Category: Match Reports

Match Drawn

Bury and West Burton CC 210 for 6 (M Barson 72, N Lewis 60, M Blackwood 48: Andy Long 12 overs 2 for 55)

Lodsworth CC 129 for 6 (G Braithwaite 54, J Houghton 20 not out: T Dockerill 5 overs 3 for 15, M Blackwood 5 overs 2 for 19)

A splendid buffet lunch with wine was perhaps not the best of preparation for a game against one of the strongest opponents on the Lodsworth CC fixture list. And so it proved to be – Lodsworth took to the field in high spirits but were quickly brought down to earth as the first two overs were thrashed for 20 runs. But it got better and the flow of runs was gradually brought under control.

Bury and West Burton went on to score 210 for 6 with some extraordinarily good batting from Sussex Academy player M Barson (72). The Lodsworth bowlers toiled but the pickings were lean. Skipper Matt Hall tried every combination and Andy Long picked up two wickets for 55 while other wickets were spread thinly between Paul Phillips, Matt Hall and John Houghton.

Lodsworth CC v Loxwood CC

Lodsworth
Sunday 8th June 2008

Loxwood CC: 184 for 6 (A Jefferies 71 not out, T Holmes 45, A Dudman 23; Matt Hall 8 overs 3 for 41, Andy Long 8 overs 2 for 24)
Lodsworth CC: 172 all out (Jon Houghton 61 not out, Richard Gough 45; A Dudman 10 overs 4 for 52, A Jefferies 10 overs 2 for 29)
Loxwood won

Lodsworth were by no means disgraced as they fell just short of the visitors total in a close fought encounter at the recreation ground. In fact although played under Sussex rules the game resembled a 20/20 match as both teams teams fought hard for a victory.

Loxwood batted first and although kept on a tight rein in the early overs they eventually cut loose and finished on 184 for 6 with their top scoring batsman A Jefferies carrying his bat with 71 not out. Andy Long worked hard bowling up the hill to take 2 for 24 off 8 overs and Matt Hall garnered 3 for 41. Lodsworth’s fielding was not at its best.

Three or four years ago a score of 184 at tea would have demoralized Lodsworth but no longer. From the outset they chased the runs. Richard Gough imparted a touch of class into the batting and he was rarely troubled as he advanced to 45 before being caught at third man. Jon Houghton eventually found his form and confidently smote the ball around the ground to record 61 not out. There were valuable contributions by Rod Taylor, Andy Long and Matt Hall but unfortunately Jon ran out of partners. In his eagerness to get to the batting end he ran out Bob Powell with just three balls to go – just 12 runs short of the Loxwood total.

Upon reflection we could probably have shut up shop in the last over and achieved a draw – but what the heck- this was fighting stuff from Lodsworth and it was much more exhilarating. The victories will come if we play cricket to win.

Man of the match Jon Houghton

Two Games rolled into One

LODSWORTH PLAYED THE VISITORS OF FERNHURST ON SUNDA AT A VERY BLUSTERY REC. IN PREVIOUS YEARS THE TEAMS HAVE BEEN VERY CLOSE IN TERMS OF TALENT BUT IT WASNT THE CASE THIS YEAR THOU. THE VISITORS HAD A YOUTHFUL OUTLOOK WITH 8 OF THE PLAYERS ALL UNDER 18.
LODDY HAD ONLY 1 GUY OVER 40 IN PP PAUL PHILLIPS…..LOL

LODSWORTH WON THE TOSS AND ELECTED TO BOWL FIRST YET AGAIN!!! SO CAPT HALL AS USUAL STARTED WITH LONG UP THE HILL INTO A 40MPH WIND AND PHILLIPS DOWN BREEZE WITH HIS SWING AND MOVEMENT.

AS NORMAL SOME TIGHT BOWLING FROM THE FRONT 2 MADE RUNS HARD TO COME BY, THEN WICKETS TUMBLED AT REGULAR INTERVALS WHEN CLIFFORD HICKEY AND AWS CAME ON FOR CAMEO ROLES. AT 1 POINT THEY WERE 21-7 AND IT WAS UP TO HOUGHTON AND HALL TO WRAP THINGS UP BY TAKEN THE LAST FEW. ALL OUT 48!!!!!

