Sunday 16th June

Match Report

On a warm (but windy) Sunday the mighty Lavant arrived at the ground feeling hopeful that the heavy rain and the stomping of many feet from the village fete had left the hallowed turf in a good enough condition for the game against Arundel Castle.

Thankfully the good folk kept off the square and Tam’s Tarps ™ had done the crucial job of protecting the wicket and allowing it to be prepared and set up. With a quick mow of the wicket (thanks Justin) and some crowd control from the skipper to move back the enthusiastic crowd beyond the boundary line (who had obviously gathered to catch a glimpse of the fine Lavant cricketing specimens) it was time to get on with proceedings.

Against current form the Lavant skipper lost the toss and Arundel Castle elected to bowl first (looking to make the most of any moisture). GAME ON!

Justin and the Lavant captain walked to the crease with the skipper keen to continue his role of getting the team off to a good start and Justin remaining solid and building an innings. Things started great with the skipper taking no time getting into his work pouncing on anything short and driving anything full to move the scoring along quickly and not allowing the Arundel bowlers to settle. In a moment of overconfidence the skipper was out (looking to smash a delivery into Singleton) but missed out and was bowled (via his foot).

With the platform set Justin continued his good work by remaining watchful and determined not to give his wicket away to be the glue to hold the innings together while the Arundel Castle bowlers got into their stride and bowled challenging lines and lengths (with nip and swing).

This allowed the middle order to come in and help build the innings and keep the scoreboard ticking over with solid contributions from Richard, Chris, Phil and Martin even while the ball continued to misbehave (Tam was caught after one popped off a length and caught the rubber at the top of his bat handle)!!

Another debut this year came from Martin (who kindly filled in at the last moment) and the team was very pleased to see him score his first run considering it wasn’t the easiest of games or conditions to play your first game! 

With the score slightly stalling Dave B came to the middle and after picking a fight with a cricket ball in a recent T20 seemed to have a score to settle with all cricket balls in general because he looked like he wanted to punish the red thing at every opportunity (either that or he was just mad thinking about how the card reader never seems to connect now-a-days). Who knows…..but Dave was able to help kick the score on with a rapid 28.

During this period Justin was still standing firm, holding the line like spartan and timed it perfectly when looking to move through the gears and cut loose and was a fine effort to record his first 50 of the season.

With the game coming to a close a special mention to Rob who has been finding batting tough going of late but it was great to see him get bat on ball and get a few runs under his belt (in quick fashion). Hopefully something to build on! 

With the innings coming to an end Lavant posted a very competitive 174 and had given the bowlers something to defend. 

Tea was taken, carrot cake was eaten and an extra banana was eaten (thanks James). Lavant returned to the field looking to defend their total against a decent looking batting line up.

After a lot of deliberation the Lavant skipper threw the ball to Justin and Chris to open up proceedings hoping they could make the most of conditions and keep the batsmen contained. 

Chris ‘Die hard’ Mac took no time at all knocking over one of the opening batsmen for a duck! 

With the Arundel batters looking to walk down the wicket Justin and Chris (with the keeper up) stood up to the challenge and kept both batsmen stuck in their creases whilst bowling ball after ball with swing and nip passing the edge time and time again.

However there was a moment of concern when John B heroically threw himself in an attempt to stop a boundary and landed awkwardly. Initial cheers from his teammates for such a great effort soon turned to worry as one of his fingers appeared to be pointing in the wrong direction. John was quickly taken off the field to get some ice on his hand / fingers and put his feet up for the rest of the game. 

After plenty of dot balls and maidens the pressure finally brought wickets with both men ripping into the middle order and breaking the back of the Arundel innings. Once drinks were taken Chris finished with figures of 3 for 17 off 8 overs and Justin had finished 1 for 24 off 8 overs (and was unfortunate not to get more considering how much he beat the edge)!!

Lucky for Lavant Mark H had popped down to say hello and catch up with everyone and kindly offered to come on as a replacement fielder. I can’t tell you how grateful we all were because in a tight run chase being a man down could have been the difference between winning and losing. Mark got stuck in and was soon stopping and chasing to help the team out. Big thank you to Mark.

With drinks taken Lavant were in a decent position but knew they couldn’t let up as suddenly a counter attack was deployed from Arundel in the form of their #7 batsmen.

King Richard came on and bowled well considering the onslaught that was coming his way from the Arundel Castle #7 who didn’t seem fazed and was looking to smash anything that came his way over the boundary (clearing carefully positioned fielders) whilst the opening batsmen at the other end was remaining solid and giving the strike over whenever possible. Although Richard had a mixed day he was still able to remove one of the dangerous middle order players finishing the day with figures of 1 for 48 off 7 overs.

At the other end Tam was keeping things as tight as possible and contained the counter attack. With a touch of class we have all come to expect from the Lavant premier strike bowler Tam held his nerve to clean bowl the dogged Arundel Castle opening batsmen and finished with figures of 1 for 31 off 5 overs.

With the game finely in the balance the Lavant skipper toyed with what to do next in the final overs of the game to try and wrestle back the momentum. He decided that pace off was the way to go (in the hope it would frustrate and slow the counter attack) and turned to James C…..and boy did he deliver.

I have to give a special mention to James. He stood near me most of the game and we chatted often  about the game situation. Even after doing tea and batting 11 he was quite prepared (for the good of the team) not to bowl if the game situation meant it wasnt plausible and for long periods it looked to be the case. I think the willingness to do what is required for what is best for the team and the game situation is something that should be applauded and admired.

However……the Lavant skipper did at this particular moment feel like James C was the way to go and boy did he deliver! Holding his nerve James was able to frustrate and clean bowl the dangerous #7 batsman! James C finished with 2 for 21 off his 5 overs and was able swing the game back into Lavants favour.

At the other end the Lavant skipper (again after much deliberation) threw the ball to Dave. After seeing his anger at cricket balls (after being assaulted by one) the feeling was that he might like the thought of throwing one into the ground to let it know not to take him on ever again.

Set with aggressive fields (and looking for the win) Dave not only held his nerve in the final overs of the game and delivered the two crucial wickets to get Lavant over the line for an amazing win (Dave finishing with 2 for 13 off 3 overs)! 

With Arundel Castle 161 all out Lavant had held their nerve to hold out for an amazing victory against strong opponents.

It was another great game of cricket and was amazing to witness the Lavant team spirit in full force. Everyone stuck together and kept going and encouraged all the way throughout. It’s easy to do this when things are going well and the runs are being kept in check but to do it when the momentum had clearly shifted and a loss was looking more likely was even more special. 

This means the man of the match and champagne moments are probably the hardest to decide this week as honestly there are so many stand out things that come to mind but….

Man of the match goes to Justin for standing up in the face of good bowling and playing an important role in glueing the innings together and building an important platform against tough bowling conditions whilst looking to go through the gear later. Then to come out and bowl so well and keep the opening batsmen contained. 

Champagne moment Dave B for grabbing onto a low, hard catch from a ball that was travelling from the set #3 batsman at a critical point of the game. I had the best view of it and it was some catch (even though Dave didn’t seem too bothered about it…..maybe he really doesn’t like cricket balls now). 

Very well done everyone. On to the next!