2019 Season Match Reports

Lavant vs DACD 15th September

Lavant chose to bat against visitors DACD with Henry Anscombe (22) and Robin Burford (16) scoring freely. DACD’s Ray Smith dismantled the top order to take 5 for 35 from 9 overs of non turning off spin. Steve Brooker  (59) and Rob Bradley  (11) started a recovery before Lee Russell’s  quick fire 18 took the total to 177 at tea. DACD’S opener Lane with 40 and Robinson’s 33 defied the Lavant attack. Tidy spells from Sullivan, Russell, King and Allen restricted the scoring. Anscombe’s 3 for 21 from 9 overs kept the Lavant total out of reach with DACD finishing on 144 for 5 to draw the match. 

Lavant vs Arundel Grasshoppers 31st August

Arundel won the toss and asked Lavant to bat on what was supposed to be a summer’s afternoon but instead there was heavy cloud cover and drizzle in the air. After the usual Lavant opening stutter, Alex Burford and Steve Brooker added 80 for the second wicket. There followed the inevitable collapse of a few Lavant wickets, but Steve continued scoring freely and was only out in the dying overs for a fine knock of 84 as he tried to accelerate the scoring rate. Lavant declared on 174 at tea, their best innings for many weeks and high hopes of winning the game. All of Arundel’s bowlers returned respectable figures with G Lovegrove bowling a marathon spell of 14-5-0-45.

Arundel started their innings in the rain, but this didn’t deter them as D Connely and G Weaver added 50 for the second wicket. Arundel’s middle order collapsed as Lee Russell produced a fine bowling spell of 2-10-5-45 which left Arundel on 96 for 7 with 16 overs remaining. Lavant at this point sensed a victory or at least a draw but Weaver with some intelligent batting to protect the number 9 batsmen, Farquar, slowly built his innings until he was eventually caught for 62 by Steve Brooker taking a steepling catch from a top edge in the gully. Only 7 runs were required to win at the fall of Weaver’s wicket and Budd duly hit the winning runs to give Arundel a well crafted victory by 3 wickets and two balls to spare.

Lavant vs Ferring 24th August

It was a gorgeous summer’s day when Lavant visited Ferring and for a change, after the soft strips of the last few weeks, the pitch was dry and outfield fast. There was an initial stutter before Lavant’s Alex Burford and Graham Dale added 50 runs for the second wicket. A bit of a collapse followed but the innings was rescued by some fine hitting from Robert Bradley, Phil Allen and Lee Russell. Lavant declared on 146 for 9 at tea. Colin King, bowling left arm round the wicket, returned the best figures for Ferring of 7-4-2-20.

Ferring’s reply started at a gallop as Colin King crashed boundaries around the park. Lee Russell steadied the flow of runs with a fine bowling spell of 10-2-1-26. Kieran Nash removed the dangerous Colin King and picked up two more wickets. Alex Burford returned with a very hostile second spell and restricted the scoring rate applying scoreboard pressure on Ferring. If Lavant had held their catches then the result may have been different but A King, with a fine 32 not out, saw Ferring home to win by five wickets and just over two overs to spare.

Lavant vs Parham Park 18th August

Stand up Danny Berkley and take a bow. Danny scored 107 out of Lavant’s total of 142. None of the other Lavant batsmen reached double figures and four failed to trouble the scorers. Parham Park won the toss and asked Lavant to bat first on a very damp pitch after the torrential rain of the previous 24 hours. Mark Williams, bowling left arm over from the pavilion end, made the most of the conditions and returned figures of 14.2-3-7-34. Mark took three wickets in one over ripping out Lavant’s middle order. Mark then returned for a second spell to clean up Lavant’s tail who couldn’t hang around to support Danny on his way to 107 not out.

Lavant took four quick wickets, all bowled, by Alex Burford and Danny which left Parham Park stuttering on 49 for 4. Smith and Frazer steadied the Parham Park innings adding 93 for the fifth wicket before Frazer was bowled by Alex with the scores tied. Smith duly knocked off the winning run and Parham Park won by 5 wickets with eleven overs to spare. Alex Burford was the pick of the Lavant bowlers with figures of 10-4-3-17.

