Nomads win opener at Longdon

It couldn't have been more perfect to start the season!

It was one of the most gorgeous Easter Sunday's in living memory; and as Pink Floyd once sang, a 'high hope' was set right from the beginning as grass was indeed greener and the light appeared to be even brighter!

Losing the toss appeared to be a blessing in disguise as our skipper Marc Hutton was undecided on whether to bat or bowl first, we were eventually asked to bat first by the Longdon skipper.

We have a newcomer in the team (Rana Ghosal) who went to open the batting with our ever-trusted Pete Gardner. Unfortunately it was not a memorable start for Rana and for the team. However, thanks to Pete and Neil Weir's 86 runs second wicket partnership we managed to build a solid foundation. Following on, Mark Brannigan and Jaz Basi (another newcomer) took the total to a respectable 178 in 40 overs. The most successful bowler for Longdon was Mr Coombes (3/18 in 6 overs).

Post lunch session Longdon had a flying start with 14 runs in the 1st over. However, the party didn't last for long as Nomads skipper Marc Hutton opened the season with an unplayable delivery destined for the stumps! In the 3rd over Mark Davies removed the other opener and that moment onward our most enthusiastic player Dan Moss sensed that he might have a chance to reach home to Edinburgh quicker; so took 3 wickets in quick succession which constrained Longdon to 58/5 in just 12 overs. Rest of the game was purely John Hoddy magic as he took 4 wickets in 7 overs by sparing only 13 runs! What an incredible figure, so there is no prize for guessing our Most Valuable Player of the match.

Eventually Longdon were all out in 93 runs in 24th over and the success of the combined team effort was later celebrated with some chilled beer in a lovely Longdon pub.

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

Date: 21st April 2019
Start time: 1:30pm
Venue: Longdon
Competition: 40 overs Friendly
Result: Lichfield Nomads beat Longdon by 85 runs
Toss: Longdon won the toss and elected to field.
Scorer: J. Hoddy
Umpires:
Report: R. Ghosal
Weather: Hot, sunny

24/04/2019