A Near Miss at Armitage: Two Hundred for Cartwright, Just Five Short for the Nomads

The Nomads arrived at a blustery but thankfully dry Armitage CC for our first T20 of the 2026 summer, marking Darren Cartwright’s 200th appearance for the club. Skipper Loxley lost the toss, and the Duke of York elected to bat first - a decision we were happy with considering the conditions.

O’Brien, playing his first match of the season following his recent nuptials, struggled bowling down the hill, while Cogzell offered a bit more control from the opposite end. Cogzell removed Malcolm in his second over with a ball that nipped back into the batter, while Adam Shaw continued his usual good form against the Nomads, hitting the ball to the boundary with ease.

Gibson came into the attack and picked up right where he left off the previous Sunday, bringing accuracy and efficiency with his skillful bowling. Mangukiya then struck with his second ball to remove the dangerous Shaw, who yorked himself, leaving the Duke of York on 54-2 at the halfway stage.

Gibson bowled out with superb figures of 4-1-8-0 just as Cartwright entered the fray. Cartwright picked up two wickets in his two overs as the Nomads restricted the opposition with some excellent fielding - in particular from last year’s Fielder of the Year, O’Brien, in the deep. The sharp fielding was further exemplified when Rylea Hughes ran out Robinson.

Rylea entered the attack and could have immediately had two wickets, but his Dad dropped a sharp chance at midwicket - which was well received by all, as you would expect! Rylea did eventually pick up the wicket of Drew with a delivery Mr J would have been proud of - a dipping full toss!

It was a fine bowling and fielding effort by the Nomads in difficult conditions, including a couple of brief showers, to restrict the Duke of York to 107-6 from their 20 overs. However, the first innings had already shown how difficult the pitch was to bat on.

Needing just over five runs an over, the Nomads were confident going into bat with the opening pair of O’Brien and Loxley. Unfortunately, Loxley was dismissed cheaply, and O’Brien soon followed as the tough going continued. This brought together Bastable and Holmes, who also found fluent scoring difficult to come by.

The wicket had become slower. Our batters struggled to find the middle of the bat, often playing through their shots too early as the ball held up in the surface. Even when balls were middled, there wasn’t much reward on offer; the majority of our runs came from sharp running between the wickets, with only five boundaries scored in the entire innings.

As the overs rolled by and the required run rate increased, we had to take more risks with our running and shot selection. This led to a flurry of late wickets, including three runouts. Ultimately, despite a spirited effort, we fell just five runs short of victory as we reflected on what could have been.

It was another tight loss for the Nomads, but an enjoyable evening, nonetheless. We retired to the always well-stocked bar at Armitage CC as darkness finally descended on the ground.

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

Date: 3 June 2026
Start time: 18:00pm
Venue: Armitage C.C.
Competition: 20 overs friendly
Scores: Duke of York 107 for 6, Lichfield Nomads 102 for 9
Result: Lost by 5 runs
Toss: Lost
Scorer: Opposition
Umpires: J Hoddy, I Hughes, S O’Brien & Opposition
Report: J. Loxley
Weather: Blustery and unsettled.

22 June 2026