Match Report

With the truly remarkable summer 2025 has bestowed on England there is always going to be an inflection point and, typically, it was during the week running up to the now traditional BBQ game. With high winds and driving rain many club members had been on weather watch for most of the week checking several forecasts and pinning their hopes on the one they liked! With flooding in the car park and heavy rain on Saturday there was a real risk to the game. 

However (thanks to the never say die attitude) of the Lavant loons (and a simply herculean effort by many) the middle, the pitch and the outfield were prepped and covered as best as possible. A massive thank you for all the efforts.

Mercifully on Sunday morning it appeared the weather gods were smiling down on us with the sun bathing the village!

We welcomed our good friends from West Meon to participate in this year’s BBQ event and (in a predetermined agreement from the BBQ organisers) West Meon were to bat first hoping to set up a thrilling Lavant run chase! There was big disappointment from the Lavant skipper who had been away to a warm weather tossing camp during the week off.

With the BBQ event officially open the Lavant team assembled, donned their whites, taped up their aching bits and headed out to the middle look to restrict the West Meon batting as best they could.

Opening up from the river end was the ever dependable Lavant premiere bowler Tam Tran. ‘Jean Claude’ got into his work quickly and made the most of conditions with the ball skidding through and causing the West Meon openers plenty of issues. Tam offered nothing and gave the Lavant skipper the perfect start, but posed a big issue around letting him bowl through or hold back some of his overs for later in the game. After 5 terrific overs (only going for 13 runs) Tam was taken out the attack to save him for ‘death bowling’.

At the pavilion end ‘Mr Chairman’ Mark S was thrust into the proceedings with the hope that it would be harder for the batters to score with the pace off. With the field set Mark kept the ball in the right areas but on the occasion that he drifted off his line the fielders were able to block off balls and restrict the runs to just singles. With the batters starting to get bogged down (and Tam giving nothing) they started to try and go after Mark but he held his nerve and completed his 4 over spell 0 – 14.

At this stage I would like to highlight the efforts of Lloyd. I’m sure Tam and Mark would be the first to agree that the ground fielding from ‘The Lumberjack’ was brilliant. Lloyd always sets very high standards for his ground fielding work but today it felt like nothing was getting past him and the runs he saved should not be taken for granted.

In the 10th over (with the score only on 27) it had been an ideal start for the home side. The Lavant skipper shuffled his bowling options by deploying (what was referred to in the field by someone) as the ‘Double Willy’. 

At one end Will ‘T-Rex’ (fresh from his tireless pitch preparation efforts) was asked to bowl by the skipper. Will T simply roared back (which at the time I took as a yes). With the pressure on from carrying on the good work from Mark and Tam, Will stepped up big time bowling quick and straight and getting the ball to talk with prodigious swing, and also drew the 1st wicket of the day with the West Meon batters (desperate to score) executing a suicide single which was gathered up by Harry ‘Hawk’ Howes. Triple H’s (much like the Lumberjack) ground work had been brilliant and in one motion he sprinted, swooped to gather the ball and then had the calmness to dive and underarm the throw to the keeper’s gloves to do the rest.

Will T continued to bowl brilliantly and kept the batters on their toes foxing through the air with the swinging ball. At one stage he somehow managed to bowl a ball that swung one way and then the other! WIll T completed his 7 over spell finishing with 0 – 27.

At the other end the ‘Master of Ceremonies’ was at it again. It’s become a bit of an inside joke within the group about WIll MC’s bowling with the master always bowling so economically but never quite getting the luck he deserves in the wicket column! I’ve run out of superlatives to describe Will’s bowling this season but I for one can’t stress enough how good it’s been and he delivers precisely what any captain wants during the middle overs when the opposition is looking to push on. Will MC completed his 7 over spell 0 – 20 and should be extremely proud of putting his team into a strong position. 

At the 24th over (and only 79 on the board) there was a sense that West Meon would surely need to push hard now. With the two Will’s completing their spells the Lavant skipper threw the ball to Justin asking him to fulfil the role that he’s grown into this season of seeing out an innings, and he started with a bang clean bowling the West Meon #4. Next up in his 3rd over forced the #5 into a mistake with the ball being hit high into the air. Most would probably have felt that it would land safe if it weren’t for Joe (stationed at a wide mid on position) who started to gobble up the ground and flung himself and pouched an outstanding ‘superman’ diving catch! Justin continued to keep things tight and completed his 6 over spell 2 -29. Will MC was very happy.

At the other end ‘Super’ Steve Brooker was asked to deploy his trebuchet. With the super stutter in full effect the catapult was swung into action from ball one and Steve also picked up a wicket in his first over trapping the set #3 batter plumb LBW. With the field spread Steve bowled to the plan and (with being backed up brilliantly in the field) restricted the West Meon bowlers to mainly singles and completed his 4 over spell 1 – 20. Will MC loved seeing the wickets falling.

