11
1st XI 2015 Season Review by Dougie Brown
The 2015 season began on the back of a very
productive pre-season trip to Barbados, players in very
good form and realistic as to our chances of success
over the course of the year. Although not playing our most
consistent LVCC cricket, we still managed to fight our
way into a very similar position on all three fronts by the
beginning of August as we found ourselves in at the same
point in 2014, sitting second in the Championship, in the
t20 finals day and needing to win one of our last two RL50
pool matches to qualify for the 1/4 finals. However, from
that point onwards, 3 Championship defeats to Hampshire,
Nottinghamshire and Somerset plus a scrappy performance
in the t20 semi-final against Northamptonshire, ensured that
our season ended up as a real disappointment.
Despite the championship season finishing
disappointingly, we actually got off to a very strong start.
Hundreds for Varun Chopra and Tim Ambrose plus career
best figures of 6-75 v Hampshire for Boyd Rankin earning
a strong draw. Sam Hain’s 82 plus another hundred from
Chopra backed up by an unbroken 107 partnership for the
last wicket between Chris Wright and Boyd Rankin laid the
foundations for Keith Barker and Jeetan Patel to dominate
with the ball, bowling us to a 182 run win against our local
rivals, Worcestershire.
Ian Westwood’s outstanding 196 followed by a second
innings 84 plus Boyd Rankin’s 6 wickets providing the
cornerstone of a very strong draw against Yorkshire at
Headingley. Ian Westwood backing up his excellent form
with 88 against Durham in addition to Keith Barker, 102 not
out, and match figures of 9-157, contributing to an excellent
win.
In a match that really could have gone either way,
disappointingly, it was Sussex who stole the match by the
smallest of margins at Hove. A draw at Lord’s against high
flying Middlesex followed, after a full day of rain intervened
to deny an exciting finish and possible result for either side.
Laurie Evans showing real maturity in scoring 98 on a tricky
pitch.
Ian Bell crafted an excellent 111 and Clarke and Barker
half centuries in an outstanding all round team victory
against Worcester at New Road. Barker, Wright and Rankin
doing most of the damage in the first innings with the ball,
Jeetan Patel joining in to bowl Worcestershire out for 80 in
the second innings, in what was a terrific performance with
the ball.
Laurie Evans, 213, and Tim Ambrose, 153, sharing a
327 partnership for the 6th wicket in a very high scoring
draw against Sussex at Edgbaston. Both teams scoring
over 600 in their first innings to bring the game to an
inevitable conclusion.
A hundred from Sam Hain and 5-40 from Chris Wright
were in vain as Jonny Bairstow and Ryan Sidebottom
proved the difference in a low scoring contest against
eventual champions Yorkshire at Edgbaston. Despite that
loss, the Bears bounced back well at Durham, bowling
Durham out for 314 after they had been 184-1. Rikki Clarke,
5-62, and Tom Milnes, 3-96, starting the comeback with
Chris Woakes and Clarke again, bowling superbly, to enable
us to manage the run chase. A mature innings of 70 from
Laurie Evans, followed by an outstanding unbroken 38 run
partnership by Milnes and Patel, ensured a tense two wicket
victory.
Jeetan Patel’s 9 wickets in the match plus another
hundred from Sam Hain were the highlights of an excellent
team performance to win by 7 wickets against Somerset.
Sitting 2nd in the LVCC table was a competitive position
going into August. It’s exactly what we talk about as we
begin each season.
From there, however, we lost our way and, despite an
outstanding individual performance from Jeetan Patel, 98
and 7-38 on a dry surface, and half centuries from
Laurie Evans, Ian Bell and an excellent 46 from Keith Barker
which almost swung the game, we finished the season with
a defeat, falling agonisingly short of the 225 target.
Laurie Evans and Tim Ambrose share 327 partnership for 6th wicket
against Sussex
Keith Barker on his way to a century and 9 wickets
Ian Westwood in the runs with 196 and 84
