Nomads defeated in local derby

The Nomads travelled the short journey to Collins Hill on what was a historic first for the club. After almost 40 years in existence, Lichfield Nomads fielded 2 teams at the same time. Whilst Club Captain, Dave Rolfe took a team of Nomads to Risley CC, Club Vice Captain, Matt Barker, proudly got to lead a team of Nomads for the first time.
On a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, Lichfield won the toss and elected to bat. Mahmood and S Bryars opened the bowling for the Nomads, Mahmood taking 2 wickets and Bryars bowling beautifully in their first spells. The wickets bought Turner and Mistry to the crease for Lichfield and their quality was evident as they increased their run rate to pass 100 at 15 overs. The Nomads knew they were in a game and Hughes and Cogzell took 3 wickets a piece thanks to good bowling and excellent catching from Barker, Mahmood, Scurlock and Cogzell. Cogzell deserves special mention for his spell in what was his first match of the season.
With Turner gone for 71, Mistry was Lichfield’s main protagonist until he was bowled by Basi for 48. The Nomads were looking good for restricting Lichfield to around 180 runs but owing to some first game of the season rustiness and a substantial final wicket partnership which was ended by a well-deserved wicket for S Bryars, the Nomads would be chasing 222 for victory.
Despite the disappointment at Lichfield not opening the bar, the Nomads were in good spirits with Gardner and Scurlock opening the batting. Scurlock departed in the 3rd over for 4 which bought Fuzz Weir to the crease. Fuzz and Gards put together a good partnership of 25 until Gards was stumped for 13. Aneek Mahmood was next in at 4 and having unveiled a new bat at the start of the day, he set about the bowlers with some lusty blows to the boundary. Alas, the Nomads weren’t only dealing in 4s and Fuzz was run out which bought Captain Matt Barker to the crease at 51/3 in the 12th over.
Although wickets falling regularly, the Nomads were scoring at a good rate and this continued until Mahmood was stumped off the bowling of Turner for 26 with the score at 78/4 from 15 overs. They say the female of the species is more deadly and the male and that rang true as Basi was bowled for a golden duck by Turner. Sam Bryars came in at 7 and following an excellent 25 at Wednesbury he fought hard in a 22 run partnership with Barker until the captain was bowled by Mistry who took Cogzell’s wicket in the same over. Jordan and Nick Bryars also added their name to the end of season Gonads list before Ian Hughes got himself a red inker with 10 once Mistry had bowled Sam Bryars.
Whilst disappointed with a defeat, the Nomads can hold their heads high for the endeavour shown in the field to get back in the game. Mahmood was voted MVP for the day having contributed well with bat, ball and in the field.
Ultimately, Lichfield’s third wicket partnership made a successful run chase difficult with the lack of batting that we had on the day. With 7 of the 11 Nomads having just half a season of Nomads cricket under their belts, it is evident that the club is on the up with some real strength in depth to be able to put two teams out on the same day.

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

Date: 18th April 2021
Start time: 1:30pm
Venue: Collins Hill, Eastern Avenue, Lichfield
Competition: 40 overs Friendly
Scores: Lichfield IVs 222 all out, Lichfield Nomads 118 all out
Result: Lichfield C.C. IVs beat Lichfield Nomads by 104 runs
Toss: Lichfield C.C. won the toss and elected to bat.
Scorers: T. Jordan
Umpires:
Report: J. Basi
Weather: Sunny, warm

30/04/2021