LONG 8-4-10-3 PP 8-3-11-0 CLIFFORD 3-0-6-3 AWS 2-0-6-1 HICKEY 4-0-10-1 HALL 2-0-5-1 JH 4-1-6-1

A NICE TEA FROM THE LOVELY TEGGY (NICE BLUE RIBANDS) THEN IT WAS UP TO PINCHHITTERS AWS AND LONG TO SEE IF THEY COULD WRAP THE VICTORY UP IN QUICK TIME. 30 RUNS CAME OFF THE FIRST 3 OVERS UNTILL LONG HOLED OUT AT COVER, KING CAME IN FOR A KNOCK OF 6 THEN A BIG BIG COLLAPSE WITH BEN RIX AND AWS GOIN AS THE BOWLER TOOK A HAT TRICK.. IT WAS LEFT TO CARNEY AND HICKEY TO SEE LODSWORTH HOME BY 5 WICKETS AND ALL OVER AT 530PM IN 9 OVERS….

CAPT HALL THEN AGREED WITH FERNHURST FOR A BEER MATCH WHICH WAS MORE ENTERTAINING AND COMPETITIVE..

LODSWORTH SCORE OF 83 IN 10 OVERS. GD BATTING BY CLIFFORD CARNEY PP HALL AND JH
FERNHURST SCORE OF 60 IN 10 OVERS. GD BOWLING AND FIELDING BY KING RIX BEN PP AND LONG.

ANDY….. PS. IF FIGURES ARE SLIGHTY OUT SOZ, THERE FROM MEMORY.

Lodsworth CC v Westbourne CC
Played at Lodsworth
Sunday 6th June 2008

Westbourne 205 for 6 (G Haines 60, P Dickin 66, R Dickin 38; M Hall 10 overs 2 for 33, J Houghton 10 overs 2 for 48)
Lodsworth: 179 for 7 (Rod Taylor 96, Oliver King 46; R Patel 15 overs 4 for 62, S Desai 11 overs 2 for 8)
Match drawn

Lodsworth CC maintained their unbeaten record with a hard fought draw against Westbourne CC. Westbourne won the toss and elected to bat on a very damp though immaculate wicket. Opener G Haines laid a firm foundation with 60 and the father and son combination of P and R Dickin scored 66 and 38 respectively. The Lodsworth bowlers struggled to assert their authority as Westbourne amassed 205 for 6 in two and a half hours before tea. Captain Matt Hall with 2 for 33 and Jon Houghton with 2 for 48 were the pick of the Lodsworth bowlers.

In reply Lodsworth’s batsmen looked decidedly shaky as four wickets fell for just 9 runs to the combined skills of Westbourne’s Indian bowlers Patel and S Desai. But a fifth wicket partnership of 144 put the home team back on track.

The star of the Lodsworth innings was Rod Taylor who remarkably hit nine 6’s in his exhilarating knock of 96. His inning ended just short of a ton with a catch on the long-on boundary. Ollie King meanwhile batted sensibly with occasional flourishes to amass 46 runs. For a few overs it looked as if the Westbourne score might even be surpassed but eventually Lodsworth finished on 179 for 7 and a draw was a fair result.

There was a good deal of satisfaction in the Lodsworth ranks. The loss of our big hitting Mumbai batsman Alfred De Souza in mid May was expected to reduce the team’s capacity to compile big scores but Rod and Ollie stepped up to the mark and it is will hopefully inspire others to go for the runs.

Man of the Match Rod Taylor

Milland CC v Lodsworth CC

Played at Milland
Sunday 18th May 2008

Milland: 152 all out (R Glasher 90, Alfred de Souza 4 for 21, Paul Phillips 4 for 37, Paresh 2 for 49)
Lodsworth: 156 for 2 (Alfred de Souza 110 not out, James Hickey 25; G Stopher 1 for 39)
Lodsworth won by 8 wickets

Prior to the game Alfie de Souza announced to his shocked Lodsworth teammates that, having failed to secure a renewal of his Visa, he will be returning to India on 20th May. Determined to give the club something to remember him by he produced a near chanceless innings of 110 not out and took 4 wickets for 21 runs in his final game.

