Match Report Lavant vs Lynchmere, 27th August 2016

Lavant’s return fixture against Lynchmere was played in glorious sunshine, a marked contrast from the rain and sleet of the first fixture in April. Lynchmere won the toss and unsurprisingly chose to bat first on a hot sunny August afternoon, A Burford cleaned bowled the dangerous Sanlet in his second over and Lynchmere were 8 for 1. Tight bowling from Rawnsley, A Burford and Banks restricted Lynchmere’s scoring rate. Sutton picked up two wickets before being hit out of the attack by Easton who was eventually caught at midwicket from a Rawnsley slower ball for 53. Lynchmere declared at 159 for 6 at tea. Lavant’s reply started steadily with Blanch riding his luck as he was dropped three times on his way to 34 when he was caught in the gully. Dale added 33 and his departure was followed by a flurry of Lavant wickets as Lynchmere’s bowlers tightened their grip on the game. It was left to Rawnsley and then Banks supported by R Burford to see Lavant home in the final over of the game giving Lavant a win by 3 wickets with four balls to spare. The match was a wonderful example of Sunday afternoon cricket with all three results, win, draw or loss for Lavant, all possibilities at some stage of the game.

Match Report Lavant vs Lodsworth, 21st August 2016

Lavant batted first on a warm and blustery afternoon. Long bowled a fine 11 over spell, jagging the ball away from the batsmen time and time again taking one wicket for 20 runs. Hill in his five over spell achieved considerable bounce on the usually true Lavant strip. Stevens and Sands added 45 for the first wicket before Stevens continued on to his maiden 50 this year. The run rate accelerated in partnership with Carroll, 26, and then with Berkley who hit ten huge sixes all around the ground on his way to a quick fire 89 enabling Lavant to declare at 201 for 5 at tea. Lodsworth’s reply started shakily as Stevens took two wickets in his first three overs before rain swept across the ground and the match was abandoned.

Match Report Lavant vs Parham Park, 14th August 2016

Lavant's skipper Steve Brooker won the toss and elected to bat against the visitors Parham Park. Openers Ian Rawnsley (28 ) and Mark Stevens (34) steered Lavant to a fine start despite the efforts of Park’s bowlers Huffer & Forrest. Despite losing Carroll for 0, a hard hit 80  from Danny Berkley and 67 from Brooker  accelerated Lavant’s innings to enable a declaration on 212 for 3 with both batsmen unbeaten. In reply Parham’s openers started brightly with Wales stroking 60, Vander hitting 22 & Balchin 25. Parham were threatening to close down the target but a sharp catch by Wignall and the dismissal of Wales bowled by Nash were key moments. The middle order tumbled as Rawnsley, Hall & Wignall took wickets before Berkley finished off the tail to give Lavant victory by 76 runs. 

Match Report Lavant vs Emsworth, 7th August 2016

Lavant visited Emsworth and invited the hosts to bat first on a green track. Lavant’s opening bowlers Berkley & Stevens were on top from the start, with Mark Stevens taking 3 for 20 to give Lavant control. Wickets fell at regular intervals with Rawnsley taking 2 for 5 from 6 overs and Kieran Nash taking 2 for 29 from his 8 overs. Only the Sandford brothers and Wyatt were able to make double figures before Banks and Sullivan completed the dismissals to bowl Emsworth out for 86. Joe Watts’ pace troubled Lavant’s openers Rawnsley & Blanche but could not breakthrough. Ian Rawnsley eased Lavant towards the target making 25 and Jim Blanche was unbeaten on 26 as Viral Parikh hit the winning runs to give Lavant victory by 9 wickets.

Match Report Lavant vs Ferring, 23rd July 2016

Lavant’s skipper had no hesitation in deciding to bat after he won the toss on a glorious summer’s day at Lavant. The opening pair put on 39 runs which brought Brooker and Rawnsley together as they accelerated the run rate. Both were caught going for their shots and Lavant stuttered as the middle order collapsed until Burford started timing the ball sweetly and made a quick fire 49 before he was bowled on the stroke of the tea interval going for one last big hit. Lavant declared on 163 which was felt by the team to be 30 runs under par for the afternoon. Ferring’s slower bowlers did the damage with Baldock taking 3 for 9 in just over three overs. Ferring’s reply started aggressively but newly returned bowler Stevens had other ideas and he bowled both the openers before they had reached double figures, Rawnsley ably supported him from the other end taking three quick wickets, despite some dropped catches by Lavant, and Ferring were suddenly 38 for 5. Wardley and Sage put up some resistance but Ferring’s wickets continued to fall and they were all out for 97 with 8 overs to spare giving Lavant a win as the shadows lengthened across the square.

The photo on the front page is of the winning Lavant team.

Back row left to right
Graham Dale, Danny Berkley, Steve Sands, David Burford, Phil Allen, Mark Stevens, Richard Wignall (Umpire)

Front row left to right
Ian Rawnsley, Alex Burford, Robin Burford (Skipper), Sheila Portsmouth (Scorer), Steve Brooker, Peter Berkley (Wicket Keeper)

Match Report Lavant vs Ebernoe, 9th July 2016

Lavant won the toss and asked Ebernoe to bat on the usual good Lavant strip. Ebernoe provided stronger opposition for Lavant in this match with West and Stemp hitting the ball to all parts of the ground and adding over 140 for the second wicket until Stemp retired hurt and West was trapped in front by Brooker. There was a flurry of Ebernoe’s wickets as they pushed for the declaration at tea ending on 208 for 7. Lavant’s reply started slowly with two wickets falling before the score had reached 40. This brought Carroll to the crease who accelerated the scoring rate ably supported by Brooker and then Banks. The run rate crept to more than ten an over which was too much for the Lavant batsmen and the game ended in a draw with Lavant on 142 for 5.

