Match Report

With the storm clouds gathered the mighty Lavant (seemingly on a constant tour right now) crossed the county lines into Hampshire to visit Droxford. Upon arrival (and having to trek up a hill dragging kit to the pavilion) the ground felt soft under foot.

Upon inspection of the wicket it also felt soft and very spongy and could lead to an interesting game! Against convention the opposition captain didn’t want to walk to the middle and didn’t have a coin so was looking to use an app (well it is 2025 I suppose)! Lucky Dave couldn’t make it….he would have been appalled by the cashless coin toss. Thankfully he couldn’t make it as he was attending a ‘how to use a card reader’ school ready for the BBQ game.

Thankfully one Droxford team was able to produce a coin and the toss went up and FINALLY the Lavant skipper called correctly and proved a Sussex tosser is better than a Hampshire tosser! 

No shocks to anyone….the Lavant skipper elected to bat first backing his team to accumulate a decent total in a 40 over game.

In a slight change in the order Justin walked out with Harry to open the batting and get the side off to a good start. The suspicions of the pitch turned out to be correct with many balls staying low and it looked very hard to get anything away. With runs at a premium Justin and Harry had to be patient and wait for anything short that they could throw their hands at and get away for runs and the occasional boundary. 

Proving the point of getting yourself in and being patient the Lavant form man (Justin) remained watchful until the change of bowling came and an opportunity appeared. With the bowler starting loosely Justin pounced and dispatched the delivery over their head sailing into the bushes. With the ball lost the next ball was given the same treatment sailing into someone’s back garden! The next ball was a dot and Justin must have heard the gentle booo’s from the previous ball (missing out on the chance of 6 sixes) and decided to launch the next one (the biggest of the lot) which hit someone’s roof…perhaps Walberton do have the right idea?

Next ball, dispatched for another 6 (slightly wider to give the houses a rest)! Final ball 4 (I think Justin was getting tired)! That over was just what the doctor ordered to get the scoreboard moving.

Needless to say that bowler (after conceding 29 in one over) was removed from the attack and with the buffet closed the game returned to some sort of normality with both the Lavant openers returning to being watchful. 

Harry was quietly going about his business hitting singles but found it hard to get through the inner ring of fielders dispatching some eye-catching shots but always either finding a fielder or being blocked off, but Harry remained patient and watchful. 

With the scoring looking hard Justin was able to register another 50 of the season and at the 20 over mark looked to be a crucial contribution. As what was going to be a theme of the day the moment anyone looked to push on and try and score it became hard. Justin was looking to kick on but ended up chipping the ball to the fielder and was caught for 65.

At the 20 over halfway mark the score seemed below par and the team were looking to push the scoring on, however it was becoming clear that not only scoring but starting on this pitch would be hard and it was proven by the incoming batters. 

Next was Andy who hit a single but was out caught. After him was the Lavant skipper who also hit a single but was also out caught trying to score. 

‘Super’ Steve Brooker next went in to steady the ship and found some success early on but was also outdone trying to score, out caught for 10.

Harry, who had managed to grind out a score up to this point, looked to push on but was also out caught for 28.

Next was Will MC and was out (yup you guessed it) caught for 0.

Tam and Phil were left out in the middle at 36 overs and with the score on 117 it still felt too few runs on the board. Tam and Phil pushed hard to get as many runs as possible but (like everyone else) found scoring hard going but fought hard and managed to contribute a crucial partnership for the team. Phil was out for a crucial 13, bowled on the final ball of the game trying to blast it away, and Tam carried his bat for 8.

With the Lavant score nudged up to 134 it did feel short of a defendable total but as the old saying goes ‘don’t judge a pitch until both teams have batted on it’. With the teams leaving the pitch to enjoy some cake from Will T the heavens opened up and the Droxford players scrambled to get the covers on.

The extended break from the rain allowed the Lavant skipper time to take stock and rally his troops and brief his players on ‘the plan’. It was clear that forcing the scoring ‘in the V’ was difficult going so made sure his bowlers were aware he didn’t want to see anything short of a length and that the axe would be branded if someone wasn’t quite working.

With the clouds clearing and the covers removed the Lavant team polished off their cake and cups of tea and returned to the middle looking to defend.

After a long discussion from the bowlers around the preference of who would come down the substantial hill at Droxford, the clubs premier bowler ‘Jean Claude Van Tran’ took the new ball. I think he would be the first to admit he found it tricky and didn’t quite get it 100% right but certainly bowled well enough to restrict the opening bats to having to run really hard to find their runs. 

