Nomads Put Up a Good Fight

Looking forward to our 2nd April fixture against old rivals Hilton, both sides had struggled in obtaining a full complement of players, Nomads having a couple of late replacements just about got a side out with Dave Pickering bringing forward his Sunday lunch to turn up only 30 minutes late.
Nomads took to the field with Ian Hughes as stand-in captain in the absence of John Loxley. Thinking outside the box Hughes opened with himself and John Hoddy and the plan seemed to be working well with Hilton struggling at 71-6 after 15 overs. However, as expected, Hilton had kept batsmen in reserve and Barber and Berry steadied the ship. Barber ,in particular, rode his luck to reach 50 and then retire. The run rate slowed but Berry then started to push on and was unlucky to be out on 49. After a couple more wickets, Barber came back and helped push the scor on to 224.
After tea Nomads opened with Gardner and Rolfe who got the Nomads off to a decent start. Gardner was out caught behind trying to push things along bringing in Bastable fresh from the prvious week’s maiden century. After a shaky start he started pushing the sciore along and a victory did not seem out of the question but Rolfe was bowled after seeing off the openers. The next 3 wickets went cheaply but Parsonage and then Gibson, with Bastable retiring on 50, pushed things along again but the target was receding and even though Bastable came back in, it was just to big a task for Nomads.
An enjoyable, friendly match. Nomads did not have their strongest possible team out, particulary regretting the late withdrawal of Aneek Mahmood but their were positives with the ongoing form of Bastable and 4 wickets for Hughes. Cogzell also bowled well with little reward.


[Disclaimer: Any offence caused by this article is unintentional, any praise is well deserved]

Date: 20 April 2025
Start time: 13:00
Venue: Hilton C.C.
Competition: 40 overs friendly
Scores: Hilton 224 for 9 v Lichfield Nomads 176 for 9
Result: Hilton beat Lichfield Nomads by 48 runs
Toss: Nomads won the toss and elected to bowl.
Scorer: Opposition
Umpires: Various
Report: J. Hoddy
Weather: Sunny

25 April 2025