Lavant vs Lynchmere 10th August

Lynchmere won the toss and asked Lavant to bat on a blustery and very damp pitch. Despite these difficulties this was a much better batting performance by Lavant, despite a wobbly start. Tom Cole and Robin Burford added 69 runs for the second wicket. Unfortunately 69 for 1 quickly became 70 for 6 as Lavant’s middle order imploded. Dave Burford and Jim Blanch, playing his first game of the year, steadied the slide and added another 40 runs with Mark Sullivan adding a valuable 23 runs allowing Lavant to declare at 153 for 8 at tea. Simon Cain was the best Lynchmere bowler returning figures of 12-3-3-36 ably supported by Darrel Easton and Rupert Easton

153 runs were never going to be enough and so it proved as Lynchmere’s opening pair of Ayres and Tom Cain both scored half centuries with Ayres carrying his bat for 79. Lavant stuck to their task and Rupert Easton was brilliantly caught by debutant Michael Ward with a diving catch at short mid wicket, however Lynchmere cantered home and won by eight wickets with more than ten overs remaining. Tom Cole took both wickets in an aggressive spell of swing bowling with the reward of 7-2-2-39.

Lavant vs Droxford 4th August

This was the first match between these two teams and arriving at Droxford’s ground, Lavant’s first thoughts were what a slope on the square and there were two huge trees twenty metres in from the cover and extra cover boundaries. In a forty over game Droxford won the toss and batted first. Palmer and Chambers put on 33 for the first wicket until skipper Ian Rawnsley made the breakthrough. Thereafter none of the of the Droxford batsmen reached double figures as some disciplined bowling and tight fielding restricted the flow of runs. Palmer nearly carried his bat through the innings until he was bowled by Rawnsley trying to increase the scoring rate. Extras made a valuable contribution of 21 runs as Droxford ended their forty overs on 136 for 9 at tea. Rawnsley ended up with three wickets with Henry Anscombe and Danny Berkley picking up two wickets each.

Lavant’s reply was awful. Seven of Lavant’s batsmen managed four runs, with scores of 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 3. With the score on 23 for 6, Droxford realised the game was won and their skipper Adam Smith gave everyone in their team an opportunity to bowl. This offered up some buffet, “help yourself to runs” bowling to Dave and Robin Burford who cashed in, Dave Burford ending up unbeaten on 62. As Lavant’s total crept towards 136, Droxford realised they might have been too generous with their bowling attack and the opening bowlers returned to clean up the tail as Lavant’s innings entered the 40th over and they were all out for 124 giving Droxford a comprehensive victory. Potter was the pick of the Droxford bowlers returning figures of 6-2-3-5.

Lavant vs Boxgrove 27th July

It was touch and go whether the return derby match between these two teams would be played but the rain eased towards midday and with the teas already made it was decided to go ahead on a sticky Lavant wicket with a very damp, slow outfield. Somehow Lavant ended up with twelve players and Boxgrove only ten, so Lavant’s Mark Sullivan was loaned to Boxgrove.

Boxgrove asked Lavant to bat first, and visiting Oz batsman, Henry Anscombe, defended the first ball, left the second and carted the third ball over long off, over the pavilion and into the car park for a huge six. The fourth ball was belted for four through mid wicket. Henry continued in the same style to make 53 before steepling a catch to mid on. Henry was ably supported by Tom Cole, playing a rare game for Lavant, Danny Berkley and Dave Burford. Mark Sullivan tormented Lavant’s batsmen with his leg spin and being very keen to impress on his loan debut, took four wickets for sixteen in six overs as the tail of Lavant’s innings crumbled to end on 187-9 at tea.

Lavant’s skipper, Ian Rawnsley, set an attacking field which paid dividends and Boxgrove were soon 22-3. Mark Holl and Foster steadied the Boxgrove reply but once they were out, and Boxgrove were 67-5, the rest of their innings collapsed with some suicidal running and extravagant shots as the lower order batsmen tried to chase down the runs. Lee Russell had a fine bowling spell returning figures of 12-2-4-41 with Danny Berkley supporting Russell with 7-2-2-9. Boxgrove were all out for 86 and Lavant won by over 100 runs.