Captain Bob Powell lost the toss and Milland elected to bat on a hard wicket with a fast outfield. The home team looked on track to score a huge number of runs as they sped to 120 for the loss of just two wickets, with R Glasher contributing 90. But then the wheels came off and wickets tumbled as the score moved to 136 for 8. P Strike led a late flourish before the Milland inning closed at 152 all out in 32 overs. Paul Phillips bowled well and finished with 4 for 34, Alfred de Souza took 4 for 21 and Paresh gleaned 2 for 49. Rob Hall took two excellent catches while Rod Taylor and John Clifford scooped up one each.

With a devastating knock of 110 not out from Alfred de Souza led the Lodsworth reply. He gave one chance when on 20 but thereafter did not look back. James Hickey weighed in with 25 runs and the visitors required just 21 overs to pass the Milland total with the loss of just two wickets.

A great start to the 2008 season

Lodsworth v Ebernoe
Played at Lodsworth
Saturday 26th April 2008

Lodsworth: 77 (James Hickey 26 not out. Alfred De Souza; Reid 4-15)
Ebernoe: 43 (Gibbs 12, Evans 11; Matt Hall 4-8 & Jon Houghton 3-6, Andy Long 2 for 12)
Lodsworth won

With the Indian Premier League in full swing, it was time for Lodsworth to put on their whites and see if they could emulate the world stars. As in previous seasons, Lodsworth’s first opponents of the season were the strong local rivals Ebernoe. In previous seasons Ebernoe held the upper hand, but with Lodsworth’s work ethic and team morale the tide has turned.

Captain Hall started as usual by losing the toss and Ebernoe placing Lodsworth into bat. Alfred De Souza and Rod Taylor opened the batting on a very slow and low wicket. Ebernoe’s bowlers opened with a tidy spell especially Read (4-15) who at times was unplayable. With wickets tumbling at regular intervals, 50 looked out of the question as Lodsworth were 31-5. James Hickey & Matt Hall put on a partnership of 31 before Hall was bowled. It was only De Souza and James Hickey who got in double figures with James reaching a commendable 26 not out. Lodsworth finished 77 all out.

At tea, there was plenty of discussion whether the total was 30 runs short. It was agreed if we could put the ball in the right areas then we would have a game on our hands. The Ebernoe innings started off unbelievably, as Richard Stemp was caught first ball off bowler Andy Long. This was backed up by the ever-reliable Paul Phillips who was unlucky not to take more than the 1 wicket. The pair bowled 17 overs for only 25 runs for 3 wickets. With the game on a knife-edge, Captain Hall brought himself on with Jon Houghton, which proved to be a great double substitution. Both Hall (4-8) and Houghton (3-6) bowled stump to stump and caused problems. Only Gibbs (12) and Evans (11) offered any resistances before Ebernoe were 43 all out.

Overall it was a great team effort and signs that this season may be more fruitful than last year. It was a real team effort but individually, we have to say Matt Hall got Man of Match with some good very good bowling and some good tactical captaincy.

Man of the match Matt Hall

Easeborne v Lodsworth
Played at Easebourne
Sunday 4th May 2008

Easebourne: 80 (P Riding 23. Matt Hall 3 for 6, Graham Braithwaite 3 for 4 and Andy Long 2 for 18)
Lodsworth 87 for 5 (James Hickey 27 not out, Jon Houghton 22 not out Alfred de Souza 17; Paul White 4 for 23).
Lodsworth won

Lodsworth bowled tightly to contain the experienced Easebourne team to just 80 runs. Andy Long and Harvinder Singh were rarely off target as Easebourne struggled to amass 38 runs off the first 21 overs. Jon Houghton kept on the pressure surrendering just 16 runs in an eight over spell. Matt Hall and Graham Braithwaite then swept through the middle order, Braithwaite capturing 3 for 4 and Matt Hall 3 for 6 as Easeborne garnered just 80 runs.

Alfred de Souza started of like a rocket with 17 off the first over but met his nemesis two overs later as he strove for another six. Lodsworth stuttered briefly with the loss of Graham Braithwaite and Ollie King both for ducks before Hickey (27 not out) and Houghton (22 not out) carried Lodsworth to 87 for 5 and a comfortable victory.

Man of the match: Graham Braithwaite.

