Nomads Almost Snatch Unlikely Victory

Nomads took on Trent Valley at Armitage anticipating a close match, however a shocking start saw Nomads slump to 25-7 after 15 overs. A mixture of excellent bowling and poor shot selection, not helped by erratic bounce saw the possibility of not reaching drinks However, Trent Valley saw the opportunity of giving their casual bowlers some practice. Lee and Pickering took full advantage with a gutsy display of batting. Lee picked off the bad ball and dominated the strike to reach his best ever score of 58, whilst Pickering ran himself into the ground staying with Lee and scoring a creditable 11no. When Lee was finally bowled, Hoddy stayed with Pickering to reach the 40 overs.
Embarrassment was spared with a near record breaking 8th wicket stand of 85 by Lee and Pickering, and faint hopes of a victory were evident.
Nomads could not have got off to a better start with a wicket off the first ball. Fearon startled but hanging on to a catch in the covers off S Bryars. Bryars bowled a really hostile spell claiming 2 wickets before having to come off due to the recurrence of an old injury. Lee was bowling with his usual consistency making the batsmen play and miss and also claiming 2 wickets in his 8 overs. Hoddy had replaced Bryars and bowled erratically but managed to claim a couple also. Timmins was scoring against Fearon who was replaced by Cartwright who captured his wicket with an excellent caught and bowled. As Trent Valley only had 10 men, only 2 more wickets were needed. Jordan beat the bat several times with flighted deliveries , but the ball was coming down from such a height that it usually bounced over the stumps. Not needing to take any chances, the 2 batsmen crawled over the winning line with overs to spare.
Although beaten, Nomads commitment, illustrated by Gardner nearly losing his trousers chasing a ball down to 3rd man, almost saw Nomads achieve a very unlikely victory. A game to be enjoyed even though we lost.


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

Date: 18 August 2024
Start time: 1:30pm
Venue: Armitage C.C.
Competition: 40 overs friendly
Scores: Lichfield Nomads 112 for 8 v Trent Valley 115 for 7
Result: Trent Valley won by 3 wkts
Toss: Lichfield Nomads won the toss and elected to bat.
Scorer: J. Hoddy / P. Gardner
Umpires: Stanley, Loxley, Fearon, S. Bryars
Report: J. Hoddy
Weather: Warm, cloudy

21 August 2024