Match Report vs Tour
2 Lydney 10th September 2023 @ Lydney (Skipper Pat,
report Alex (Sunday Chip spoof loser))
The second and final game of the 2023 tour took the now rather
worse for wear Casuals to Lydney. The sun and heat off the
previous day had relented with heavy showers punctuating the
drive from Cheltenham to Lydney. The pitch, thankfully covered,
looked in good condition however with a sodden outfield and
a few drops of rain still lingering, the start was delayed
half an hour. After the delay, captain for the day Pat won
the toss electing to bat first.
Fresh off a pulled hamstring Luvvers hobbled out to bat targeting
38 runs to overtake Will as the leading run score for the
Casuals. He was joined out in the middle by Jack, dressed
in his rather flattering 'tour virgin' pink blouse. Two spritely
teenage bowlers opened up for Lydney, bowling a tight line
with decent pace. With a wet outfield and Luvvers stricken
hamstring, runs were hard to come by at the start of the innings,
with the pressure building until Jack picked out the point
fielder, who took a good catch, departing for 1 leaving the
Casuals 7-1 after 2.3 overs.
Cheese, looking to restore a bit of stability to the Casuals
innings after a slow start, was next into bat joining Luvvers
in the middle. Cheese and Luvvers knuckled down picking off
singles until Luvvers struck the first boundary of the day
in the 6th over. This was shortly followed by a torrential
downpour, with the injured Luvvers and Dan hobbling off as
fast as they could. The covers were brought on and a short
delay followed as the Casuals decamped back to the changing
room.
After the delay Luvvers and Cheese picked up the run rate,
Luvvers hitting a couple of short balls to the boundary and
Cheese playing several lovely shots back over the bowlers
head. The first change bowlers coming on for Lydney unfortunately
coincided with a trademark Casuals collapse. On came the experienced
J Blake, with Cheese his first victim, departing LBW for 14
looking to work an away swinging ball into the leg side. Alex
was next out to bat, who after a pinching two quick singles
to thankfully avoid the dreaded duck chip, was the second
wicket to fall in quick succession missing a ball that must
have swung at least a 2 foot (according to Alex) with ball
hitting his off stump.
Captain for the day Pat, having promoted himself up the innings
a few places, was next out to bat for the Casuals. Unfortunately
Pat fell the same as Cheese and Alex previous, with J Blake
picking up his 3rd wicket off the afternoon, trapping Pat
plumb in front LBW. Perhaps wanting to avoid a shortened game
this proved to be J Blake's last over finishing with excellent
figures of 3-4. With departing this left the Casuals struggling
at 55-4.
Luvvers, witnessing the flurry of wickets at the other end,
had hobbled his way up to 30 by the fall of the 4th Casuals
wicket, was getting tantalisingly close to Will's season run
total. He was joined out in the middle by Rob. With a couple
of boundaries as he started to hit is stride Luvvers brought
up his required 38 runs to eclipse Will and secure the record
for the season. He fell shortly after for 43, caught looking
to press on.
This brought about the highlight of the Casuals innings with
Jim next in to bat. With the duck chip on the line, Jim started
cautiously with a few plays and misses as he battled to get
off the mark. With the opposition feeling perhaps a bit sympathetic
towards the Casuals measly looking total, a small child was
put onto bowl! This led to about 15 minutes of pure entertainment
with Jim still stuck on 0 struggling to deal with the tidy
bowling. A dramatic moment soon followed with huge appeals
from both the fielding team along with the Casuals observing
from the balcony as Jim was struck on the pad. Luckily for
Jim the umpire kept his finger down to the disappointment
of the Casuals watching on.
Rob continued to potter along at the other end as Jim eventually,
after what seemed like 30 odd balls, got his first run of
the innings. Rob innings didn't last long however departing
caught for 6, with Liam next to stride to the middle with
the Casual's in a spot of bother. Liam and Jim then, with
some unconventional shots, started to rebuild the Casuals
stalling innings. Jim, over his jittery start, picked up the
pace with several 4s taking him into double figures. Liam,
not holding anything back, also regularly reached the boundary
including a couple of nice shots back over the bowler's head.