Kirdford v Lodsworth
Kirdford
Sunday 11th May 2008

Kirdford: 80 (J Lehan 21, B Jeffery 11; Graham Braithwaite 4 for 14, Jon Houghton 2 for 6, John Clifford 2 for 12)
Lodsworth: 82 for 1 (Andy Wilson Smith 61 not out, James Hickey 11 not out; J Upton 1 for 13)
Lodsworth won

In their third game of the season Lodsworth demolished a Kirdford team who are not currently the force that they were two or three seasons ago. It happens to all village teams of course – a cycle that sees one village dominate for a few years and then fade away as older players retire or youngsters go off to University and the team has to build again from the foundations.

Winning the toss captain Jon Houghton standing in for Matt Hall decided to field. Kirdford started cautiously and survived without loss for the first ten overs with Andy Long bowling very well to record 6 maidens. But when Graham Braithwaite and Jon Houghton came on to bowl Kirdford’s innings disintegrated. Braithwaite with 4 for 14 and Houghton with 2 for 6 demolished the middle order. John Clifford made a cameo appearance taking two wickets in his first over and finishing with 2 for 12. Only J Lehan put up any resistance, scoring 21 with extras being the main contributor to the Kirdford total of 80 all out.

Lodsworth reached 82 in just 12 overs with Andy Wilson Smith scoring 61 not out and James Hickey 11 not out. This was James’s third unbeaten innings. The pick of the Kirdford bowling was J Upton with 1 for 13.

Man of the match was a close run thing – Graham Braithwaite again caught the eye after his winter playing in Australia but Andy Wilson Smith deserved the award for his swashbuckling batting on hos first appearance of the season. Overall a good team effort.

Man of the Match Andy Wilson Smith

Sunday saw the return of the Midhurst Six a Side Competition at the Grange.

Unfortunately for us, our first game was at 9:30 against the favourites Elstead! Needless to say, with 4 of our players nursing sore heads from the night before, a loss was always on the cards.

Andy Long started well, only for the first ball mind you before getting hit for 24 off the other 5!

Elstead set a reasonable benchmark total of 71. Lodsworth started well with openers Rix and Houghton before the inevitable happened, the famous Lodsworth collapse. The collapse was fuelled by the introduction of Andy Long who proceeded to run 2 of his team mates out and got stumped whilst wondering down the wicket.

Lodsworth finished with the total of 21 all out, not the start we had in mind! Well done to Al Rix for top scoring with 14. Elstead Won

The next game saw the young guns of Petersfield pit their wit’s against the hung-over team of Lodsworth. Harry Diamond opened the bowling creditably, before a back strain caused him to retire for the day. Lodsworth held Petersfield comfortably in the field with 4 wickets down and only 24 on the board. Al Rix was introduced into the play, as in practice he had been displaying a return to form with the ball! The result Petersfield all out for 52! With Matt Hall and Andy Long opening the batting, Lodsworth’s position was never in doubt. Matt Hall retiring on 28 and Andy Long bowled on 15. Al Rix and Martin Howard put the winning runs on with 10 balls to spare.

Lodsworth Won.

The third game of the day was against Midhurst who fielded a strong side. Lodsworth were bolstered by the introduction of Paul Phillips & Oliver King. Lodsworth bowled very tightly, with Jon Houghton taking two wickets and restricting Midhurst to 57 all out. With the hang-overs wearing off, an improved effort was displayed by all as we looked a much more accomplished side. Oliver King & Jon Houghton batted very well with Jon retiring on 26. Lodsworth were always on the pace and Paul Phillips & Andy Long helped achieve the total with an over to spare.

Lodsworth Won

The fourth game was against our local rivals Tillington. Lodsworth started very well with Paul Phillips, Andy Long & Jon Houghton achieving wickets. Not doubting Al Rix’s ability, the captain decided to give him another go. The result, a 15 ball over and nearly 30 runs coming off of it! To stop the run rate out of control, Matt Hall was introduced along with Jon Houghton who finished Tillington off for 47. With Rod Taylor playing his first game of the day, he was paired with Andy Long to get us off to a quick flyer. All was well before Tillington took 3 wickets in 3 balls but the Jon Houghton & Paul Phillips partnership guided us home to win with 13 balls to spare. Lodsworth Won

All in all a good day’s play was had with Lodsworth finishing runners up to Elstead. It may have been a different story if there were no hang overs, but then an enjoyable awards night would have been missed! Well done Lodsworth, a good start to the year.

