Gonads Galore

Travelling off to Hilton for the first time, we had been promised a warm welcome by Dan Lee, a guest from the moribund Sunseekers side. Nomads fielded first with the new pair, Davis and Lee, opening. Young and Berry made a brisk start, especially Young who was able to punish loose balls with some good-looking shots. Hutton brought himself on, claiming a wicket in his first over, and also Westwood who was hoping to repeat his last performance of taking 5 wickets. He claimed one, before being replaced by a brief spell from Cartwright. Hoddy and Brannigan took over the bowling duties and with the opposition trying to push things along some chances were given but , unfortunately, not taken. Brannigan managed to get Young (70) out and to keep the scoring in check. Hoddy looked as though he might go wicket-less but managed 2 in 2 balls, the first being a good one-handed catch off his own bowling. Hutton and Davis then came back to finish the innings both claiming another wicket.

A score of 174 did not appear to be insurmountable on a good batting track and Nomads went out to bat feeling confident.
Jones started with Gardner and was unlucky to be out caught off a firmly hit shot for his 3rd gonad of the season. Brannigan was elevated up the order to push things along. He was circumspect, leaving a couple of balls wide of off stump but then he also missed one aimed at the wickets and was also out for a duck. Weir made a brief appearance and then in-form batsman Rolfe came in and scored 12. Only Gardner was keeping going and he lost yet another partner, Westwood, for a duck. Hutton looked positive in chasing the increasing asking rate, but unfortunately skied one to man-of-the match Young. With Gardner also having departed, this saw our last hopes of success evaporate. The last pair Lee and Hoddy saw off the final overs with Hoddy consolidating his batting average of infinity for the season.

An enjoyable match with the distinction of playing against a county player, Georgina Harrison of Derbyshire Ladies. Nomads were again undone by a flock of ducks or perhaps, it could be said, an excruciating clutch of gonads. This season, so far, we have clocked up 23 compared with a total of 8 for last season. So the one big target must be to cut them out. Congratulations to MVP Pete Gardner for digging in and achieving yet another 50 for Nomads.

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

Date: 7th July 2019
Start time: 2:00pm
Venue: Hilton
Competition: 40 overs Friendly
Scores: Hilton 174 for 8 v Lichfield Nomads 147 for 9
Result: Hilton beat Lichfield Nomads by 27 runs
Toss:
Scorer: J. Hoddy
Umpires:
Report: J. Hoddy
Weather: Warm, sunny

13/07/2019 12:02