Lichfield Nomads

Sunseekers

Blog by Adam Hughes

The picturesque Mugginton cricket ground set in the Amber valley welcomed us to our aptly christened hosts, Sunseekers, on this sunny Sunday. The Lichfield Nomads lived up to their name too, fielding players from several corners of our island, Scotland, wales and southern England, amongst the homes of our teammates. An early start was required due to the fading light, which occurs late in the day in a 40 over game played in the twilight of summer.
The toss was won again by our captain and he elected to take advantage of the fine weather and flat track. The ever present Gardener and inform Terry opened the innings and flourished with boundaries either side of the wicket and runs flowed very easily, especially to Terry, whose timing was immaculate. The pair put on an opening stand of 75 against a more than formidable bowling attack before Gards fell to the impressive Langdon for 27. Terry fell shortly after for an exciting 36 to a catch that never looked like being caught until the fielder stuck out a hopeful hand and the ball cemented itself firmly in his palm. None were more surprised than the fielder himself that he had plucked the ball from the sky to dismiss the unlucky batsmen. Our middle order faltered but was soon bolstered by the power driving and elegant cover shots of the talented Jones. He fell for a very unselfish 20. This brought the swashbuckling Brannigan to the crease, who powered and bludgeoned 41 not out from 26 balls. He was supported by an impressive cameo from the ever-dependable Fearon, who also hit more than a run a ball, 16 not out. This included an almighty huge 6 over the mid-wicket boundary!

A non-tea tea was taken at the end of our 40 overs with The Nomads in charge with a very adequate 222 for 6.

The resumption after tea saw Moss and Hutton turn the screws on Sunseekers keeping the bowling tight and runs hard to come by for the Sunseekers. A very impressive fielding performance from the whole team aided and supported our bowlers who had found perfect line and length. Our first wicket came from left field (and not the one our bovine friend was emanating from) owing to the accurate bowling of Hoddy, who took a wicket with his first ball and returning figures of 1 for 15 off 7 overs. At the drinks break, we were all in agreement that we were in total control of the game even though we had only extracted the one wicket from the impressive top order of Sunseekers.

After the break, All-rounders, Brannigan and Moss, duly obliged both taking quick wickets. And the collapse began. Both the Dan's assessed the pitch condition perfectly and both bowled with pace off the ball instead of the more accustomed heat they bring. Each aided the other with magnificent catches off each other's bowling. Moss finishing with 1 for 27 off his allotted 8 overs. Hutton returned with venom and punished Sunseekers middle order in one over and just missed out on a hat-trick finishing with 3 for 36. The final word went to Brannigan who finished the game with a catch off his own bowling diving full length to his right from a low straight drive from the batsmen and taking a great one handed grab. He rose to his feet and nonchalantly tossed the ball to the umpire, thanking him for the game! Sunseekers finishing with 169 all out.

The match ended with smiles and handshakes all round, The Nomads winning their 6th game of the season. The day was ended at the home-side's local, who provided a bucket full of chips and a platter of bread and butter, all swilled down with a local ale and to the cheers for the MVP Dan Brannigan.


[Disclaimer: Any offence caused by this article is unintentional, any praise is well deserved]

Date: 2nd Sept 2018
Start time: 1:00pm
Venue: Mugginton
Competition: 40 overs Friendly
Result: Lichfield Nomads beat Sunseekers by 53 runs
Toss: Lichfield Nomads won the toss and elected to bat.
Scorer: J. Hoddy
Umpires:
Report: A. Hughes
Weather: Warm, sunny

08/09/2018