With the innings coming to a conclusion Tam was brought back for his last 2 overs of death bowling and rewarded his skipper’s choice of holding him back with two tight final overs and the Lavant overseas was able to pick up a much deserved wicket with a brilliant caught and bowled. With the ball blasted back at him at pace Tam was able to stick out a paw and parry it up in the air to then catch it on the rebound on the way down! 

With the innings concluded Lavant had restricted West Meon to 139 which felt like an under par score.

Tea was taken, burgers were eaten, raffle tickets were drawn, catching contests happened and when the time was right the Lavant batsmen put on their pads, grabbed their bats and walked out to the middle looking to get a solid start.

With the Lavant skipper stepping aside to allow others a bat, Justin and Joe were tasked with getting the team off to a decent start and laying a platform. Justin’s incredible form this season has been something to behold however he seemed a little guilty of trying to over hit shots whilst getting to grips with the bounce and rode his luck a bit. After giving himself a stern talking-to Justin settled back into his methods of relying on this defence and getting into the game.

At the other end Joe delivered the kind of fast start that the Lavant skipper wanted. Settling in quickly Joe was happy to get down the wicket and meet the ball on the full to drive it away, and then hung back when needed to back cut the ball behind square. Straight away the pressure was being applied to the West Meon bowlers. 

Justin (after the conclusion of his own dressing down) clicked into life and started to play with the kind of freedom we have been accustomed to this year and soon the runs were flowing, dispatching some brutal six’s but also some touch play with a lovely reverse paddle through 3rd man from the spinner.

At the 10 over mark (and West Meon changing bowlers to try and find control) the score was 61 and the platform set. By the 13th over (and with some brutal boundary hitting from both men) the score had passed 80 for no loss of wicket and Lavant appeared to be well on their way to chase down the score. 

Justin kindly stepped aside (retiring on 35) to allow others a chance to bat with Harry next. Harry looked solid from ball one and was able to do what he does best (knock the ball into gaps and rotate the strike).

With Joe really motoring the West Meon bowlers struggled to contain him and Joe registered his first 50 of the season and also kindly retired to allow the rest of the batting unit a chance in the middle (finishing with 54).

Will MC joined Harry in the middle and both men kept the scoring up while navigating the West Meon spinners and by the 20th over the score had passed 100. 

West Meon then found some momentum first picking up the wicket of Harry (who was bowled for 9) and Will MC who was out caught for 15.

Was this to be the turning point? Was there to be a collapse? Could there be drama?!

Fraser and Will T calmed things down with aplomb and got into the game quickly picking up the baton from the top order, both men navigated the tricky period and then counterattacked and the score board started to move again (with T-Rex dealing in his customary boundaries)! 

In the 27th over the score was reached giving a solid victory for Lavant with Fraser and Will T carrying their bats for 3 and 8 respectively.

It was a brilliant performance from the home team but for me the game was won with the bowling by keeping the West Meon batters quiet, keeping the run rate down and not letting anyone in their batting order to get away from them.

All the while the BBQ event was going on in the background with clear engagement from the watching crowd basking in the late evening sun. The weather had been extremely kind and was fitting as the day deserved it! 

As I sit here trying to find fitting words to describe my overarching feelings about the BBQ day, the word, and emotion, that bubbles to the surface more than anything else is pride. I found myself on several occasions in the field and whilst umpiring looking over and smiling and feeling proud of many things that stood out. Proud of seeing Chris organising and conducting the proceedings. Proud of the way so many club members, relatives and volunteers had really thrown themselves into helping out. Proud of how many people (who weren’t playing) gave up their time to help. Proud seeing the bar buzzing with activity. Proud of the tea break entertainment….so many things.

However the biggest thing I personally loved seeing the most was all the families and children seemingly having lots of fun and having a great day out. This visual scene highlights the transformation of the club in the last few years. It fills me with immense pride to see all the hard effort that has gone into revitalizing the club and testament to what has, can and could be achieved. Let us all hope it continues. 

Man of the match goes to WIll MC. Yes yes…..wickets are important but I’m going to say it yet again when you are trying to restrict a score wickets are not everything. Without someone delivering a spell in the middle order (normally against opposition’s best batters) the score can get out of control very quickly. The start and finish was brilliant by the other bowlers but that middle section of bowling from both Will’s is where the game was won in my opinion as it tied down the West Meon batters. Will MC very rarely lets me (or the team) down.

Champagne Moment goes to Joe’s amazing superman catch. With his long legs he was probably the only person in the team who would a) cover the ground quickly as he could and b) be able to then have the reach to get his hands out to the ball. It was a great grab!

Well done everyone. Big thank you to West Meon and on to the next!