Match Report

After briefly visiting home the mighty Lavant were on the road once more this time visiting the Amberley (and not to pick up some chalk). With the team arriving in the steaming warm condition at the start of a late June heat wave all eyes were on the Lavant captain who could be seen practicing his tossing alone in the corner of the ground. 

Perhaps a bad omen for the day as disaster struck in the morning with Super Steve Brooker having to pull out for eating one too many krypton bars but thankfully Phil answered the teams SOS call in the morning and stepped in (massive thank you Phil). 

With the sun beating down and a very large group of young, muscular and fit looking Amberley players gathering, the toss went up and the Lavant skipper lost. Perhaps he had over-trained and worn himself out??

Either way it came as no surprise to anyone that Amerbly of course elected to bat first meaning that the mighty Lavant would be baked in the summer sun. 

So after a lot of grumbling from the team there was scramble for hats, sun cream, sweat bands and sun glasses in the changing room before the team slowly trudged out to the middle.

GAME ON! 

First up was Lavant’s premier opening bowler Tam ‘Jean Claude’ Van Tran who has very rarely let the team down in recent weeks and today was no different. Getting into his rhythm quickly Tam rattled off 6 overs without much fuss challenging the Amberley batters completing a 5 over spell for only 17 runs.

At the other end Dave ‘The Shoes’ Burford was backing up Tam well keeping things tight and rattled off 4 overs for 14 before it looked like his shoe glue was about to melt and was withdrawn from the attack finishing his 4 over spell 0 for 14.

With the wicket playing a bit up and down the Lavant skipper looked to take pace off hoping (with the large boundaries) to keep the Ambery batters in check. 

Turning to Chris ‘John MaClean’ to once more deploy his left arm orthodox Chris was having one of those days were he couldn’t quite find his rhythm however he was able to extract the wicket for the Amberley opener drawing them into trying to go big down the ground but to be caught at long off. 

After not quite feeling it Chris suddenly turned about heel and started to mark up his long run up which was quite a choice considering the heat of the day! Full credit to Chris for making the change as he came charging in and started to challenge the Amberley batter and on the whole kept them in check. Chris completed his 7 over spell 1 for 35.

At the other end Phil came onto bowl for his first outing this season and understandably looked rusty and found it hard to get into the game and get into his rhythm. After 3 overs he just couldn’t get going and selflessly offered to come out of the attack finishing his 3 overs 0 for 26.

Looking to find a couple of overs of pace off the Lavant skipper then turned his arm over for a slightly underwhelming 0 for 15 from 2 overs before deciding it was better to leave it to the proper bowlers.

With Amberley only 1 down and 100 on the board, and despite the best efforts of the hot and frazzled Lavant team, it looked like the home side could be on for a monster total. The Lavant skipper turned to Will ‘T-Rex’ and Justin to try and drag back the game.

And what an impact both had.

Will ‘T-Rex’ didn’t mess about and returned to his standards of picking up a wicket in his first over clean bowling the set Amberley opener! Will then rattled off 6 more overs keeping the run rate in check and picking up his second wicket of the day (thanks to a smart catch behind the stumps from Fraser). Will completed his 6 over spell 2 for 26.

At the other end Justin got into his stride quickly and was able to dovetail with Will T perfectly. Picking up the wickets of the #3 (clean bowled) the #6, #7 and #8 (assisted by great catches from Lloyd and Fraser). Justin completed his 6 over spell 4 for 21.

With Amberley stalling Tam was asked to complete his allotted 7 overs with some death bowling. His first returning over he bowled beautifully picking up a much deserved wicker (clean bowling the #5) but more importantly a maiden. However with Amberley on the charge he took some tap in his last over. Tam finished his 7 overs 1 for 34.

With the Amberley 35 overs being completed they had been able to post 176 for 8 which looked a decent score on a surface where not many people had managed to get in and score big. 

With the weary Lavant players leaving the field seeking shade thanks to the generosity of some of the team and the supporters they were able to get stuck into a nice tea. A big thanks to all of those.

As always….I enjoyed bananas and lucozade whilst peeling off many sweaty pieces of clothing! 

Once the Lavant players had cooled down they donned their batting pads and gloves and returned to the field looking to chase.

The Lavant skipper and Tam started proceedings and initially looked to get things going well with a flurry of boundaries. However the Amberley bowlers were able to tighten up their bowling and start to build pressure. With the runs starting to dry up the Lavant skipper was out trying to force a sweep and missed the ball to be clean bowled for 12.

Next in was Chris who also got into the swing of things quickly and started to dispatch one of the opening bowlers away to the fence multiple times.

This brought a change in bowling and suddenly Lavant were not having it all their own way. 

With the runs drying up the Amberley bowlers were relentless in their line and lengths and didn’t offer up anything loose that the Lavant men could capitalise on. 

One of the Amberley first change bowlers clean bowled Chris for 26. The other first change bowler had Tam out caught for 22.

Next in were Justin and Fraser looking to steady the ship and for the most part hung in as best they could, but like everyone else, found it hard to score with the Amberley bowlers keeping things tight and in then end forced Justin to nick off behind for 9.

Steve C joined Fraser in the middle which was an exciting time on fathers day that the two would bat together! The rest of the team affectionately coined this partnership as ‘The Double Cox’ 

Fraser and Steve held firm and looked to hatch a plan. With 20 overs gone and 80 on the board the run rate was rising so the plan could only have been to try and push on!

Both men did their best but as was the theme of the day it seemed the moment you tried to force the pace it brought you trouble as a batter and Fraser fell clean bowled for 16.

In a terrible mix up in the middle Lloyd was then run out for a duck.

Will ‘T-Rex’ was next and stepped on the grass right away launching a bit shot down the ground. Perhaps this was the turning point?

Alas…Steve then was also out caught being for 18. 

In the 29th over (and with 7 wickets lost) only 124 had been scored. Rob walked to the middle and tried his best to get the ball away with some lusty blows but couldn’t find the gaps and was out caught for a duck. 

With hope fading (and the run rate rather high) Dave entered the scene next hoping to take the side home. Will ‘T-Rex’ probably out of everyone was timing the ball the best and having the most success but was probably left with too much to do with not many balls and ended up being caught and bowled in the 30th over for 18.

Next in was Phil but he also fell for a duck (out stumped) in the 31st over. Lavant were all out for 134 losing the match.

After a very long winning streak the irony was not lost on the team that the last loss came at this very ground a year ago. Lavant were beaten by the better team on the day and we must stay humble and congratulate Amberley for their victory. It was a good game and played in the right spirit which was backed up by many tired and overly warm players flopping into a seat at the pub with a cool drink! 

Looking back at the game I can say that everyone fielded well (in some soring heat) and when faced with a conveyor belt of quality batters the bowling was decent (highlighted by the way the team were able to drag back the score). For the first time this year the batting unit didn’t quite fire.

Well done everyone, lets take the positives….dust ourselves down…and go again.

Man of the Match

This week goes jointly to Justin and Will T. Justin’s spell with the ball stopped the Amberley batters in their tracks and restricted the score to at least something manageable. Equally Will T was blockbuster with the ball and also seemed the only person to look in some sort of decent nick with the bat. 

Champange Moment

This week goes to Lloyd for two very impressive catches. I was next to him for both and one seemed to go up a mile and Lloyd showed terrific composure to hold on. Lloyd is an amazing asset in the field and a single handle seems able to keep opposing scores down!