June 11, 2022
Box II ( 295 for 1 ) beat Lacock II ( 137 all out ) by 158 runs
Division 8 West is the lowest division of the Wiltshire League so this represents just about the lowest level of organised league cricket in England. This was a local derby, with Box having a journey of around 8 miles to the picturesque village of Lacock for the 13.00 start.
The WCCL has a good website with all the results and statistics for all of its 9 divisions. Lacock II were top going into the game, having won 4 and lost 2 out of 6 games, although their last match at Bathford II had been lost. Box II were in third place with 4 wins out of 5 but with a game in hand. As an indication of the relative strengths of the two clubs, Box 1st XI play in Division 2 of the WCCL, whereas Lacock 1sts play in Division 7.
For Box II, Danny Burke had made the highest score in the division so far this season, making 138 against Calne IV, but had only played in two of their 5 matches. Danny Crawford made 107 in his only innings, also against Calne fourths.
In contrast, on paper, bowling appeared to be Lacock II’s strength with captain Tim Culling taking 5-16 against Bathford II in a losing effort, and had 11 wickets season to-date, the same as number as Sean Hughes. For Box II, Kevin Evans had 10 wickets to his credit.
In a sad sign of the times, the WCCL website advises that no sides in the division are providing teas, nor does any team request teas, which was always the cornerstone of every level of cricket in England when I played. However, it was different when I played in Netherlands, when pots of tea were provided to visitors on arrival, during lunch and the tea interval, in a country of coffee drinkers. The only food was a small biscuit. MacDonalds were regular stops on the way to and from long distance away games in a national league !
At this level there is just one match ball, with no fielding restriction of number of players within the circle. One point is awarded for providing a non-playing umpire. Matches are 45 overs, with no draw, just win or lose, and there are a maximum of 9 overs per bowler.
10 points are awarded for a win. 6 batting points available, one for 75 runs and then every 25 runs upto 200. The side batting second gets an extra bonus point for every wicket still standing if win by more than 4 wickets, upto a maximum of 6 batting bonus points.
1 bowling point is awarded for every 2 wickets, with additional bonuses if bowling out the opposition for less than 150 ( 1 point ), 125 ( 2 points ), 100 ( 3points ) & 75 ( 4 points ).
We arrived in Lacock at 2.30 in the afternoon intending just to watch an hour or so of the play. At that time, the temperature was around 20 degrees with the weather partly cloudy and with a nice breeze. After stopping off at the National Trust café to get a takeaway coffee, the attractive cricket field was fairly secluded and the breeze was absent, and it was essential to wear a cap to avoid getting a sun-burnt head ! Around a dozen people were watching from a distance in the park, and another dozen or so were dotted around the boundary on the benches around the ground or near to the small pavilion, although the numbers fluctuated during the afternoon.
The scoreboard showed that Box II had already posted 125 for 0 after just 25 overs. The scorer advised that Danny Burke had scored over 60 and Graham Horn was in his 40s. He was keeping score on an IPAD rather than a paper scorebook, whilst keeping an eye on the live internet stream of the Box 1st XI match ! Lacock though would use an old-fashioned score-book for their innings.
Lacock had started the match with only 10 players, but an 11th player took to the field shortly after we started watching. They would at least win one bonus point though as they had a non-playing umpire.
The left-handed Burke looked far too good for this level and patiently accumulated singles into the many gaps, whilst punishing the bad balls for boundaries. He was circumspect against the veteran off-break bowler Anthony Edwards though, who I was subsequently informed was over 70 years old !
The other Lacock bowling could best be described as veteran trundlers. Burke smacked one delivery high over the bowler’s head and the umpire was initially was unsure if it was a six, but eventually a four was signalled, and there was then a lengthy delay to search for the ball.
Horn then hit Edwards straight for a boundary and then pushed a single to bring up his 50, taking the score to 147 for 0 off 28 overs. With Edwards apparently having bowled out his 9 overs, Paul Hughes, another veteran trundler, came into the attack and conceded only one run from his over.
Burke continued to milk the bowling and an easy hundred looked there for the taking. Lacock rang the bowling changes but to little avail. Horn hammered a full-toss to mid-wicket but was dropped, although the fielder probably thought he had saved four runs.
The fielding started to wilt as a mostly ageing side struggled in the heat and chasing leather, but they were helped by the running between the wickets being poor, missing out on many second runs, but still the score mounted to 189 for 0 off 34 overs. Burke reached his inevitable century with a sliced 4 over cover as the Box total reached 206 for 0 off 36 overs.
Lacock introduced a young bowler, Sachin Padiachy, who appeared to be trying to bowl very, very slow extremely flighted leg-breaks, but most of these were turned into full tosses, so it was hard to tell if it was spinning. One did land on the wicket and Horn was beaten.
However, Horn continued to be untroubled after that and reached his century in the 42 over when the score then stood at 269 for 0.
Padiachy was trusted with the final over and bowled Horn with a head-high beamer but unfortunately for him, a no-ball was rightly called. However, Horn chipped the next delivery to cover for an easy catch and Lacock’s first wicket, to depart with 114 to his name.
Box’s number 3 pushed his first ball for a single leaving Burke with two balls to score 8 runs to reach his 150. The first was smashed to the extra cover boundary, but the last ball of the innings looked to be heading for the long-on boundary, but a good diving stop kept it down to 2 runs to leave Burke stranded on 148 not out, as the Box innings closed on 295 for one. Burke now had the two highest innings in the division. Padiachy finished with 1 for 52 off 5 overs, with Edwards the best of the rest with 0-52 off his 9.
After just over a 30 minute break between the innings, the Lacock openers strode to the crease and then had to wait a couple of minutes for the Box side to take their positions. The opening bowler for Box, Johnny Pegler, ran in off about 8 paces and was determined to test the middle of the wicket, and whilst barely military medium, at this level he could be described as brisk. Young opener Sachin Padiachy was able to twice comfortably steer shortish balls through the slips for twos. Pegler ran back to his mark, and got through his overs very quickly, perhaps he had an early evening appointment !
At the other end a young lad named Harry Ormandy opened the bowling and tried to bowl a full length. Lacock’s other opener, Sam Rose, hit him straight for a four but was then beaten by the next delivery to the encouragement of “Good Comeback Harry !”. Box made a break through with the first ball of the fifth over as Rose chased a wide ball from Pegler and snicked to the keeper Luke Rich who made a smart low catch to bring the score to 26-1.
Undeterred, Lacock continued to keep close to required run-rate and they had reached 46 for 1 off 8 overs, although a successful run-chase looked extremely unlikely. After only intending to stay for an hour or so, we left having ended up watching for two and a half hours.
Unsurprisingly, Box IIs went on to register an emphatic victory, winning by 158 runs after bowling Lacock out for 137. Danny Crawford had the best bowling figures with 3 for 18, whilst Ormandy finished with 2 for 36 off 9 overs. For Lacock, Padiachy not only took their only wicket, but he was their top scorer with 36 runs. Box took 23 points from the match, whilst Lacock took 4.
Finally, a big thank-you to Fiona Turnbull at Lacock Photography for providing the photos of today’s action !
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