At the other end Peter was given the crucial task of opening the bowling and trying to keep things tight and give the team a chance of defending the total. After a long chat with the skipper and setting a field Peter bowled beautifully. With the field set and keeping everything on the full side he stuck to the plan and frustrated the Droxford openers to the odd single. Backed up by everyone in the field the squeeze was well and truly on while Peter rattled off over after over. After 6 overs Peter had only conceded 9 runs! After a loose 7 run over Peter came out of the attack and should be very proud of doing his job perfectly (under pressure) finishing with 0 – 19 off his 7 overs.

Will ‘T-Rex’ replaced Tam and started excellently bowling a very tidy maiden however (as is normal for this all action cricketer) threw himself at stopping a ball in the field and was stuck hard on the hip. It was a nasty blow (the sound was horrible) and was clearly struggling but like a real trooper stayed on the field taking a moment to recover at slip.

Unable to continue his promising start with the ball, Will MC came into the attack and just did Will MC things! Started strongly (conceding only 1 run off the first 3 overs) Will looked an utter nightmare to face for the Droxford openers who were starting to realise the run rate was climbing. With some very close LBW’s turned down Will continued to either cramp up the batter or pass their outside edges and it was the perfect tonic for the situation. Rattling off 8 overs in a row conceding only 18 runs was extraordinary. 

Replacing Peter was the ‘King’. With the Droxford openers really starting to show concern about the scoring rate the ‘King’ found his first 3 overs a challenge but in the 4th over really clicked. Producing a ball that not only turned but bounced about an inch was too much for the Droxford opener to contend with and was clean bowled. After this was a plethora of wickets ranging from a classic off spinners delivery that pitched in the channel and spun big through the gate bowling the batter, to false shots being chipped up for a caught and bowled. His last wicket was skied in the air to be taken smartly by Will MC who was stationed at long on. Richard blew the game wide open with his contribution and finished with 4 – 26 off his 8 over spell.

Replacing Will MC was Tam who came back into the attack to complete his spell and rattled 3 superb overs giving the batters nothing and was able to extract a wicket which was smartly caught by Justin at long off (via his throat)! Lavant’s premier bowler completed his 8 overs finishing with 1 for 21.

After Richard Justin entered the fray (electing to run down the substantial hill). Finding it an odd adjustment initially Justin (with the keeper up) forced the batters in their crease who didn’t have a response to his bowling. Also extracting a false shot from the Droxford batters he picked up a wicket (via a great grab from Tam) and then clean bowled two others!  Justin finished his 4 over burst 3 for 5.

Will ‘T-Rex’ had recovered from the nasty blow he took earlier in the game and came back into the attack hungry to contribute with the ball and did with aplomb. Picking up a wicket maiden (yes…another false shot chipped up in the air and caught) his next over was heaping so much pressure on the batting side that they decided to go for a second run that simply wasn’t on the cards with Justin able to throw a ball in straight to the waiting keepers hands and pull off a run out without the Droxford batter ‘in the frame’! 

Will T finished his 3 over spell ending with 1 for 1! 

Droxford were bowled out in the 37th over for 97 giving the mighty Lavant a great win! 

Huge shout out to everyone in the field. In a game where every run counted you could tell how many were willing to put in a shift and stop everything. A special mention to Will T, Andy and Harry who charged around and stopped anything that was close to them and made all the difference and set the tone in the field all day for the others to follow.

Match of the match – This is probably the hardest one of the season so far. Not only did everyone contribute something but there were a lot of stand out performances from many people. From the critical runs from Justin, Will MC’s breathtaking bowling spell, Will T’s effort in the field and very tidy 3 overs.

So (after a LOT of thinking) man of the match goes to Peter and Richard. Peter set the tone and bowled to ‘the plan’ perfectly. In a 40 over game it’s harder to mix the bowling up if someone isn’t working as people have to bowl their overs and Peter’s start was exactly what the team needed to set the game up. 

On the flip side Richard came into the attack under the pressure of the Droxford batters (who had been given nothing to score off) looking to charge and hit anything (as shown in his first 3 overs). The best players are problem solvers and King Richard did just that, figuring out what the correct line was and then attacking with the ball and taking some crucial wickets to stem the flow of runs.

Very well done Peter and Richard.

Champagne moment goes to Will T for not only stopping a certain boundary but taking a big hit on the hip doing it. Body on the line for the team. 

On to the next!