Lichfield Nomads Cricket Club : Match Reports 2013 |
|
Lichfield Nomads
v Longdon
Result: Nomads won by 81 runs
Nomads bury ‘86’ myth
Having scored 86 in each of their last two matches, Nomads were unsure whether
the reduction to a 30 over match due to ‘impending rain’ would allow them to
improve on it. Hoddy decided that batting first was the way forward, so at least
Nomads had a chance to dispel their qualms. With Heslington on ‘gardening
leave’, Nomads opened with Gardner and Stanley. The latter found the bowling of
Cook and Taylor difficult to manoeuvre and after surviving a couple of close
calls as he shuffled in front of his stumps he was hit on the foot right in
front of leg stump, leaving Forster with little option but to raise the
merciless digit; as another Nomad put himself forward in the Bourne Chase for
the Golden Gonad trophy. Weir struggled a little at first but was looking like
he could raise a good score when he became the first of several batsmen to play
on. Brannigan looked good, needing to do little more than to push firmly to get
a couple of decent boundaries on the small Longdon ground. All this time Gardner
was compiling a decent total, including some well-struck maxima and elegant
boundaries, despite being dropped a couple of times, once by Hawfield behind the
keeper, which surprised Gardner to such an extent he could almost have been run
out as he began his walk back to the pavilion. Jones stuck a classy cover drive
but managed to miss the next ball, bringing George to the crease. By now Gardner
had gone for a superb 77, once more the victim of a ball that rolled from bat to
stumps. George, struck the shot of the innings with a superb cover drive, as he
and Westwood raised the tempo for the last few overs to stretch Nomads total to
more than double their previous season’s best, and off only the 30 overs.
Following tea, Nomads were keen to get into the field, but were wary of an often
dangerous Longdon batting line up and knew they had to get off to a good start.
Brannigan bowled with considerable pace and troubled all the batsmen who faced
him, while Hoddy kept the scoring down at the other end. Yates quickly went for
just 2, as Brannigan upped the pace even more and in his last over he also
removed Davies and Maritza in consecutive balls. This brought Gibbins to the
wicket for the hat-trick ball and with the field closing, in the batsman cracked
a huge six over long-on. Despite this, Brannigan’s spell had given Nomads a
strong start and with Hoddy picking up Gibbins in his last over, despite being
hit for another fierce boundary, the Longdon reply began to look a little
jittery. Note should be taken of Brannigan’s catch from his own bowling which
saw him take the ball close to the batsman’s wicket as keeper and other close
fielders lost sight of it. Another spectacular effort by Brannigan saw him just
short with a tumbling effort as he ran and dived, as the ball just brushed his
fingertips. A drop from Westwood off Hoddy seemed not to be significant as
Nomads were on top. George and Forster replaced the openers and kept up the
pressure on the later batsmen. Taylor tried three bats as Coombes looked to the
heavens for salvation. Forster spilled a well struck return from Parker, as
George’s mixture of pace and movement, along with a hat-trick of wides and
no-balls gave the batsmen something to think about. However, George was soon in
the wickets, bowling Parker and having Lee well caught by Collins who had been a
revelation in the field. Stanley also, on the square leg boundary, was kept well
occupied, letting only the odd one past and somehow managing to get some part of
his body in the way of most that came his way. Gardner tried, in his own words,
an ‘unconventional stumping’, but to most it looked more like he’d thrown the
ball straight into the air and struggled to get his leg over the stumps to
retrieve it as it came down!! Forster managed to hold onto a sizzling return
from Taylor immediately after George had just failed to hold onto a difficult
low catch, before George himself swept aside Cook and Millar. With Coombs
continuing to find excuses to delay procedures for the anticipated rain, he
managed, like others before him, to fail to get any forward motion on the ball
as it dribbled back onto his stumps to end procedures.
A good win for Nomads in what has, over the years, usually been a difficult
match, as they march on to Woore… ‘what is it good for’, next week.
Disclaimer: any offence caused by this
article is unintentional, any praise is well deserved.] |
Lichfield Nomads
How Out
Bowler
Total
How Out
Bowler
Total
Gardner
b
Hawfield
77
Davies
c George, N
Brannigan
14
Stanley
lbw
Cook
0
Yates
b
Brannigan
2
Weir
b
Coombes
14
Maritza
c Brannigan
Brannigan
29
Brannigan
c
Lee
18
Parker
b
George, N
2
Jones
b
Cook
6
Gibbins
b
Hoddy
10
George, N
b
Yates
27
Taylor
c Forster
Forster
15
Westwood
not out
18
Lee
c Collins, K
George, N
8
Collins, K
dnb
Coombes
b
Forster
6
Blackburn, P
dnb
Cook
c Blackburn, P
George, N
0
Forster
dnb
Miller
b
George, N
0
Hoddy
dnb
Hawfield
not out
0
Extras w5; nb1; b5; lb2
13
Extras w1, nb1; b4
6
Total for 6 wickets
173
Total for 10 wkts
92
Fall of wickets: 5; 66; 91;
117; 125; 173
Fall of wickets: 5; 45; 45; 56; 59; 71; 83; 88; 92; 92
Cook 6-0-26-2; Taylor 6-0-25-0; Lee 6-0-34-1; Coombes
6-0-22-1; Hawfield 3.2-0-20-1; Davis 0.4-0-10-0; Matitza 1-0-16-0; Yates 1-0-8-1
Brannigan 6-1-24-3;
Longdon
Hoddy 6-0-30-1;
George, N 6-1-18-4;
Forster 6-2-16-2
Home -
Admin
- Archives -
Annual
Awards - Averages -
Contacts
- Fantasy
Cricket -
50 Club
Fixtures / Results -
Gallery -
Gonads -
Links -
Match Reports - New Members
- News - Records -
Social
Web page prepared by Paul Fearon (c) Lichfield Nomads Cricket Club 2013