Match Reports: C.A.C.C. (Beeston) v Lichfield Nomads

Opposition:	CACC
Date :	1st Aug 2004
Start Time :	2:30pm
Venue :	Away. Beeston.
Competition :	Friendly. 35 overs
Result :	Won by 3 wkts
Report :	D. Forster
Toss :
Umpires:
Scorer:
Weather:	Hot, sunny

See Also

C.A.C.C. (Beeston) 187 for 6 off 35 overs (James 109, Heslington 2-28)
Lichfield Nomads 191 for 7 off 35 overs (Gardner 56, Pinfield 30, Igl 3-40)

Nomads sweat it out over CACC.

On an oppressively hot afternoon Dave Forster inserted the opposition after winning the toss. CACC got off to an uncertain start in a 35 over match as Heslington removed one of the openers cheaply. However that was as far as the luck went for Nomads, for a long time as most of the bowlers offerred far too many cheap runs, wides, long hops and full tosses coming from most of the bowlers as CACC opener "James" pushed the score along at pace. Only Heslington, Blackburn and Forster came out of the match with reasonable figures, with Heslington eventually picking up James in the last over for 109. Gardner, returning behind the stumps, had a steady match, still needing a little match practice to get back his sharpness as a couple of half chances went begging. With the CACC score on 187 Nomads went off for tea only to find that there wasn't any. An unfortunate error by CACC had meant that no-one had told us to take some tea. Nomads sent out three search parties who all arrived back with food, giving us enough to feed us for the next few games!

187 seemed a daunting prospect off only 35, and one or two Nomads heads were down, but as was pointed out that was little more than a four and a single per over and with a fast outfield and short boundaries we could do it.

Gardner & Heslington reunited in their old partnership began well, gaining confidence from each other as they developed a substantial opening partnership. Eventually Ross was out and Pinfield took up the chase, moving quickly to 30 and putting Nomads ahead of the rate until one attacking shot too many saw him caught. Nomads now started to struggle with the middle order finding it difficult to get the bowling away, Hoddy and Weir perished cheaply and with Gardner going too, for a well earned and very welcome half century, it all began to look a little too much. However first Hughes, then Coleman had a go, backing up Forster who edged over the slips for four. A streaky five helped as the CACC fielder shied at the stumps and the ball sped to the boundary. However some imaginative running saw wickets fall and with ten balls or so to go, Blackburn joined Forster and smote a couple of useful two's until going into the last over Nomads had reached 182, with just 3 wickets left. A couple of wides helped Nomads along, then with the scores level and two balls left Forster got what he'd been waiting for, a steady long hop, allowing him to plant it between the, by now close in, fielders to his favourite cow corner boundary. Nomads home by 3 wickets, in the nick of time.

So, if my calculations are correct we're two up in the curry stakes and it's good luck to all those who play in the next three weeks as I check out the possibilities of a Caribbean tour.

DF.

CACC				Lichfield Nomads
James	bowled	Heslington	109	P. Gardner	bowled	Igl	56
Peter	ct. Hoddy	Heslington	2	M. Heslington	ct. keeper	Bob	15
Jonathon	ct. Pickering	Forster	22	M. Pinfield	ct.	Igl	30
Tad	run out	(Pinfield/Forster)	8	I. Hughes	bowled	Igl	13
Clive	ct. Gardner	Hughes	1	N. Weir	bowled	Peter	1
Mark	run out	(Pickering/Gardner)	24	J. Hoddy	run out		5
Igl	not out		2	D. Forster	not out		18
Matt	not out		3	G. Coleman	run out		1
				P. Blackburn	not out		5
				K. Greaves	dnb
				D. Pickering	dnb
		Extras	16			Extras	47
		Total	187			Total	191

Fall of wickets: n/a	Fall of wickets: 59, 122, n/a, n/a,136,169,178
Heslington 7-1-28-2, Blackburn 4-0-11-0 Hoddy 4-0-20-0, Coleman 4-0-22-0 Forster 7-0-28-1, Greaves 3-0-20-0 Hughes 6-0-49-1	M. Lavelle 7-0-34-0, Billy 3-0-14-0 James 7-2-23-0, Bob 4-0-10-1 Igl 7-0-40-3, Peter 7-0-50-1