Lichfield Nomads Cricket Club : Match Reports 2011 |
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Church Eaton v Lichfield Nomads
Result: Church
Eaton won by 3 wickets
Extras just fail to make it first win for Nomads.
Another sunny Sunday
as we break into May, but the same final result for Nomads who still seek their
first win of the season. Church Eaton opening bowler Platt had considerable
difficulty with his line and length, with his first two overs lasting 23 balls,
as Hughes, umpiring at the pavilion end, appeared to be doing repeated arm
stretching exercises. So, after 3 overs the score had reached an impressive 31.
Unfortunately, after this point Nomads rapid start could not be maintained as
Platt was quickly removed from the attack, to be replaced by Salmons. Gardner
aimed an uncharacteristic big drive at Holdcroft and was beaten by sufficient
inswing to remove his middle stump. Fearon, undoubtedly out of touch, tried a
lofted drive only to find mid-off happy to take the chance, off Salmons and Heslington who had shot away with
nine from his first four balls was then trapped by the same bowler, still on
nine after facing a further 16 balls. In the meantime, Hussein, was grinding
away, playing the anchor role in much the same way as he had at Bugbrooke.
Brannigan flattered with a nice sweep to the boundary off his third ball but
when he tried the same shot off the next, missed a straight one. Pinfield
stretched to try to clip one past third slip but only managed to find the
fielders hands, and after George II had played a couple of nice looking shots
for nothing he flicked one up to short square leg. So, from a promising start,
Nomads had slipped to 7 down for only 67 with half the overs gone, and in some
disarray. Fortunately, Hughes was in (for him) a cautious mood as he stuck at
it, despite several big misses and he, along with Collins snr., began to lift
the score towards a measure of respectability. Collins in particular played some
excellent shots as he raced along to a top-scoring 31 from only 33 balls.
Unfortunately good things rarely last for too long, particularly on the Nomads
batting front at the moment, and as these two perished it was only left for
Forster to hook a rising ball off his eyebrows to the square leg (where else?)
boundary, before he tried the same shot a second time only to be well caught,
low down by the (unfortunately for the poets amongst the readers) not leaping
Salmons.
Another pleasant tea
saw Nomads taking to the field in positive and eager mood, with encouragement
from captain-for-the-day, Pinfield. After a couple of looseners, Brannigan
worked up to real pace and troubled the batsmen considerably, unfortunately the
dry pitch gave just too much bounce and several balls sailed a foot or so over
the top of the stumps. At the other end, Forster was pinning the batsmen down
with controlled line and length, so as the opening attack chipped away at the
Church Eaton batsmen, hopes began to rise that the total may prove challenging.
However, with the eight-over limit Pinfield had to bring in eager replacements,
who although they bowled well enough just could not make any more than one
further breakthrough as Hughes removed the dangerous-looking Burslem J.
Following the drinks break, the Church Eaton batsmen, recognising that they
needed just four an over kept that in mind as they concentrated on keeping out
the good balls and attacking anything loose or wide. The elder Collins replaced
Hoddy, belying his status as second change bowler (and after claiming to have
been doing some sprint training ~ although there was little evidence!!) snapped
up three good wickets, including anchorman Guest. As the target neared, the
Church Eaton batsmen, particularly Holdcroft, upped the attack to see them home
with a couple of overs spare.
A match that could
have gone either way at several points was eventually lost by some rash shots
from Nomads batsmen. A target of just 20 more might have resulted in a different
ending (oh well, …… nobody died!).
[Disclaimer: any offence caused by this
article is unintentional, any praise is well deserved.] |
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Lichfield
Nomads |
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Church Eaton
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How Out |
Bowler |
Total |
|
|
How Out |
Bowler |
Total |
|
Gardner |
b |
Holdcroft |
7 |
|
Guest |
c
Hussein |
Collins
K |
32 |
|
Heslington
|
lbw |
Salmons |
9 |
|
Hogarth |
b |
Forster |
8 |
|
Fearon |
c
Hughes |
Salmons |
0 |
|
Beech |
b |
Forster |
6 |
|
Hussein |
b |
Beech |
13 |
|
Pearce |
b |
Brannigan |
0 |
|
Brannigan |
b |
Salmons |
4 |
|
Burslem
J |
c
Fearon |
Hughes |
13 |
|
Pinfield |
c
Burslem |
Salmons |
0 |
|
Burslem
M |
c
Forster |
Collins
k |
26 |
|
George
N |
c Platt |
Beech |
0 |
|
Hughes |
not out |
|
15 |
|
Hughes |
c
Holdcroft |
Burslem
M |
14 |
|
Salmons |
lbw |
Collins
K |
4 |
|
Collins
K |
c
Burslem |
Pearce |
31 |
|
Holdcroft |
not out |
|
19 |
|
Hoddy |
not out |
|
3 |
|
Platt |
|
|
|
|
Forster |
c
Salmons |
Burslem
J |
9 |
|
Eglington |
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Extras w32; nb2;
b10 |
44 |
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Extras w7; nb1;
b1; lb4 |
13 |
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Total for 10 wickets |
134 |
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Total for 7 wkts |
136 |
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Fall of
wickets: 33, 34, 46, 51, 51, 58, 67, 98, 119, 134 |
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Fall of wickets: 11; 26; 26; 48; 98; 110; 100 |
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Holdcroft 6-0-16-1; |
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Brannigan 8-1-17-1; |
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Web page prepared by Paul Fearon (c) Lichfield Nomads Cricket Club 2011