Results

Hugo grafted and then belted 96 classy runs against a well organised Ibstone attack (Ibstone, a touring side from buckinghamshire, bowled and fielded like a league side, which was not a surprise given that half of them play league cricket together). Farrelly was grace personified as he stroked 53 beautiful runs which, aesthetically, were worth at least double that.

In the field, LDCC had probably it's quickest attack in the past 15 years with trousers (8-1- 25- 1) back from his charity work (don't ask him, he won't talk about it) and Alex Budge (5-3-12- 0), playing for the first time in a few years, who has added height and pace and hair since we last saw him. However it was Hugo again who did the damage, bowling his best spell of the season for LDCC ending with the lovely figures 7-2-13-4. Chaz was on the spot in another lengthy spell (10-0-13-0). And Nick Jennings (6- 1-35-1) and Alastair Macrae (4-0-21-3) finished Ibstone off as they tried to make 10 an over in the last 10 overs.

Definitely one of the better friendly performances this season.

WEEK 15

LDCC V DIRECT WINES

Match cancelled as LDCC could not get a side out.

WEEK 14

LDCC V SOUWESTERS

LDCC 50- 1 (35 overs)
SOUWESTERS dnb

Match abandoned in biblical rain.

WEEK 13

CHILMARK V LDCC

LDCC 223-5 (35 overs)
CHILMARK 184 All Out (34.5 overs)

Feather Flies

There was a time, around about the World Cup on home territory in 1999, when the England selectors attempted, without notable success, to pack the one day side with all rounders: Hollioake A., Hollioake B., Ealham, Fleming, White, Irani etc etc. On Sunday, LDCC showed them how to succeed with this policy.

But more of this new policy anon, for pride of place this week must go to LDCC's overseas amateur, Mark 'Butch' Feather.

On a largely warm day, and on a pitch which LDCC had never played on before, but which showed all the signs of keeping a little low, our hosts won the toss, specified a 35 over game, and inserted us.

In a maverick move, Keith decided to nominate Chaz/Baz as Rolli's opening partner, and Chaz seized his chance with both hands. Having seen Rolli caught early doors off a full toss (probably the most productive type of delivery of the day) for a quickfire 25, he anchored the innings, consistently scoring at nearly a run an over for the first 19 overs, before accelerating to a hard- earned 37. Meanwhile, at the other end, the White Feather had started stickily. Not finding the bounce and pace in the wicket of his native New Zealand, and perhaps suffering from the after effects of the Amesbury kebab on which he had lunched, it took him 13 balls to get off the mark, but once he had done so, it seemed that he only scored in boundaries. Despite manifest distractions (the short boundaries meant that every word spoken in the crowd could be heard in the middle; and, of particular concern to Mark with his Adelaide roots, there were a large number of children present at the ground, cavorting around), Feather both maintained intense concentration and showed extraordinary levels of physical strength for such a thin man to bat for 30 overs and amass a career best 90* with 14 fours and 3 huge sixes: he was only prevented from reaching a ton by his selflessness towards the end of the innings when he left the strike to others.

Although A Macrae, S. Whaley and G. Fletcher perished in the pursuit of quick runs, Jon Sealy, back from yet another holiday, enjoyed a fruitful sojourn at the wicket in typically bullying mood to also finish wisth an asterisk and take the side's total to 223-5.

After a delightful tea (the monogrammed tea-ladies' aprons are surely something to be looked at by LDCC's Committee during the close- season as an exemplar of best practice), Chilmark's pursuit of 224 to win began against an opening pair of Nick 'Golden-Arm' Jennings (one of only 2 specialist bowlers in the side) and Jon Sealy, who can hardly have had time to get his batting pads off before having the new ball thrust into his hands. Chilmark's centurion from last year, C. Shephard, again struck the ball cleanly, but disaster struck when he plopped a full toss from Jennings straight down Rolli's throat at deep square. With Nick realising that this was a productive delivery, he produced 2 more in short order, each of which produced a wicket, to finish with 3-35 in his 7 overs, and the game was effectively over.