Sunday 16th September 2007

Lodsworth CC v Matt Hall Xl at Lodsworth

The George Clifford Trophy Game

Lodsworth CC 232 for 6 off 30 overs (Alfred de Souza 50 not out, Paul Phillips 50 not out, Jon Houghton 47: Matt Hall 4 overs 2 for 15, Alistair Rix 3 overs 2 for 13)

Matt Hall Xl 161 all out (Johan Fourie 52, D Swain 34, S Tanginelu 23: Jon Houghton 3 overs 3 for 14, Rod Taylor 3 overs 2 for 16, Alfred de Souza 2 overs 2 for 4)

Lodsworth won

Lodsworth CC ended their season on a high note with a victory over the Matt Hall Xl in the annual George Clifford Trophy game. Extending Lodsworth’s run of victories to five this concluded their most successful season for a decade.

Winning the toss Lodsworth elected to bat in a 30-over game, where in the sprit of this game, bowlers were restricted to four overs and batsmen required to retire at 50. Lodsworth duly amassed 232 runs for the loss of 6 wickets with Alfred de Souza retiring on 50, Paul Phillips also hitting a chanceless 50 and Jon Houghton falling just short with 47. The leading wicket takers were Matt Hall with 4 overs 2 for 15 and Al Rix with 3 overs 2 for 13.

The Matt Hall Xl courageously chased the target from the outset. Johan Fourie hit a sparkling 52, S Swain knocked 34 and S Tanginelu 23. Ahead of the run rate until the halfway mark, the wheels came off with the introduction of Jon Houghton who bowled 3 overs 3 for 14. Rod Taylor got in on the action with 3 overs 2 for 16 and Alfred De Souza capped a successful day with 2 overs 2 for 4. There were excellent catches from Sandeep, Rod Taylor and Jon Houghton (2) as The Matt Hall Xl finished on a commendable 161 all out.

It was a far more competitive game than in previous years and much closer than the score line suggest. Lodsworth took the George CliffordTrophy with Best Batsman Award going to Alfred de Souza and Best Bowler to Jon Houghton

And so the curtain comes down on a successful season. Although five games were cancelled as a result of rain the team played 16, won 9, drew four and lost only 3. It was the best record in recent years so congratulations to skipper Matt Hall.

Three years ago I wrote of the changing nature of village cricket. Where once the team would be composed of the local vicar, publican and farmers we now rely heavily on ‘incomers’. We regularly field a team containing two South Africans and occasionally two or three Indians. Some regret this changing scene but it seems inevitable, indeed if a quota were to be set on the number of overseas players in the Lodsworth team it would probably collapse. And undoubtedly the overseas players raise the standard of our cricket. That said many of our talented young local players prefer to hone their skills at Midhurst or further afield at Arundel. It is an exodus we have to address and ways have to be found of attracting them to play regularly for the village.

Sunday 23rd September 2007

Bosham CC v Lodsworth CC at West Itchenor

Lodsworth CC 211 for 9 off 35 overs (Alfred de Souza 109 not out, Paul Phillips 16, Jon Houghton13: Sam Evans 6 overs 3 for 54, G Farrell 6 overs 2 for 20)

Plaistow CC 33 all out in 19 overs (M Farrell 11, Sandeep 4 overs 3 for 7)

Lodsworth won by 158 runs

Bosham CC’s temporary home is a delightful oval set in the grounds of a large country mansion at West Itchenor with an artificial turf wicket. After an hour of searching the narrow lanes and byways of the Selsay Peninsular the team finally located the pitch to find that the opposition were three men short and had forgotten to bring one set of stumps!

In village cricket this is a minor problem. It was agreed that Lodsworth would bat first, a spectator was dispatched to locate the missing stumps and the game commenced with three stumps and a traffic cone (The remaining stumps arrived in the sixth over). And so the game alternated between some very competitive cricket and comedy, ending in the total annihilation of the home team.

Alfred de Souza has been threatening a big score all season and inspired by India’s victory over Australia and anticipating another win over Pakistan, he finally came good with a chanceless 109 not out including 11 sixes and eight 4’s. Lodsworth concluded their innings on 209 for 9 with other contributions by Paul Phillips (16) and Jon Houghton (13).