Having moved the Casuals' total up to 135, Jim was next to
fall for 19, caught off the bowling of the oppositions opener
in the first over of his new spell. Goffy was next to the
crease joining Liam, with the duck chip very much back in
play. Goffy, having managed to get off the mark, was subsequently
stumped (some would say intentionally so) to bring Dan to
the crease and prevent another DNB being added to Dan's increasing
tally. With the end of the Casuals innings approach Liam was
bowled for 32 as he looked to press bringing DT out into the
middle to join Dan. Both DT and Dan, much to the disbelieve
of the Luvver's still holding the duck chip from the previous
day, managed to get off the mark both finishing 2 not out
as the Casuals saw out the end of their 40 overs finishing
148-9.
G Loveridge 43
J Beaumont 1
E Stewart 14
A Heath 2
P Dean 1
R Owens 6
J Hodkinson 19
L Warren 32
G Day 2
D Lewis 2 Not Out
D Thomas 2 Not Out
-------------------------------------------------------------
Having retired to the dressing room for tea, Pat broke the
news to Jim that once again he would be in the field rather
than behind the stumps, much to the amusement of the other
Casuals. Jack took the gloves as the Casuals headed out to
attempt to defend the mediocre total. Yet again the 'misfield'
chip, catch chip and 'stumps' chip were in play in the field.
Dan opened the bowling for the Casuals, who after a couple
of looseners from which the batsmen got off the mark finished
a tidy over conceding just the 3 runs. Goffy opened from the
other end, challenging the batter and keeping his two slips
in the game as a few edges dropped just short. The tight opening
spell continued with Dan picking up a maiden in his second
over, before Dan picked up the first innings for the Casuals
in the 5th over, with Jack taking a good catch as the batter
looked to play an attacking shot.
More pressure followed as the batsman struggled to get Dan
and Goffy away and the Casuals total started to appear marginally
more competitive. Dan claimed his second wicket of the afternoon
in the 7th over, bowling the other opener to leave Lydney
11-2. Goffy continued to be very tidy at the other end, unlucky
not to pick up a wicket on several occasions. Finishing their
spells after 5 overs each Lydney were 17-2 off 10 overs, a
good start for the Casuals!
Off his good performance with the bat, Liam came on to bowl
replacing Dan. Liam continued the Casuals good start bowling
a maiden in his first over. Alex was the other first change
bowler, who proceeded to bowl and interesting over. A couple
of decent balls were followed by a beamer that whistled past
the batsman's head. Having apologised to the batter, the next
ball brought a wicket, with a full deliver bowling the batsman
who was probably expecting more dross!
Liam and Alex continued their spells, with Alex picking up
a madden in his second over as the Casuals kept the pressure
on the batsman. Alex departed having bowled 3 overs replaced
by DT who started tidily with his first two overs just going
for a run apiece. Liam was also going well having conceded
just the 11 runs from his first 4 overs, started what would
be an eventful 5th and final over. The second ball off the
over was worked to square leg with Alex running round from
fine leg to field. A bit of laziness in the field with Alex
being too slow in making his way back to fine leg would however
work out for the Casuals the next ball, with the batsman picking
out Alex on the square leg boundary in front of the pavilion,
with a good catch taken leaving Lydney 37-4.
Unfortunately for the Casuals, this proved to be the turning
point in the innings, with the wicket bringing one of Lydney's
better batters to the crease. Cheese replaced Liam and started
his spell with 7 runs coming from his first over. Dave continued
to bowl well however a wicket proved illusive before the batsman
accelerated picking up 4 boundaries off Dave's final over
as he hit his stride.
Dave and Cheese were replaced by Rob and Foxy, subbed on
for what was allegedly his "last game". Little respect
was paid the Foxy's bowling with his first two overs hit for
25 as Lydney started to race towards the Casuals total. Rob,
having been hit for a couple of boundaries in his first over,
recovered well to just concede the 13 runs from his 3 over
spell, before being replaced by the Casuals secrete weapon.
For the second day in a row, Jim came onto bowl, with his
unconventional style yet again proving successful as he claimed
the wicket of the form batsman, bowling him for 67 to the
batsman bemusement. This wicket however proved little to late
for the Casuals with Foxy returning to replace Rob as the
hosts picked off the remaining runs, completing their chase
with 3.5 overs remaining finishing 150-5.
A defeat for the Casuals but a good day had by all and conclusion
to another successful tour!
D Lewis 6-2-10
G Day 5-0-12
L Warren 5-1-16
A Heath 3-1-8
D Thomas 6-0-27
E Stewart 3-0-19
R Owens 3-0-13
J Prior 3.1-0-37
J Hodkinson 2-1-7
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