Of the remaining bowlers, Jon's 7 overs resulted in 1- 17, Chas followed his innings with 3- 14, Alistair Macrae trapped a bemused batsman bang in front, Simon Whaley was unfortunate to find a short leg side boundary and a batsman able to play full tosses, and Kevin bowled poorly but took 1-27. Of the Chilmark batsmen, their opener-skipper made 72 in 34.1 overs, but they were never really up with the pace as LDCC ran out comfortable winners.

So, 3 successive friendly victories for LDCC, and it is onwards and upwards to the much sterner test of the Sou'Westers in an all day game at Fonthill next Saturday. Will Chaz keep his opening berth? Will Jon be on holiday? Will Ali S-G bat? Only time will tell.

WEEK 12

LDCC V KUMQUATS

LDCC 218-8 in 38 overs
Kumquats 135 all out in 34 overs

Roasting hot day. Good toss to win. LDCC made 218 comfortably against some wayward but enthusiastic bowling, with runs spread about between ali 46, elton 43, hugo 42 and kevin 39.

Kumquats were shackled from the outset by good opening spells from trousers (7- 1-21- 1) and especially parny who went for 1 an over (6-1-6-0). They lost wickets steadily with hugo, kevin and henry all taking 2 wickets. In the end it was a comfy win. But needed given our horror run of losses.

LDCC V WILTSHIRE QUERIES

LDCC 210-5 in 40 overs
Wiltshire Queries 97 all out in 38 overs

Another scorcher. LDCC recovered magnificently from the lows of 42-4 with hugo 92 and trousers 71* putting on 168 for the 5th wicket. Trousers heads off for 2 weeks on top of both batting and bowling averages - he's doing charity work, but doesn't want to talk about it.

The Queries put on 70 for the first wicket before hugo struck. From there it was all about nick jennings marathon spell (10-3-15- 4) including 4 in 5 balls, which demonstrated the virtues of bowling consistently straight. The other feature of note was Chaz's renaissance - figures of 2-20 in 10 and the beginnings of a moustache show that Chaz has seen off his nemesis Sebastian.

WEEK 11

LDCC V ARMADILLOS

Armdaillos 196-5 in 40 overs
LDCC 165 all out in 35 overs

The Silence of the Lambs

Armadillos won for the second year in a row, despite being underdogs going in. LDCC has only won one friendly since the first weekend of the season.

Skippered by Hugo, Armadillos negotiated the toss, and batted first. Roared on by the partisan crowd of locals (sheep), LDCC made an aggressive start lead by a pumped up Pete Slade who (11-2-45-2) was moving it around knowingly. Gradually, however, the Armadillos drew the sting of the fiery veteran and the other bowlers and eventually put on 100 for the first wicket before Simon Whaley (3- 0-16-1) struck to break the stand and Ali was run out by Elton for 63. By now the sheep were subdued. The Armadillos innings ended with a bang with Hugo (30*) taking 20 off Pete Slade's last over including two substantial sixes out of the ground. On a positive note it was good to see trousers back after injury, with a tidy performance (8-1-30- 0) bowling with control and a little within himself.

LDCC struggled at first, but then a very good partnership between the Slade (31) and Elton (53) put LDCC in pole position. Slade's two violent sixes off Kevin was a brutal violation of their relationship. Farrelly was hit out of the attack, a broken man (4-0-31-0). But then Hugo (7- 3-13-3) and Henry Freeman (10-1-31-3) broke the middle order, and Elton ran out of strike and partners before he was finally run out.

So for LDCC the lambs still scream, until next year.

WEEK 10
SHREWTON V LDCC

NATIONAL VILLAGE KNOCKOUT DORSET/WILTSHIRE FINAL
SHREWTON 245-5 40 OVERS
LDCC 195-8 40 OVERS

Sadly, we lost the cup final at Shrewton on Sunday. However there was nothing to be ashamed of in our performance on the day and across the two days of cricket played. Shrewton, a young side, outbatted outbowled and outfielded us on Sunday (by clear but not great margin) - although we will never know what might have happened in very different conditions the previous week at Fonthill when the game was on a knife-edge.

