Match Reports
Lancing College v Lancing Rovers
The Peter Robinson Trophy
So back to 'HQ' we went on one of the hottest days of the year to try and win the Peter Robinson Trophy for the first time at the third time of asking.
The President had assembled the 'Lashings' of Rovers, with legends such as Robbo, Spinky, and Village who flew in from Sydney for the game, alongside the stars of the future, and a couple of journeymen! The College had been playing all week in extreme temperatures, and according to their coach Gouldy, were absolutely spent, so it's debatable whether a coin was actually tossed by Ganer, but the College were to bat first.
Short spells would be the order of the day, and with a legitimate twelve able men we could manage rolling subs to give everyone a breather, how one of the youngsters, Webby, managed to get the first break is beyond me mind.
Cal and Spinky opened up, but it wasn't until first change George H-H that the Rovers finally managed a breakthrough when Scadey took a catch to dismiss skipper Marly for 23, a disappointing end to a fine Lancing career, we'll be looking to blood him in Rovers Week though. 63-1 quickly became 69-2 as George took a second wicket, caught and bowled.
The College put on 50 for the third wicket and 89 for the fourth, all underpinned by Alex M who played some cracking shots all around the park, Scadey and Sheff taking the wickets. By this stage it was absolutely roasting and drinks every 14 overs probably wasn't enough but the Rovers battled away using eight bowlers. Finn and Ganer tried their luck but it wasn't until the fifth and sixth change Sheff and Webby came on did the tide turn.
Sheff took 2-36 off his five and Webby 2-10 including the prize wicket of Alex for a superb 104, finally holing out to Frankie T on the rope, and a flurry of wickets meant that the Rovers were only chasing 242 for victory when it looked more likely to be nearer 300 at one stage.
Robbo and Webby opened up, and along with Freany, managed to amass 17 runs between them, not the start we were looking for, or indeed needed. Village started slowly, but held the innings together with a fine 40, Ganer came and went, then came back again, Sheff 'retired hot' once he'd reached his half century, and a cracking 47 from Cal kept us in the hunt. Spinky's 27* rolled back the years but in the end we ended up on a Benaudtastic chew hundred and chwentychew for 8, losing by 19 runs.
As is often the case, the College's best bowler, having come on 7th change after his earlier ton was Alex, who took 4-7 in three overs! So a great day, and with Marly the only leaver, this College team can only go from strength to strength. Marly received the Peter Robinson Trophy from Peter's son Robbo, and Alex was awarded the Rovers Trophy, handed to him by last year's recipient Webby...well done all.
Old Hamptonians v Lancing Rovers
Cricketer Cup First Round
The Rovers had beaten the OHs twice before in the Cricketer Trophy so headed to West London with some confidence. That is of course until it clashed with the Sussex League's T20 competition which deprived us of half a dozen quality cricketers - we shall be speaking to the Cricketer Cup Committee to see if something can be done about this going forward.
Hector won the toss and decided to bat on what appeared to be a bit of a belter. At 3-2 we reassessed that opinion. OHs opening bowler Nicholls, a good friend of the President, cleaning up Webby and Notty with decent deliveries. So it was down to the skipper and Sheff to rebuild, and they made a decent fist of it putting on 67 for the third wicket when Hec smacked a loose delivery straight to cover for 31.
Sheff continued on in another decent partnership of 45 with Barney before the former was caught for a solid 48. Barney made 38 before Nicholls came back for a second spell and cleaned him up, Freany came and went for 3, Jeff made 15, Lewis 14, Scadey a single which left John M not out on 3 with our eleventh man missing in action! So we posted a competitive if 'under par' total of 197-9, Nicholls finishing with 5-48 off 9.3 overs.
Lewis opened up with a rank long-hop which their skipper smacked straight down Jeff's throat on the square leg boundary, unfortunately it went down, he was later caught by Scadey off Hec's bowling for 66 in an opening stand of 167!
Game over, they took the piss a bit and tried to smack the winning runs as quickly as possible which allowed Webby to take his first CC wicket, and Hec to take another, well taken by Barney behind the stumps. Srivastan, the other opener finished on an excellent 90 not out as the OHs reached their target with 22 overs to spare.
A good effort by all involved, but we need the support of the whole club if we're going to get through a few rounds in future, a home tie for a change might help too.
Lancing College v Lancing Rovers
The Rovers headed down to 'HQ' to face, what we soon found out, was a very keen and encouragingly good 1st XI in a T20 match on the newly founded OL Sports Day.
With other sports also being played against the College to determine an overall winner, we lost two of our debutantes to hockey after just 25 minutes, and with another Rover scouring the South Coast for a pair of whites and some spikes we fielded the rest of their innings with ten men, four of which weren't exactly greyhounds!
Cal Nichols on debut took the new ball, bowled three very tidy overs before heading off, along with fellow debutante Fin Sutcliffe, which triggered a reluctant President to take to the field. Lewis F bowled alongside Cal and was equally tidy, and the College were being kept relatively quiet. Six bowlers were used in total, George H-H, Alex Barritt another first-timer, Ethan F and skipper Ballas and all bowled pretty well, but a couple of the 1st XI started ticking along nicely and the score started to mount. Marly R looks a quality batsman and he was unlucky to run out of balls finishing on 48*, in a total of 144-4. Alex B the pick of the bowlers taking 2-34.
To say the Rovers started badly would be a gross understatement, with both Notty and Alex back in the hutch without troubling the scorers before the end of the first over, and when Isaac A departed in the second over the score was 5-3! So it was down to Disco and Sheff to try and dig us out of the rather large hole we found ourselves in, but the quality of bowling was such that we could only tick over at three or four an over, nowhere near enough. It didn't help that Sheff only had one leg so quick singles were a complete no-no as well.
Disco fell for a workmanlike 25, but the required run rate was now in double figures as the skipper strode to the crease. Fortunately for the Rovers, the College had fired all their bullets, and the bowling got a touch easier. The top three bowlers only went at 4.3 runs per over, the final eight overs went for 95 as Sheff and Ballas found the boundary with ease. The skipper edged one to gully in the final over for a rapid, but jug avoiding 48, with four still required off the last four balls.
So, having won his hockey match, Cal was back, and strode to the crease, dot then a single got Sheff on strike. He then skied the penultimate delivery, but it went so high he managed to get back for two when it was shelled, it was by no means a sitter, scores level.
Sheff managed to guide the last ball to the boundary and we recorded our first win against the 1st XI in the last three attempts, it was a good game, and helped the 'OLs' to overall victory on the day.
We go again on June 25th for the Peter Robinson Trophy.