Match Report Lavant vs Gentlemen of Bedales, 3rd July 2016

23 All Out. The Gentlemen of Bedales collapsed in spectacular fashion on a bright, warm afternoon on the almost perfectly flat Bedales’ pitch. None of their batsmen reached double figures and four batsmen didn’t trouble the scorers. Lavant held all their catches including two fierce caught and bowled wickets by Banks who returned figures of 6 overs, 4 maidens, 5 wickets for 8 runs, a set of figures unlikely to be beaten this year. Berkley and Hall took the remaining wickets. Lavant’s openers, Parikh and Dale knocked off the runs in eight overs giving Lavant a victory by 10 wickets. A beer match followed which the Gentlemen of Bedales won.

Match Report Lavant vs East Meon, 19th June 2016

Lavant chose to bat first at Pook Lane on Sunday. The visitors East Meon troubled the batsmen throughout the innings but Lavant still totalled 184 all out at tea. Ian Rawnsley's 67 was the highlight especially 3 fine pulls for 6 into the trees. Debutant Viral Parikh composed a promising 30 supported by Dave Burford's 19. East Meon batted with purpose with Gillespie racing to 26 before being held by Brooker at point off Alex Burford. Atkinson continued to plunder boundaries but Rawnsley wrecked his stumps to dismiss him for 30. Lavant continued to take wickets and were on top but as the rain continued to fall with Meon on 113 for 6 the match was abandoned as a draw.

Match Report Lavant vs Old Barn, 4th June 2016

Lavant batted first on a warm summers day and the Lavant strip looked full of runs. Lavant’s innings started brightly but soon Brooker and Burford were in control and took the game away from Old Barn. Burford smote the ball to all parts of the ground for 60 before being bowled trying for another big hit and Brooker continued untroubled towards another century in his career before he was eventually run out for 105 when Berkley was increasing the run rate. Brooker’s dismissal was the signal for Lavant to declare ten minutes before tea having scored 225 for the loss of 4 wickets. Old Barn lost their first wicket in the second over of their reply to some fine attacking bowling from Alex Burford supported by good wicket keeping from Hudson. None of the Old Barn batsmen were able to score freely and by the time the final twenty overs started Old Barn had lost five wickets and they decided to give up the run chase and bat out the remaining overs for a draw. All the Lavant bowlers tried their hardest to take the remaining five wickets but Old Barn survived and the match ended with Old Barn scoring 104 for the loss of eight wickets. Alex Burford was again the pick of the Lavant bowlers taking 4 wickets for 38 runs.

Match Report Lavant vs Boxgrove, 28th May 2016

The Lavant vs Boxgrove game is always a keenly contested derby match. Lavant won the toss and decided to bat on a glorious afternoon; the first wicket fell before the score reached double figures but Brooker and Dale added over 60 runs for the second wicket, the majority scored by Brooker as he headed towards another score of over fifty this season. Berkley added a quick fire 22 runs which was followed by the usual flurry of wickets as tea approached allowing Lavant to declare on 151 for 7. Reed was the most economical bowler returning figures of three wickets for six in three overs. In reply Boxgrove lost an early wicket but Thorpe and Gottesman steadied the innings adding over fifty runs for the second wicket. A change of bowling brought Berkley and Alex Burford into the attack and between them they ripped through the Boxgrove batsmen. A brilliant piece of fielding by Berkley from his own bowling saw Wakefield run out with a direct hit and Berkley followed this up with an inspired spell of 6 wickets for 19 runs as Boxgrove collapsed to 107 all out, with four Boxgrove batsmen out without scoring. It was a change for Lavant to have three young pace bowlers, Ali, Berkley and Alex Burford attacking the visitors and giving Lavant a win with over seven overs to spare.

Match Report Lavant vs Tillington, 22nd May 2016

Lavant batted first at Tillington on a grassy pitch, struggling to a total of 103 for 9 at tea. Dave Maclean and Dave Burford were the only batsmen to make 20's in a total that looked to be 50 short in the cool conditions. Tillington's reply featured a hard hitting 36 from Ollie Pearce before he was bowled by Alex Burford. Lavant 'keeper Hugh Hudson took 2 fine catches including a wicked steepler as the doomed opening batsman shouted 'drop it' to no effect. 20 runs from Kemp helped Tillington towards the target despite 2 for 21 from Maclean in a tidy spell. Tillington were able to reach the target to win by 3 wickets.

Match Report Lavant vs Westbourne, 15th May 2016

Scores of 0, 1, 0, 1, 6 for Lavant’s first five wickets meant the game was in danger of ending very quickly as Westbourne’s opening bowlers, Kehagias and Desai ripped apart the fragile Lavant batting line up. Thankfully Rawnsley and Banks restored some respectability to the score adding over 100 for the 7^th wicket. Banks scored a magnificent 63 against the strong Westbourne bowling attack with Rawnsley adding an impressive 37. Nicholls chipped in with a solid 18 supporting Banks which allowed Lavant to declare on 143 at tea with Kehagias taking 6 for 35. Westbourne’s reply started badly losing two quick wickets but then Wellar and Patel quickly accumulated runs helped by some poor fielding from Lavant who managed to drop Patel four times on his way to 51. Westbourne had a slight wobble losing two more quick wickets but the match was wrapped up very quickly by Kehagias hitting two sixes and a four in three balls to win the match for Westbourne by 4 wickets and more than 10 overs to spare.