Lavant vs Amberley 23rd June

This was Lavant’s first game against Amberley and it was an almost a carbon copy of Lavant’s match from the previous weekend. Both of Lavant’s openers fell in the first 1.2 overs and it was only the ever reliable Steve Brooker (54) supported by Lee Russell (20) and Dave Burford (22) that enabled Lavant to post a modest total of 135 all out within 32 overs, Lavant not managing to use up their allotted 40 overs in this innings. All the Amberley bowlers contributed in restricting the runs and taking wickets.

Tea was taken early, and Amberley started their run chase with McCarthy hitting an unbeaten 88. Skipper Ian Rawnsley rotated all of Lavant’s bowlers but they only managed to take two wickets as Amberley cruised to victory by eight wickets inside 30 overs.

Lavant vs West Meon 16th June

This was Lavant’s first game against West Meon. West Meon won the toss and asked Lavant to bat first knowing the pitch would dry out during the afternoon. Lavant were soon in trouble with both openers dismissed quickly. There was a slight rally as the ever reliable Steve Brooker and Danny Berkley added some runs to Lavant’s meagre score. Once Berkley was out the rest of the Lavant side collapsed, despite Brooker’s attempt to keep the strike each over. Lavant’s innings closed forty minutes before tea when Brooker stepped back and inadvertently demolished his stumps trying to cut the ball through the offside. Hugh GT was the pick of the West Meon bowlers with 5-2-5-7.

West Meon started their run chase of 83 runs with Clarke hitting an unbeaten 53 and Lavant only managing to take one wicket as West Meon cruised to victory by nine wickets.

Lavant vs Old Barn 2nd June

Lavant won the toss and elected to bat first on a sultry afternoon. Anscombe looked in good nick until he unfortunately played on with the score at 15. Wignall joined Rawnsley and they crafted a handy 76-run partnership before the latter was LBW to Glanville for 22. This brought Brooker to the crease and he bludgeoned his way to a second successive half-century. Rawnsley eventually holed out to deep mid-wicket for a very useful 90. All the Old Barn bowlers and fielders toiled away with dogged determination. Just before tea, Lavant’s declaration was made at 209 for 5.

In reply, the visiting openers started brightly despite some tidy bowling from Allen and Hudson. Both opening bowlers took wickets but, just as they did in the field, the Old Barn batsmen resisted much of what was thrown at them. Eventually, their resolve was broken by a combination of Anscombe’s left-arm swift seam bowling and Dave Burford’s beguiling leg-spin. Burford ended up with 4 for 40, before Rawnsley mopped up the tail. Old Barn were all out for 133, giving Lavant a welcome first victory of the season by 76 runs.

Lavant vs Boxgrove 26th May

Boxgrove hosted the first of the derby matches this season between the two teams. Lavant won the toss and chose to bat on a blustery afternoon. Lavant were soon in trouble losing their first wicket before scoring and wickets continued to tumble. At 30 for 5 it looked like it was going to be a quick game, however, Steve Brooker stabilised the innings scoring 74. Brooker had partnerships with Peter Hall until he was dismissed by a sharp one handed catch from Gottesman and a quick fire 23 not out from skipper Ian Rawnsley. Lavant declared for 164 for 9 at tea which at least gave the Lavant bowlers a target to defend.

Boxgrove’s reply started briskly with Lee Russell and Rawnsley making the early breakthrough to dismiss both of Boxgrove’s opening batsmen. James Thorpe won the game for Boxgrove with an undefeated 77 despite two fine catches from David Burford as wickets fell at the other end. Boxgrove cruised to victory by six wickets with ten overs to spare.

Lavant vs Westbourne 12th May

This was Lavant’s first home game of the season and the square had been well prepared by Lavant’s dedicated groundsmen. Lavant batted first and were soon in trouble as Dean Kehagias bowled a superb line and length to remove the first three wickets and Lavant were struggling at 35 for 4. This brought Dave Burford and Steve Brooker together and they added over one hundred runs for the 5th wicket. The return of Kehagias to the attack broke this partnership, quickly followed by two more cheap wickets and Lavant were all out for 163 just before tea. Kehagias returned amazing figures of 12-2-6-12. Westbourne’s reply started briskly with Malley and Barber putting on 84 for the first wicket. Malley was dropped when he’d scored 30 and went on to carry his bat for 94. Lavant stuck to their task and three more wickets fell cheaply but Malley ended the run chase with a huge six over square leg to win the game by six wickets.

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