Match Report

On a blazing hot July summer day the mighty Lavant (after being on the road for a couple of weeks) returned home. The Village green looked dry, the outfield brown and the wicket seemed baked and hard! 

This week we welcomed Shirrel Heath who had been struggling to get a full 11. A BIG thank you to Jayden who has been patiently waiting for a chance to play for Lavant and was kind enough to play for Shirrel Heath to help us all make sure the fixture went ahead.

Once the setting up of the facilities had been concluded the two captains slowly shuffled out to the middle for the all important toss. Up went the coin and in a moment of drama it rolled along its side for what felt like an eternity….looking like it was about to topple on the side in favour of the home side it just hit a fortuitous bit of grass and fell on the side of Shirrel Heath! The away captain couldn’t hide his happiness and (unexpectedly) opted to bat first in the peak heat!

The Lavant skipper shuffled back, head hung down trying not to look anyone in the eye, electing to mumble ‘we are bowling’ before slipping quietly into the changing room hoping no one would have noticed but knew he would have to face the music eventually.

It might have been mentioned in the changing room once or twice. An interesting ad popped up for an online class in the club team app called ‘how to toss better’. I just need Dave to pay the $99.99 a month subscription from his shoes account.

GAME ON!

Knowing it would be a tough day in the field the home skipper was looking to manage his bowlers as best he could with shorter spells and allowing for rotation for the option of standing in the shade under the trees! 

As always the Lavant skipper turned to his premiere opening bowler to start the proceedings and set the tone for the team. In the high heat ‘Jean Claude Van Tram’ didn’t disappoint, rattling off 5 overs for barely any runs and picking up a wicket (thanks to a smart stumping). 

At the other end his partner in crime (James ‘The Slayer’ C) was back and was equally as effective. Starting off giving nothing in his first over. With the the Shirrel Heath #1 deciding to get after him in the second over (hitting some mighty shots to the fence) James kept his cool (in the high heat) responding by bowling quality deliveries and was able to remove the #2 batsmen with a ball that landed on top of the bails after bouncing!!  James finished his 5 over spell 1 for 21 and set the tone perfectly for the home side.

With the stage set (and the #1 batter looking to go through the gears) the Lavant skipper turned to the ever dependable Will MC. The reliable left-armer started off with a bang with a wicket maiden (picking up an LBW with his first ball with a vicious in-swinger)! Frustratingly after this it ended up being one of those days for Will. Bowling so, so well he was able to find the edge and force false shots over and over but every time the ball seemed to fly into a gap or just past a fielder. Will might have only picked up 1 wicket BUT he was able to rattled through all 7 of his overs in one stint, in the soaring heat for a quite remarkable 1 for 20 off his 7 overs. A tremendous effort.

At the other end the King was having a more mixed afternoon, he started off strongly however (probably due to Will giving nothing away at the other end) faced the consequences of the batters desperately looking for opportunities to score. The king did his very best and toiled away but just couldn’t find the control required to keep the run rate in check and finished his 4 over spell 0 for 27. Like Henry VIII he will probably now seek to change the law in his favour to ‘dispense’ with the home captain….

With the Shirrel Heath batters building a decent partnership and the #1 looking like he was just about to go big the Lavant skipper turned to Justin to come and bowl and try to break the batting partnership and keep the run rate in check. What appeared to be a theme of the day Justin was also able to pick up a wicket maiden in his first over! Firing down a delivery that appeared to cut the #1 batter in two and catching the edge / glove through the safe hands of the keeper for what appeared to be an important moment. 

At the other end Peter ‘The Professor’ had replaced the King and was having a tough day at the office. On what appeared to be a difficult day for all the spinners / slow bowlers Peter suffered from a mixture of being able to hold his lengths coupled with the Shirrel Heath batters looking to push hard. The Professor worked hard but it just wasn’t his day. What was pleasing to see was that he showed great team ethic by coming out of the attack with dignity to allow for someone else to have a go. 

It’s this kind of ethic that I want to see from anyone who plays for Lavant. Yes we all want to be involved (as difficult as this can be I try as best as I can to achieve this) however there is a game to be played and what is good for the team will always come first. Peter optimised this knowing it wasn’t quite going for him but we know he will come good another day and will celebrate that time.

With the game entering its final overs the Lavant skipper turned to his ‘finishers’ to curtail the away team’s runs and keep the total down. After a period of recovery Tam returned for a 2 over burst carrying on where he left off clean bowling the #6 batter finished with 2 for 22 off his 7 overs.