Having won the toss on a hot and sunny afternoon, Shrewton showed the value of wickets in hand as they accelerated from 77-1 off 20 overs to 245-4 off the 40 overs, as everyone that bowled in the second half took heavy punishment defending short boundaries against powerful hitters. This was probably 30- 40 over par, but gettable. We were doing ok until ali was out for 31, quickly followed by hugo for 6 who was unlucky to get the first ball of the match that had misbehaved on an otherwise excellent wicket. From here, against obviously ultra defensive fields and an escalating run-rate, we were always going to struggle - especially after we had lost our bigger hitters already. However we made it up to 195-8, petering out a little towards the end, with Tim making 52, Jon 43*, and Rolli 28.

Thanks again to all that helped with the cup this year: Sally Martin, Simon Whaley, and Dick Penson.

A disappointing end to a good cup run - we now have the rest of the season to look forward to, knowing that the cup run was a relatively successful team effort. We have several excellent friendlies coming up, which should answer a number of burning questions: has kevin become LDCC's 5th choice spinner? how many times will chaz bowl round the wicket and how much worse will the statistics for this be than when he bowls over the wicket? dd tim and jon eat all the pies and did they buy them from somerfield? when will keith go brown this season? who stole jon's milkcow?

LDCC players were:

Keith Steer (c),
Ali Scott- Gall,
Tim Horn,
Hugo Scott- Gall,
Simon Roundell,
Jon Sealy,
Peter Slade,
Elton Pool,
Tom Parnell,
Kevin Farrelly,
Rolli Rigiani
WEEK 9
LDCC V SHREWTON
NATIONAL VILLAGE KNOCKOUT DORSET/WILTSHIRE FINAL
LDCC 153-9 40 OVERS
SHREWTON 9-1 5 OVERS
Rain interrupted with the game on a knife edge. LDCC recovered from the depths of 10-3 and 30-4 to a decent score in muggy, overcast conditions built around Ali's 71.
We had just begun to bowl well when the rain came down for the second time in the game (having reduced Shrewton's target to 131 in 34 overs).
We replay away on Sunday againt an impressive Shrewton side.
WEEK 8
LDCC V FLASHING BLADES
LDCC 166-6 all out 35 OVERS
BLADES 167- 4 all out 34 OVERS
Why do we keep losing friendlies? And does it matter?
We lost to the Blades because the Blades are a good side and because the talented Mr Farrelly, bowling to intelligent fields with a very old and soft ball, took 4- 29 off 10 overs for the Blades as LDCC once again subsidised the opposition. For LDCC Rolli made a classy 47, continuing good form this year; Hugo, who always enjoys a semi-colon, made 31. And Tom Eshelby, last seen for LDCC in 2001 made a rugged 34. It felt a defendable score.
The Blades, with an aggressive and talented opener, enjoyed the harder ball and slightly quicker bowling of parny (6-0-30-0), although Chaz did well to bowl a spell of 8-1-21- 0. Hugo was unlucky, Henry Freeman grew into his spell and generally impressed on debut with athletic fielding, accurate bowling and a positive attitude. However only Jon will be really pleased with his work (11-2-46- 3) as the Blades always felt a little ahead.
Nevertheless, despite losing it was excellent to have Richard Stearn and his men back after rain cancelled previous years.
Does it matter if we lose friendlies? To some extent. Maybe eyes were on the National Village Wiltshire/Dorset final against Shrewton this Sunday 22nd at Fonthill.
WEEK 7
LDCC V WINSLEY
NATIONAL VILLAGE KNOCKOUT DORSET/WILTSHIRE QUARTER FINAL
WINSLEY 95 all out 37.3 OVERS
LDCC 96-8 38.3 OVERS
A remarkable game. A damp wicket befuddled both sides, making the wicket a seam bowlers paradise.
LDCC won the toss and inserted. All of the bowlers bowled well, in the absence of the Truemanator's pace, but the two best performances of disciplined accuracy came from the seamstress Peter Slade (7.3-4-9-3) and Sausage (9-2-20- 3), with Slade in particular bowling a typically miserly and nagging line and length. Chaz wrapped up the tail (3-0- 10-2), Parny and Sealydog were probably unlucky not to take more wickets (9-2- 25-1 and 9-0-25-1 respectively).
It never felt like it was going to be easy, and LDCC slipped to 25-4 with everyone struggling to adjust to the two-paced track. It took Jon Sealy, after a sleepless night on saturday, to turn it round making 24 pugnacious and shrewd runs (the highest score in a match where excluding extras, the score was 140-18).
But after Sealy was out LDCC slipped to 73-8, before Parny and Kevlet steadied the ship and then set sail for victory in an extremely edgy finish. Parny's 15* won him the PereiGroup man of the match, and will be the proud recipient of a high performance brake light before the Wiltshire and Dorset final on Sunday June 22nd at home.
It was an extremely satisfying team win, with the middle and lower order delivering under pressure.
LDCC will play either Shrewton or Beanacre in the final, our first since our victorious year in 1998.
Thanks once again to Sally Martin for doing a great job under some pressure to be accurate and to Simon for applying the laws of cricket with sublime elegance
LDCC players were:
- Keith Steer (c),
- Ali Scott- Gall,
- Tim Horn,
- Hugo Scott- Gall,
- Simon Roundell,
- Jon Sealy,
- Peter Slade,
- Elton Pool,
- Tom Parnell,
- Kevin Farrelly,
- Chaz Potts
  LDCC V PORTSMOUTH NALGO
  LDCC 233-7 in 40 overs
  
