Lindfield vs Buccaneers 28th July 2013 – 40 over game
With the skipper fielding his preferred make-up of “age before beauty” – added to this year by the “properly injured” – Buccaneers arrived mostly on time for this annual showdown with some of the best young Sussex has to offer.
Oppo skipper Matt won the toss and elected to bat on a track which had clearly seen plenty of the previous night’s rain. Wyartt immediately bamboozled the well-drilled and helmeted Lindfield openers by kicking off both ends with the gentle turn (and laser-guided accuracy) of Brandes and Leefe. After the initial shock wore off, both openers moved into their twenties (which they will not do in age terms for a good three years) with some ease until Brandes employed keeper Chakravarti to have Lawrence caught behind.
Sensing a collapse, the skipper unleashed Woolfries up the hill who struck with his first ball, Ragnauth showing admirable falling-and-catching skills at first slip. This tempted Wyartt to have a trundle down the hill and, with the enormous pace this generated, he soon accounted for Lawson and O’Brien – with shades of the Betchworth Red Lion sticky wicket in evidence.
Scoring slowed, helped by uncharacteristically diligent fielding as led by the mightily enthusiastic Mike Best, and the Buccs remained miserly. As the inevitable charge came, Wyartt turned to Leefe who responded magnificently with a tight spell and two great caught and bowleds. Meanwhile John Bryant tied down the other end with almost imperceptible variations of pace.
Lindfield, at one point heading for a total over 200, returned to the hutch (and an extremely fine tea!) 165 for 7 wickets.
Stringer and Sujay Chakravati had the privilege of opening and faced two Sussex junior bowlers. James seemed the more awestruck as Sujay set about displaying his swashbuckling approach to one-day opening, quickly reaching 25 before holing out to young Wilkes. Stringer, supported by Best, found his own form and used the pace of the bowling well to guide, tickle and drive his way onto the scorebook. As Best fell, Subir Chakravati joined the fray and enjoyed similarly trouble-free batting as Stringer reached a hard fought 50, to the growing chagrin of the “rather vocal” opposition skipper.
At the halfway stage, Buccs were nailing the run rate, Stringer and Subir pulling back any maidens with powerful hitting and running. Subir departed, the only timbers of the day, and Ragnauth defied medical wisdom by stepping out to the middle. A display of controlled aggression followed which was the last straw for the brittle nerves of the opposition skipper – failing to match Mel’s wit and repartee in the square – and a brief spot of handbags ensued, soon quashed and play continued. Buccs appeared to be Saga-cruising to a win but a flurry of last minute wickets thanks to the tall arm of O Morgan brought in D Close in a rare cameo, making a nerve-steadying 11 leaving Rhino and Woolfries to bring the Buccs home with an over to spare.
Innings of Lindfield
G Lawrence Ct Suj Chak (wk) b Brandes 26
J Newcombe Ct Ragnauth b Woolfries 27
P Barron Run Out (Wyartt / Leefe) 55
V Lawson Ct Best b Wyartt 9
J O’Brien Ct Brandes b Wyartt 3
M O’Brien Ct & Bld Leefe 12
J Wilkes Ct & Bld Leefe 15
J Morgan Not Out 11
D Morgan Not Out 1
10 and 11 DNB
Brandes 7-1-23-1
Leefe 11-1-44-2
Woolfries 9-0-35-1
Wyartt 5-1-18-2
Bryant 8-0-42-0
Innings of Buccaneers
J Stringer Ct x bld Barron 53
Sujay Chakravarti Ct x bld Wilkes 25
M Best Ct x bld Lawson 8
Subir Chakrakvarti bld J Morgan 24
S Leefe Ct x bld O Morgan 4
M Ragnauth Ct x bld O Morgan 21
D Close Ct xbld O Morgan 11
S Brandes Not Out 6
S Woolfries Not Out 0
A Wyartt DNB
J Bryant DNB
D Morgan 4-0-23-0
O Morgan 12-4-29-3
J Wilkes 4-1-16-1
V Lawson 6-0-22-1
J Spence 2-0-15-0
J O’Brien 4-0-17-0
P Barron 2-0-14-1
J Morgan Figures missed from other page of scorebook