Bosham began confidently enough but all the luck and much of the skill was with the visitors and the home team was scythed down in just 19 overs, Sandeep led the blitz with 4 overs 3 for 7 making this a true Indian summer. There were a number of decent catches from Jon Houghton, Alfred de Souza and Bob Powell (2).

And so the curtain comes down on a successful season. Although five games were cancelled as a result of heavy rain the team played 15, won 8, drew four and lost only 3. It is the best record in recent years and congratulations to skipper Matt Hall. To round off the year Matt Hall’s XI will play the village team led by the Vice-Captain Bob Powell on Sunday 30th September in a friendly post-season limited-overs game for the Joe Clifford trophy

Three years ago I wrote of the changing nature of village cricket. Where once the team would be composed of the local vicar, publican and farmers we now rely heavily on ‘incomers’. We regularly field a team containing two South Africans and occasionally two or three Indians. With the changes in the village demography it seems inevitable indeed if a quota were to be set on the number of overseas players in the Lodsworth team it would probably collapse. And undoubtedly the overseas players raise the standard of our cricket. That said many of our talented young local players prefer to hone their skills at Midhurst or further afield at Arundel. It is an exodus we have to address and ways have to be found of attracting them to play regularly for the village.

Sunday 16th September 2007

Plaistow CC v Lodsworth CC at Plaistow

35 overs game

Lodsworth CC 167 for 8 off 29.4 overs (Oliver King 59, Amol Somwanshi 57, Alfred de Souza 16 ; S Chapman 4 overs 2 for 39)

Plaistow CC 163 for 8 off 35 overs ( A Wheelson 42, K Walker 41, M Beach 15, P Hazelwood 14 not out : Amol Somwanshi 10 overs 4 for 39, Vikram 11 overs 2 for 43).

Lodsworth won by four runs

We are 15 minutes from Plaistow, with 30 minutes to go before the start of the game, and Andy calls on the mobile. “Bob, we have only got eight players – Paul’s gone grouse shooting, Rod’s flown to Paris to watch South Africa play England, Jon’s sunning himself on a beach in Cyprus, Martin’s in Manchester and Al’s defected to Tillington. What do you think?”

I put the situation to the guys in the car with me – Alfred de Souza, Vikram and Amol Somwanshi – and as one they respond, “We’re playing, there is no way we are calling the game off.” Andy confirms this is also the opinion of the skipper, Matt Hall.

You would think that arriving with just eight players would enough of a problem but village cricket was never so simple. On reaching the ground we find that another team, Wisborough Green CC, have also turned up to play Plaistow – they are a week early! There is some talk of making the game a three-way 20/20 but the Wisborough team decide to push off and play golf, leaving the field to us. Despite mumblings about a double hernia and a ‘dickey’ heart we press our scorer/umpire Hunter Graham into service as number 9 batsman.

The strategy is simple – Lodsworth’s opening pair Alfred de Souza and Vikram are instructed to play defensively and build a firm foundation for the depleted team. The strategy goes straight out of the window as Vikram is bowled in the second over and Alfred hits three 4’s before being caught behind in the fifth over. The comedy develops as the next batsman, skipper Matt Hall, promptly hits his wicket for the first time in his career.

Then surprise! surprise! Ollie King who has struggled to lay bat on ball all season recovers all his latent skills to knock 59, and with Amol Somwanshi (57) take the score to 133 for 4. With 10 from Andy Long and a few from the tail end (including a single from the septuagenarian scorer) Lodsworth eventually compile a very respectable 167 for 8 off 29.4 overs.

After tea taken in the local pub the game resumes. The result seemed inevitable as Plaistow creep towards 100 with the loss of just one wicket. Then in quick succession A Wheelson (42) is bowled by Vikram, K Walker (41) is bowled by Amol, Amol takes a stupendous ct-and-bwld to remove B Moser on 6, and a bullet-like return to the keeper from Alfred de Souza dismisses M Beach for 15. Schoolboy Ben Oakley is prominent as he dives to stop a number of certain fours. The skids are suddenly under Plaistow.

And so to the final over with Plaistow on 157, needing 11 for victory. Dot ball, dot ball, dot ball, dot ball and then a towering six over the bowlers head from P Hazelwood. Last ball … and a four will tie the game. But it is not to be as the batsman swings, misses and the ball goes through to the keeper as Lodsworth savour a famous victory. Village cricket at its best!