  PORTSMOUTH 61 all out in 28
  A little bit disappointingly one-sided, but practice before the cup semi the following day.
  LDCC's innings was built round tim horn's bullying 98 and Elton's surprisingly subtle 30. Tim is still looking for his first LDCC 100. Our sponsors, the Perei Group, are offering 9 tickets to the National Village KO final for respondents correctly guessing the number of current players who have scored centuries for LDCC.
  In the field, apart from a brutal assualt on the Chairman's slow medium, which conceded boundaries nearly ever over (8- 0-25-1), the rest of the bowling and fielding was solid. The renaissance of Potts was notable. Following strong suspicions within the club that Chaz has been kidnapped along with his moustache by evil twin Sebastian (Baz) Potts, yesterday a man was arrested by by Belgian police just outside Bruges at a Freddie Mercury lookalike contest.
  Hugo took 5-10 with his off-spin, knocking over the long NALGO tail.
  
  WEEK 6
  LDCC v ALCHEMISTS
  LDCC 167-7 in 40 overs
  ALCHEMISTS 168-5 in 35.3 overs
  A disappointing display by LDCC. Hounded by committed fielding and some steady bowling LDCC were crippled by a very poor start, leaving us 14-3 after the first 10 overs. Rolli (29) and Elton (21) began a fightback which took us eventually to respectability, with Ali making 52, aided by Dan Brickell on debut (18) and Nick Trueman (16*).
  167 was always going to be struggle as we were at least 1 front line bowler short, against an aggressive batting line-up on a sunny day. Trousers got better through his spell (12-1-36-1), Tom was ok not quite at his best (8-2- 34-0). At least Kevin and Hugo got some bowling practice. The Alchemists were always ahead of the game and won quite easily by 5 wickets with 27 balls to spare.
  LDCC has some competitive friendlies ahead and we will be looking to improve nearly every aspect of our game. This was not a game we should have lost. Consequently, Keith has cancelled the team bonding weekend in La Manga, replacing this with a week living rough on salisbury plain under the experienced military supervision of Chaz.
  WEEK 5
  NATIONAL VILLAGE KNOCKOUT DORSET/WILTSHIRE QUARTER FINAL
  LDCC 215- 4 40 OVERS
  POTTERNE 139 ALL OUT 39.2 OVERS
  A very satisfying win and team performance against a Potterne side playing Wiltshire division 1 cricket and taking this competition seriously.
  Keith lost an important toss, and LDCC were inevitably inserted on a damp wicket (thanks Keith for working so hard during a tough week). LDCC got off to a great start, with Ali (75 off 85 balls) and Tim (44 off 83) putting on 127 for the first wicket. Tim's running between the wickets was a feature of the innings, and is a very obvious lesson to others in an area where LDCC has been poor in the past.
  LDCC's innings was excellently paced, showing the benefit of wickets in hand and a deeper batting order that has come together over the previous few seasons - LDCC scored 38/0 off the first 10 overs, 46/0 off the second 10, 62/1 off the third, and 72-3 off the last 10 when Hugo (27 off 28) and Sausage (30 off 30) ran amok. Les was 7* off 10, ably giving Sausage the strike.
  Potterne's reply was crippled by early wickets, with Parny taking a couple of crucial wickets (7-0-23-2). Slade bowled an excellent opening spell, was rewarded for his length, which close friend Kevin has always admired so much, finishing with crafty figures of 9-2-14-1.
  So Potterne were never really in it, and only got to 139 from 86-9, when we took our foot off the gas (and they enjoyed remarkable luck to get that far). The Truemanator got better through his spell (9-1-37-3), bowling three of them in one ferocious over and extracting life from the dead surface. Chaz got some valuable practice (5.2-1- 27-1) and bowled steadily. Les Sealy (executive Chairman) justified his remuneration package with a discliplined spell of 4- 1-12-2 in the middle of Potterne's innings. Sausage, so nearly mentally broken when batting by the vicious sledging of Potterne's hostile 3rd change seamer, bowled a tight spell (5- 0-18-0) which featured the bizarre run out of his first innings tormenter who exited gracelessly.
