Sunday 23rd June

Match Report

On the 23rd June something amazing happened……the English summer finally arrived! After a change in fixture the mighty Lavant travelled to Walberton on a warm day to play a 35 over game knowing it could be a tough game against a Walderton side stocked with young and fit cricketers. 

However there can be no replacement for ‘experience’ and the Lavant side was bursting at the seams with ‘experience’ so the team remained calm and focused. The Lavant captain lost the toss and Walberton decided to have a bowl.

After waking up….I mean….breaking the news to the Lavant team the top order strapped on the batting pads and headed out to the middle looking to post a competitive total. GAME ON! 

The innings started in the same fashion that the club has started to become accustomed to with Justin looking to stand firm and build an innings while the Lavant captain at the other end trying to take the attack to the opening bowlers and get the team off to a good start.

However disaster struck when Justin blocked a ball that then hit the inside of his foot and rolled onto the stump with just enough of a nudge to displace a bail being bowled for 5.

After scoring a quick fire 19 the Lavant skipper was also removed getting carried away trying to smash a length ball into the pavilion and being cleaned up. Not the start the team was hoping for.

Harry took to the middle and was, as always, able to bring some calm and class to the innings and get things back on track. At the other end ‘super’ Steve Brooker (back into the side after an intense recovery period) returned to the fold from the ever growing Lavant injury list.

After steadying the ship (and playing some lovely shots) Harry fell to a good catch for 29 which brought Will to the middle.

Will and Steve both took on the task of moving the innings forward and both batted extremely well with a perfect balance of hitting gaps, running hard and pouncing anything loose to dispatch it to the boundary. With the Lavant team debating what would be a good score both batsmen did the critical thing of keeping the scoreboard ticking before upping the ante at the right stage to push the scoring along. 

Both men picked up deserved first half centuries of the season (and Will’s first for the club) with Steve ending with 62 not out and Will with 64. There was one negative from the terrific partnership (and all the twos and singles they both ran) that Will pulled up sharply during a run. The team hoped it was just cramp but at tea it looked like the Lavant injury curse had struck again.

Barely being able to run, Will was inevitably run out which allowed Lloyd to come in for a brief cameo to push the Lavant total for 204 for 4 off their 35 overs.

Even though it appeared to be a good score the team knew the quality of the Walberton batting from 1 to 6 and that they were very capable of chasing any total.

Tea was taken, discussions about the euros / cricket world cup happened and wind was broken (it must be the bananas)….Lavant returned to the field looking to keep the run rate under control.

With Will struggling he decided to only bowl off a couple of steps and yes….he is one of those annoying types who can still put the ball where he wants without much of a run up. Not like anyone was complaining mind! Will certainly set the tone keeping the ball in areas that were hard to hit and tying up an end.

At the other end James C (with a change in role / responsibility) took the other opening bowling slot and for 3 overs continued the good work keeping the runs down and giving the Lavant captain control of the game. 

However once Will had removed one of the opening batsmen it was clear the directive from Walberton was to go on the attack and push the scoring on.

With the Lavant captain shuffling his bowling attack to get through the overs it came to the ‘King’ Richard, Phil ‘Safe hands’ Allen and Dave ‘The Shoes’ Burford to enter the attack and try to keep the Walberton batters contained. All three came on during a tough period of the game with the Walberton power house batmens up and running and looking to smash the ball to all parts. With the plan to try and take the game as deep as possible all three stuck to their tasks brilliantly and didn’t fold under the pressure of batsmen going hard at them.

With the game momentum in Walbertons favour (being 105 for 1 with 16 overs left) Dave came up with a critical wicket to remove the set opening batsmen (with a very smart catch from Lloyd running in from the deep).

With the next Walberton batsmen coming in and getting up to speed quickly Lavant captain turned to Justin to try and make the breakthrough and wrestle the momentum back and was certainly rewarded!

Justin rose to the challenge and came steaming in hitting the pitch hard and started to ask questions of the batsmen. And then came the crucial breakthrough of taking the wicket of the set #3 (who had passed 50 and was looking comfortable) forcing him to hit a shot in the air straight to Richard who snaffled a great catch low down at extra cover.

With boundaries starting to be hard to find Will returned and was also able to pick up another crucial top order batsman being hit plumb in front of all three.

Suddenly the door was open and the Lavant team could sense it in the field. The encouragement and effort from everyone rose which appeared to spur Justin on who tore into the middle order. Finding his radar quickly Justin zoned in on the stumps and was able to dispatch 3 batsmen by bowling them all.

At the other end Dave had returned and also straight away got back into the action picking up two wickets in one over. With Walberton needing 25 off the last two overs Justin finished the game off taking the last wicket taking the edge through to the keeper (with the famous bowled Murray caught Blow going in the score book).

Lavant had managed to wrap up a brilliant win against a strong side and the post match atmosphere / banter in the changing room and at the pub afterwards was great to be a part of.

The only negative was Lavant picking up YET ANOTHER injury. I guess this is what happens when you have such an ‘experienced’ side. With the current long Lavant injury list (and so many people on the treatment table right now) rumours that Phil has a new job … .becoming the Lavant chief healer / physio! Certainly we could keep him busy right now. 

And if payment is a concern the club could fund Phils salary by maybe selling a charity Lavant calendar (I’ll be Mr July). We could all wear our new club hats…..if they ever arrive. Has anyone seen Will…..I think I saw him leaving in a new car wearing a Rolex.

Failing that i’m sure the club can find the money from somewhere…..Surely Daves got a lot of life left in those shoes…

After so many great performances across the board from batting to bowling to fielding the man of the match goes to Will for a brilliant knock of 64 and also being able to bowl practically on one leg and do his best in the field.

As much as I would like to give the champagne moment to myself for my snake hips gyrating to get a stumping off my box I think everyone knows as captain I don’t agree with awarding these accolades to myself…So this week’s champagne moment goes to Richards catch off Justin. Not only was it such a great grab from a ball that was seriously travelling but mainly in the context of the game it was a vital moment that swung the momentum back in our favour.

Once again well done everyone and on to the next one!