Match Report

Following on from a glorious warm and sunny first game the mighty Lavant hit the road for their first away game of the season to Westbourne and although the sun was out, the day was very different. Air conditioning in the travelling cars was swapped for heating and T-shirts swapped for many layers of thermal base layers and jumpers! 

The Lavant captain took to the middle (avoiding damaging any of the sectioned-off flowers in the outfield), lost the toss, and was asked to bat first on a tricky looking pitch.

GAME ON!

Striding to the middle the Lavant skipper partnered with Justin in looking to lay down a solid foundation and hoping Justin could continue his good form. For the first 25 minutes both openers had to face some challenging bowling on a pitch that seemed to offer a lot for the bowlers with variable bounce.

After battling hard unfortunately the Lavant captain fell (looking to biff the leg spinner but missing and being clean bowled) for 7. Next to the crease was Joe who was looking to break in his super white and shiny brand new cricket shoes (Dave B could only dream of having a pair like that).

Unfortunately Joe was clean bowled too! (out for 5). In next came Will looking to steady the ship but fell foul of a ball that lifted sharply where he could only manage to top edge it back to the bowler and found his way back to the pavilion out for 5. The game was looking dire…..even the horse in the adjacent field wandered off in disgust….

While this was all going on one member of the team was standing firm. Justin had to dig in deep and remain resolute in the face of some taxing opening bowling and also quality support when facing the first change bowlers who were relentlessly probing and trying to make the most of the bowler friendly conditions.

In amongst the chaos (and the state of the game already looking perilous) ‘super’ Steve Brooker walked out to the middle and certainly stepped up when the team needed him the most. 

Both Steve and Justin gave a masterclass in cricket and what to do in a situation when the batting unit was struggling and the bowling side was on top with not many runs on the board and lots of time left in the game. Justin and Steven stood firm absorbing the pressure, and not only worked hard for every run on offer but also for each other with clear running and calling and making sure they talked to each other at the end of each over to be clear on the plan forward. It was a pleasure to watch such batting craft.

Once they had managed to absorb the pressure and get a handle on the situation Justin cut loose unleashing a flurry of boundaries and the tide of the game felt like it was starting to turn. All of a sudden the scoreboard started to move along at pace with some incredible straight shots dispatched. 

As the game progressed the pressure was being flipped on Westbourne with the bowling not sure how to stop the flow of the runs. With the last 30 minutes of the game remaining Justin and Steve had taken the innings from danger of a collapse to being able to go into T20 mode with plenty of wickets in the hutch ready to be deployed. 

Then Steve exploded into life dispatching the shot of the day – crashing a Westbourne seamer through extra cover….and just to prove it wasn’t a fluke the very next ball he did it again (which just happened to be captured on video by Joe / Will who where watching from the boundary edge). The noise off the bat was glorious and I hear the video has gone viral on the Lavant group chat.

With Westbourne in full retreat they returned to their opening bowlers and spread the field in an attempt to stem the flow but Justin was pushing hard and still finding the boundary. However all things must come to an end and in the last over Justin (selflessly) was out for a magnificent 86.

At the end of the over Steve was able to carry his bat for a very much deserved 44. 

At the toss the Lavant skipper considered 130/140 a good score to defend, however after the start he would have been happy with 110/120.  At the end of the innings (thanks to Justin and Steve) Lavant posted an excellent 172.

Tea was taken – hot drinks drunk, many more layers were added, jumpers found at the bottom of the kit bag were hooked out and deployed and Lavant took to the field looking to defend.

And what a start!

Continuing their newly developing opening partnership from the week before Tam and James started the proceedings amazingly well. In a moment of sheer brilliance and almost Mike Brearley level of tactical genius the Lavant skipper had appeared to ask the opening bowlers to bowl from the wrong ends but was just a level of cricketing mastery that many couldn’t comprehend. 

Anyway after a brief one-over spell from Will (who just happened to be walking past the skipper when asked to bowl for one over with no warm up) the game swung back into life with Tam and James rattling off maidens. Their partnership appears to dovetail perfectly with James able to capitalise on the growing pressure by clean bowling one of the Westbourne openers and then removing the #3 too.