Once Tam had completed his overs Justin came back into the attack at the same end and was able to pick up the #7 batter (who was set and ready to push on) extracting a false shot and grabbing a smart caught and bowled! Justin finished his 7 overs 2 for 24.

Looking to finish out the game from the other end (and resisting Jame’s calls to slay / bowl at the Shirrel Heath youth) the Lavant skipper turned to the ever dependable ‘Super’ Steve Brooker to come on and keep things tight. Yet again another wicket maiden! The dangerous looking #5 (looking to hit a big 6) didn’t quite get hold of it and was only able to cloth it to Will for a very smart catch in off the boundary (even though it had been noticed that he was caught chatting to Chris Mac)! Thankfully he caught it because the Lavant skipper was certainly considering getting the hair dryer out! 

In his second over Steve was able to clean bowl the #9 and certainly made an impact from his 2 overs picking up 2 for 6!

Lavant had managed to restrict Shirell Heath to 158 which felt 30 odd runs short of a par score. A special mention to Harry and Lloyd who ran around in the heat giving it their all and some of their ground fielding was top notch (even more so considering Lloyd had forgotten his hat)! When trying to keep a total down the effort in the field is so crucial.

Tea was taken. Many bottles of Lucozade sport and squash were consumed and some nice cold flapjacks were devoured! 

In a change in proceedings the Lavant skipper (after being baked in the field and for the good of the team) decided to stand aside and give someone else the opportunity to bat. Sticking to his strict belief of having at least one opener who was willing to try and get the team off to a flyer and get ahead of the run rate he turned to Tam to walk out to the middle with Harry. 

The plan almost crumbled straight away with Tam given a life deflecting the ball off the face of his bat to the keeper who put down the chance! Thankfully this seemed to focus the mind of Tam and he got stuck into his work and paid back the trust his skipper had put into him jumping on anything he could score off and unleashing some big hits away to the boundary! 

At the other end Harry was doing the other half of what was required from a Lavant opening partnership. Getting ‘in’, being solid and scoring when required to keep the scoreboard moving and, most importantly, building a solid opening partnership and laying that crucial foundation for the rest of the team.

In the 13th over Harry (after looking set and ready to bat through) was undone by a ball that looked to stay a little low and sneaking through the defences to clean bowl him for 21.

Next in was Lloyd who was coming off the back of a decent knock last week and perhaps got a little carried away from his previous week’s innings. Smashing two 4’s away (and with Tam advising him to not go too mad) he tried to attack the next delivery that wasn’t there to go after and was clean bowled for 8.

In the 17th over Tam tragically fell 1 short 50! As is his character he was relaxed and extremely philosophical about it citing that he should have been out first ball so every run was a bonus from there on. A typical response from the ultimate team man! Personally I was gutted he didn’t get to 50 but had done exactly what I had asked of him. Well batted Tam, I love it when a plan comes together! 

With Phil being bowled for 1 suddenly (with 59 runs still left to score) a slight concern started to ripple through the Lavant batting order as a scramble for pads and bats started! Thankfully the team had a worthy insurance policy in place with Steve and Justin walking to the middle looking to calm the proceedings. 

Both men did what was expected of them, Steve with his normal class of manoeuvring the ball into gaps and guiding the ball to the boundary and Justin (who after a little nap) this week was seeing it like a planet launched a huge 6 square of the wicket to the long boundary and then continued to blitz boundary after boundary (what on earth was in that flapjack)!?

It had been noted that Steve’s helmet was looking exceedingly shiny. It has been theorised that perhaps he had buffed it up so much so the sun reflection would get into the bowler’s eyes and put them off?! I’m sure it was a coincidence….but he was seen in Halfords buying Autoglym polish, wax and an orbital buffer…strange…

With calmness returning to the Lavant batting order Justin and Steve were able to safely guide the team home scoring 159 in the 28th over for a solid win! Steve finished 29 not out and Justin 38 not out.

It was tough conditions to have to bowl first but the team stuck together and stood up as a team and I thought it was a great effort not only restricting the opposition to 158 but to also chase down the total with plenty left in the tank.

Man of the match goes to Tam. Lavant’s premiere opening bowler has been in prime form of late and is ever dependable when setting the tone for the rest of the bowling unit. Finishing with a spell of 2 for 22 off 7 overs and then being asked to fill in for the skipper opening the batting (scoring 49 at a decent lick). He probably slept well last night! 

Champagne moment goes to will MC after being spotted chatting to Chris ‘John Mclean’ (who had popped down to watch) managed to take a great catch even though he left it late to get into position and managed to grab it in a kneeling position. Maybe he thinks he should have been knighted for it?? I’ll leave that to the discretion of King Richard. 

Well done everyone. On to the next!