Squadron). I think we can all sympathise with how tough it can be to get back up to speed but I want to highlight that there were some really good deliveries in amongst the bouncing barrage and also we can only thank Matt for the effort and energy in the field. 

After a long period of control the turning point came when Westbourne sent out a middle order player who started launching everyone to all parts (and one point hitting the pavilion).

With the Lavant captain desperately trying to keep control of the run rate (whilst also keeping the dangerous player) off strike he was looking around the field for volunteers but observed many people looking at clouds, counting the leaves on the trees and tying shoelaces (or glueing in Dave’s case) to avoid making eye contact.

Lavant ended up turning to Will and Justin to close the game out (which they were both very happy about). Both men stood up to the task and bowled beautifully and started to reign things in. Justin kept tying up the batters and didn’t allow them space to get the ball away and was rewarded with picking up the prized wicket with an appeal that continued until tea time.

Tragically after last week’s sharp catching this week saw the return of the Lavant catching curse with multiple catches going down from Will (who certainly deserved wickets for his efforts). 

Westbourne finished with 173-4 setting a very above par total for the conditions.

Tea was served (many thanks to Ron for a great spread), drinks were drunk, bananas were eaten and Lavant returned to the field looking for glory. 

Disaster struck in the first over with the captain (after hitting the exact same delivery for 2 the ball before) managed to miss the next ball and kicked it onto his stumps. Richard then followed (being bowled) and a collapse looked to be on the cards until Rob came to the crease and showed a good fight and a dogged defence to keep his team in the fight. The loudest cheer of the day came when Rob finally hit his first runs! 

Rob’s defences were finally broken when he unfortunately missed a full toss. There was a small amount of descent (complaining to the umpire it was a no ball) but I think Rob maybe just had his trousers pulled up too much to think it was above waist high.

Through the carnage one man stood tall at the other end. Justin has managed to rebuild the innings while facing taxing bowling (particularly a leg spinner who was spinning it both ways). It was a solid performance and he only really got out in an attempt to push the score along in the final hour of play in the hope to try to get the team in a position to win. I thank him for his efforts and batting for the team (as he could have easily just sat at one end not scoring). TBH I think we were just all glad he wasn’t out early again so we all had to hear him moaning for another week…

Once the final hour / 20 overs had started (and the platform Justin had built) Lavant were able to unleash their power house middle order starting with Phil who helped change the dynamic of the game by taking the attack to the Westbourne bowlers. Everyone was gutted to see him having to retire hurt (after tweaking a muscle pushing off for a run) as it looked like he was just getting into his stride but it was great to see his batting potential shine through. 

Tam also entered the fray and started to dispatch his tranmark lusty blows in an attempt to push the scoreboard on as did Will and Mark H who’s eyes clearly lit up and tried to smash the ball into Chichester but didn’t quite get hold of it (this time).

With the match coming to a close Dave B decided to see the game out for a draw by charging the Westbourne leg spinner shouting ‘’I’ll show you’ and ‘you’re not bowling that to me’. A worthy battle cry to finish the game with a hard earned draw (with Lavant 40 –  50 runs short).

It was a hard fought game with a lot of positives and the draw (considering the total and the loss of early wickets) was a good result for Lavant. 

Man of the match goes to Justin for a tidy spell of bowling (particularly at a set batsman looking to tee off) and a crucial batting performance which set up even a sniff of a run chase and then the option to bat out the draw.

Champagne moment goes to Will for showing an amazing amount of grace, control and team unity for not going ballistic from several drops off his bowling in quick succession!

Well done everyone for the well earned draw and on to the next game!