  The fielding was better than against Redlynch & Hale, with Hugo at one point diving (top bombing) - although we still put down 3 catches. Trousers took a spectacular catch over his head, Hugo a one-handed nonchalent catch to finish the match - but Tom Parny's skier over his shoulder running up the hill will take some beating.
  So a good effort generally in the field, marred by 20 wides which is going to cost us dear in a tight game unless we improve.
  Next up is the winner of Spye Park and Winsley (ghosts of '93) at home in the semi- final.
  Thanks once again to Sally for scoring immaculately and to Simon Whaley for officiating with solemn dignity.
  LDCC players were:
  - Keith Steer (c),
  - Ali Scott- Gall,
  - Tim Horn,
  - Hugo Scott- Gall,
  - Simon Roundell,
  - Jon Sealy,
  - Peter Slade,
  - Nick Trueman,
  - Tom Parnell,
  - Kevin Farrelly,
  - Chaz Potts
    WEEK 4
    LDCC V ARCHERY TAVERNERS
    Rained off
    Very unfortunate, we look forward to playing the Archery Taverners next summer.
    WEEK 3 NATIONAL VILLAGE KNOCKOUT ROUND 2 LDCC V REDLYNCH & HALE REDLYNCH
    130 ALL OUT 38.5 0VERS LDCC 131-1 24 OVERS
    "THE TRUEMAN SHOW"
    LDCC roared into the third round of the national cup competition with a comfortable win over a surprisingly weak Redlynch. Keith won the toss and inserted Redlynch. 130 all out, did LDCC bowl well?
    It was a strange performance. 41 extras, 31 from wides and no balls was very unusual, as our seam attack was befuddled by Redlynch's lefthanders, early season rustiness and the wind. However it is difficult to criticise the figures of openers Tomsk Parnell (9- 1-25-0) and peter slade (7- 1-17-3), who continued his hoodoo over Redlynch after his man of the match performance in the 1998 regional final. Jon Sealy put the brakes on in a masterclass of length (9- 1-24-1), slaying his knockout/goatacre demons in the process. Sausage, for once, was more chipolata than cumberland (7-1-38- 1) - and will be keen to impress next time. But the star of the show was Nick Trueman. Bowling with real pace, aggresion and accuracy, Nick reduced Redlynch from 120-3 and looking at 180, to 130 all out. Finishing with 5-16 in 6.5 overs, Nick took a hatrick and four in five balls, all bowled, in one maiden over. Nick won the Perei Group man-of- the-match award, and a years subscription to brakelight monthly for his efforts.
    Tim kept well in the face of LDCC's wayward attack. Chasing 130, after 4-5 overs of fairly loose bowling and a good track (congratulations keith) LDCC were in pole. However, rain loomed and Ali and Tim had to ensure we were above Redlynch's runrate (bizarre rules in this competition, Jack Duckworth and Lennox Lewis need to have a word, although if we bat second every time the status quo should be preserved). Tim (23 in 65 balls) was out towards the end but had played an intelligent knock full of purpose, especially in running between the wickets. Ali finished 56* (66 balls) and Hugo made 15* (17 balls). Redlynch managed 38 extras in 24 overs in a determined bid to spray it around more than our bowlers.
    So, LDCC's campaign is underway with a good win. Next is Potterne or Biddestone, at home again. Obviously we are taking each game as it comes, and there really is no such thing as an easy game at this level.
    Finally, a big thankyou to a number of people: to Sally Martin for scoring again, her work is very much appreciated and she is part of the team after many years with us now; to Simon Whaley for umpiring with his customary authority and fairness, and to Dick for working the bar and providing moral support.