With the score (after 10 overs) 19 – 2, Jean Claude Van Tram and the Slayer had delivered the perfect start and Lavant were upbeat, but with the dangerous Westbourne captain walking to the crease the team knew the game was far from over.

The Westbourne #4 signalled his intent from the start by dispatching the first first ball faced from Tam for a huge 6 straight down the ground! Suddenly the horse had returned watching on with intent (Lavant doesn’t have an animal mascot ….perhaps something to discuss at the next AGM ….surely there is a duck somewhere in the river we would train)…

The Westbourne skipper seemed to be batting like a man possessed and was looking to crash anything that came his way over or through the Lavant fielders. Suddenly the game felt like it was in the balance. Even the horse has started to sledge a few of the Lavant fielders on the boundary.

The Lavant skipper switched the bowling attack around in an attempt to regain control of the game before it got away from them. Will was asked to make amends from his first spell by bowling from the other end (something he was very happy and philosophical about…without any moaning or complaining) and this time was able to find his rhythm and deliver the standard everyone is used to by giving the Westborne batsmen nothing to score on and passing the edge time after time. Will’s efforts were finally rewarded by picking up 2 much deserved wickets and, most importantly, stemming the flow of runs. Will ended his spell with 2 for 18.

At the other end the Lavant skipper turned to Justin to help Will (and continue their bowling partnership) and equally deliver for the team by drying up the runs, but couldn’t find any luck with many outside edges flying into gaps behind the bat. Justin didn’t let this get him down and used the frustration to continue to probe the defenses of the Westbourne batsmen and picked up the wicket of the other opener (who had dug in doggedly) but the crucial wicket of the Westbourne skipper trapped him LBW. Justin finished his spell with 2 for 41.

The game had been poised in the balance but after Will and Justin finished their spells with the score at 119 for 6 and not many overs left in the game (knowing Westbourne could still bat out for a draw) the Lavant skipper pushed for the win and after much deliberation put his faith back in his opening bowlers to try and get the vital break through. 

The change paid off instantly with Tam picking up one of the wickets in his first over and then another in his second! On both occasions attacking the stumps and cleaning bowling for 2 critical wickets. 

Equally at the other end James was able to extract a wicket from his second over and the took the final wicket of the match in his first ball of the next over (taking a smart caught and bowled diving forward) and the whole Lavant team erupted in celebration engulfing James while he was trying to get up off the floor!

Lavant managed to bowl out Westbourne for 132 (with time running out) for a tremendous win.

Cricket is unique as its an individual’s game wrapped up inside a team game, and as much as the plaudits should, rightly so, go to the individuals who performed so well to help the team, a massive thank you should also go to the whole team who supported from the sidelines (and the boundary edge) but most importantly in the field. In such a tight game not everyone got to bat or bowl but the ethos of the team in the field was top notch. From Rob being crucial in stopping runs around the boundary, to Joe, Phil, Mark and William (who was making his Lavant debut) keeping the chat and encouragement high while working so hard to block off runs and be willing to chase down anything. It is a long season and everyone will get their chance to shine at some stage but these are the times where those contributions matter the most to the team getting over the line. 

Oh….and on a spicy pitch the Lavant wicket keeper is quite decent too (almost making the bruises worth it)!

Well done and thank you to everyone.

Man of the match goes to Justin for his batting performance. With wickets falling all around him he plotted out his innings perfectly and should be a blueprint for anyone who wants to be a top order player. See through the hard part, hang in and get through the new ball then try and rebuild a partnership with someone while going through the gears to get a score on the board. Very well done.

Champagne moment would have gone to Steve’s two glorious crunches through extra cover (the noise off the bat alone was unbelievable) but one movement in the field superseded it. With the game in the balance and Lavant looking for a breakthrough a miss-timed shot went in the region of Joe who (with his shiny new shoes) seemed to gobble up the ground and then leap ‘salmon like’ in the air to poach an amazing diving catch. It was a great grab so well done Joe! 

We move onto the next!