I love the sound of breaking glass.

Lichfield Nomads lost the toss and were put into bat by Betley’s Sunday Development side of mainly young players supported by some senior players. The Nomads openers struggled initially against accurate bowling on an unpredictable pitch, so much so that no runs were scored off the first 5 overs. Gardner was finding the bowling of Cheatham difficult to get away and was caught behind in the 7th over without troubling the scorers. This bought Mahmood to the crease and he and Gibson started to up the scoring rate.

Mahmood started confidently with attacking shots finding the middle of the bat. He lofted one six into the pavilion seating area, dramatically smashing a glass table into smithereens - ( happily the table was the only casualty ). A second six was eased over the pavilion roof into the car park. Gibson was going well at the other end finding the boundary regularly with good shot selection. They put on 96 runs in 14 overs before Gibson was out to Root for 40 and Mahmood retired on 50.

The middle order made reasonable starts but didn’t press on. At 145 for 5 Betley had hopes of running through the tail. But Parsonage (with 6 fours) and Fearon took the score to over 200 with a valuable partnership of 60. Parsonage and Hughes put on another 20 to take the total to 226, a score which seemed unlikely after such a slow start.

Betley started briskly, with opener Hoskins advancing down the wicket to make shots. They made 28 off the first 4 overs before Simcox was bowled by Ian Hughes. Richards came in and kept the momentum going by hitting two sixes to long off. He and opener Hoskins started to accumulate runs taking the score to 86 until Hoskin’s drive was well caught by the outstretched hand of Ian Hughes at mid off.

Fearon and O’Brien showed the value of pace off on a pitch with uneven bounce. Parsonage was keeping the pressure on the batsmen with some athletic stops behind the stumps ( he conceded only 3 byes in the innings). Grimes started well but was bowled by Gibson’s first ball. Gibson then took a wicket in each of his next four overs and his 5 wicket haul proved to be decisive. Rylea Hughes finished his tight spell of bowling by taking the wicket of Root. Briars and Mahmood bowled economically to restrict Betley to a total of 132. Richards carried his bat for a well made 51 not out.

In the spirit of a Development XI Betley gave the younger players a chance to perform and they acquitted themselves well in a competitive match. And Betley, as usual, proved to be generous hosts providing tea and a post match, end of season barbecue.


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

Date: 20 Sept 2026
Start time: 12:30pm
Venue: Betley C.C.
Competition: 40 overs friendly
Scores: Lichfield Nomads 226 for 9 v Betley 147.
Result: Lichfield Nomads beat Betley by 79 runs.
Toss: won the toss and elected to bat.
Scorer: Fearon, Gibson, Opposition.
Umpires: Stanley, Hughes, Forster, Mountford, Opposition.
Report: P. Gardner.
Weather: Warm, Sunny intervals

23 Sept 2026