    LDCC players were:
    - Keith Steer (c),
    - Ali Scott- Gall,
    - Tim Horn,
    - Hugo Scott- Gall,
    - Simon Roundell,
    - Jon Sealy,
    - Peter Slade,
    - Nick Trueman,
    - Tom Parnell,
    - Kevin Farrelly,
    - Chaz Potts
    WEEK 2
    LDCC V Fovant/LDCC
    LDCC 105-6 (40 overs)
    Fovant/LDCC 106-0 (24 overs)
    Strange game with LDCC providing two- thirds of the players. Perhaps the highlight was Chaz's continued and determined bid to steal Pete Biriani's crown of least punctual player. However Chaz will recognise the size of the task ahead of him after Pete and Rolli's classy missing car manouvere.
    LDCC's innings was largely forgettable, with only Hugo managing to adapt to the damp and stopping wicket (47), before he was outthought by the brains trust of Sealy (5-0-20-1 for Fovant) and Horn. A more cunning leg stump half volley is hard to imagine.
    Fovant/LDCC's reply featured some canny swing with the new ball from Parny (8-2- 26-0) and a steady spell from Chaz (5- 1- 13-0). By now however the pitch had dried out and with a better ball, runs were easier to come by. Ali made 57* for Fovant.
    Fovant have beaten LDCC two years in a row, but not because of cricketing performance. Next year Fovant will have to win on the pitch not round the negotiating table.
    WEEK 1 LDCC v Direct Wines Saturday April 26th 2003: The Jumble Charity Shield
    LDCC 140-2 (34 overs) Direct Wines 88 all out
    LDCC inflicted painful revenge on Direct Wines after Slade's men had triumphed in the rain last year. In very bowler friendly conditions, LDCC's score was more than respectable. Tim Horn's 61, his LDCC PB was the mainstay, and showed what a pragmatic and positive attitude can do on a rain affected wicket.
    Slade lead Direct Wines with customary aggression. The maverick decision to open the bowling with Kevin Farrelly will have been a major boost to Kevin's fragile confidence after his years of yips and various off-field issues. Slade's bowling was better than his catching. Direct Wines' response was immediately crippled by a beauty from Parny (5-0-17- 1) to send the unfortunate Pete Biriani on his way.
    The innings never really recovered. Simon continued his excellent performances of the past few years (6-3- 10-2), Sealy's off-spin was tight (5-1- 9- 2), and Trueman's pace was too hot in the gloom (3-0-7- 3). Chaz (5-0-36- 1) will be the first to admit his bowling lacked it's customary bristle, although a couple of appeals were quite close shaves. Nick Jennings and Anthony and Keith all fielded with genius at times, and will make the opposition pay for their inactivity in the weeks ahead.
    Thanks to Keith for preparing the wicket in horrible conditions.
    Urchfont v LDCC Sunday April 27th
    LDCC 186-4 declared, Urchfont 148 all out
    Dry day, a covered hard wicket, Keith won the toss. Sausage's 72 combined proper shots with pointless wafts to reap the reward of days of intense preparations. Urchfont continued to be a batting graveyard for Sealy (11) and Farrelly (0). Hugo's 51 featured two broken bats and a surprising inability to play short- pitched medium.
    Urchfont chased competitively, but in the end we knew too much (although our knowledge of the run out rules was worth nothing). Parny delivered with the new ball and later in a comeback spell that was low on no- balls and high on emotion (9-2-19-3).
    Trousers bent his back very impressively, and bowled with pace and control again (9-0-24-3). It was noticeable that Chaz's better spell on Sunday (7-1-33-1) came after not shaving. Piers/Ken/Claire/Monkey bowled with aggression (9-0-24-2). John Sealy (3-0-28-0) is Chairman of LDCC.
    Two big wins!