LSSC vs. Trafalgar, Fairfield Recreation Ground, Kingston – 1st June 2025
LSSC – 194-9 35.0 overs (H.Rogers 94 not out, Phil 28)
Trafalgar 195-9 – 34.0 overs (Phil 2-27, Harry 2-30, DT 2-33)
A strong looking London Saints team kicked off their 2025 season with a hard fought, nail biter which just went against us in the end.
Playing in a park with locals wandering around and across the pitch we were asked to bat on an ‘old school’ pitch with extremely variable bounce. The outfield was bone dry and rock hard so shots beating the fielders would be well rewarded.
After last year’s drubbing, Trafalgar rang the changes bringing in a host of unfamiliar faces and understandably sacking their usual Pompey supporting skipper who was dropped entirely (or he may have been on holiday but let’s not spoil the story). We were asked to bat predictably.
This led to a rush to find helmets, not least opener Johnny G who scurried back to find one after experiencing first hand the ball either rearing up and/or grubbers not bouncing at all from Trafalgar’s opening quicks having gone out first of all in his familiar London Saints cap.
Oscar got off the mark with a boundary but was then skittled by a ball pitching on a good length which didn’t bounce, “it was unplayable” opined the umpiring DT to help console our youngster. Oscar was the first of 7 of our batsmen to be bowled!
Johnny decided he’d seen enough so ran himself out and Ben C came in to face the challenge – sadly he also was undone with the bounce and chipped back a catch and so kicking off the 2025 Duck Trophy campaign. We were in trouble – 13 for 3.
Harry however was still in, and the rest of our innings was now built around him as he scored consistently and having useful partnerships with many of us but especially Phil who played very well for his 28. Not so much with DT (career duck number 48) or Nanton mind you as they both kicked their seasons off with ducks too in order keep Ben some company.
Chucker (our often nemesis) whilst playing didn’t bowl as he has a back problem, but the Trafalgar bowling was definitely a level up and harked back to the game where DT emerged black and blue from his innings some years ago now.
When Richard was bowled for our 9th wicket after a yahoo off middle stump, Harry was in danger of being stranded but up stepped Jacko as he and Harry took us to what looked a commanding score at Tea. It could have been a higher score for Jacko but together they sensibly worked the strike to give Harry as much of the last few overs as they could and crucially, we used all of them.
George and Phil opened the bowling on a pitch still lively and ‘popping’ every so often but showing rather less grubbers than I’d have liked, impressively we had 3 maidens to start the season including 2 wicket maidens, I think?
Jonty also started really well with a maiden and a wicket but then he tried out his new mystery delivery, “the legside beamer” which new batsman, Graham (a South African debutant for Traf) took a real fancy to.
We plugged away and like our own innings nicked a wicket every so often but couldn’t remove their key batsman – Graham was their Harry.
The game started to move away from us with the fast outfield and some of us older lags in the team showing our rustiness occasionally. One such example was an attempted bit of fielding by ex-Jonty Nanton who took so long to bend down and ultimately fall over as a ball went by him, your author commented that Dave would be lucky not to be served papers for libel by Jonty Rhodes as soon as the game was over. He wasn’t alone mind you….
Younger members were spritelier with Ben C taking a ‘blink and you missed it’ stumping off DT’s bowling late on and he kept wicket brilliantly on a tough wicket.
Then there was Oscar’s catch which gave us hope when it seemed Traf were cruising to inevitable victory. New batman Love facing Harry hit the ball high into the sky over the head of George at mid-wicket with Oscar at mid-on, the ball seemed set to beat both of them to the ground when suddenly Oscar dived out with a desperate right hand stretched to the full in front of him and like catching a golden snitch, caught the ball inches off the ground and then held on to it as he immediately landed on the rock like ground too.
If that’s not enough of a description for those not present, it also reminded me how you might dive when in the sea at the seaside playing catch and diving one handed to catch a tennis ball far from you & which you know you can’t reach but you try anyway so you can crash into the sea. Except somehow in this case Oscar did take it.
An absolute worldie but please just a tip to readers, don’t ask him to describe or recreate it when you see him next as you might never get away 😊
With spirits up we just needed one more wicket with them needing 8 more runs after the above stumping but our nemesis, Chucker denied us again but with his bat as he scored the last runs needed at the end of the 34th over to win the game.
Cricket was the winner but sadly we weren’t. As DT has been known to say, it was the one player that cost us the win.
Man of the Match
Easy this – Harry. A splendid innings which was chance-free to my memory, and he took 2 wickets! Trafalgar joked after the game that they’ll try again next year to get him out as they haven’t managed it as yet, not this year nor last year!
Phil R was in the wickets and runs (again) and would have been in the mix but for Harry. Ben C kept wicket exactly how you would expect him to do so – enthusiastically and with great aplomb.
And a special mention to Jacko coming out at number 11 with us teetering at 158 for 9 and still circa 5 overs to go. Jacko hasn’t batted in quite a while and we could have easily been bowled out leaving Harry stranded BUT Jacko really got his head down, started middling the ball and had an unbeaten last wicket stand with the ever present, Harry.
At Tea that last wicket partnership of 36 runs really did get us up to an impressive total, definitely above par on a very tough wicket and saw the opponents downhearted and very frustrated. It could and deserved to be a winning total but for their star batsman.
Champagne Moment
For a moment of sheer brilliance, Oscar’s one handed catch is the winner – your correspondent can’t think of a better one in over 25 years of spectating and I was stood next to him for Lord Lucan’s catch on tour just a ‘few’ years ago and the famed QE2s.
Turning to the farcical we had DT pre-game dropping off the team kit bags at the ground to then park nearly a mile away in order to avoid the parking charges nearby. On arriving back at the ground on foot, he then realised he hadn’t actually dropped off his own kit bag and so had to head off once more for a near 2-mile round trip to fetch that from the car.
Fortunately, unobserved by most, your correspondents’ trousers and pants both tried to fall down as I completed a 2nd run when batting with Harry – this safety mechanism removed any threat of my having to try and run a 3rd as I stopped to hitch them up asap.
Judas however wins as, true to his nickname (one of them) with every run crucial in the last over of our innings, he called Jacko for being a ‘run short’ – the first time we believe that has ever happened in our club history. Another career-highlight for JG achieved.
Earlier he had also awarded a boundary to an oppo batsman when the ball collided with a small boy who kept invading our pitch with his football, this stopped the ball dead rather than it likely crossing the boundary, 2 extra runs resulting.
Luckily these ‘spirit of cricket’ adjudications against us didn’t definitively make the difference!
Judas however won’t be losing that particular nickname just yet….
London Saints – 194-9 35 Overs
Oscar b Kitson 4
John G Run out 6
Herry Not out 94
Ben C c&b Kitson 0
George b Graham 13
Phil b Richard 28
Paul P b Kitson 10
Dave N b Kitson 0
DT b Graham 0
Richard G b Skipper 5
Jacko NOT OUT 2
Extras (b16, lb1, w11, nb2 30
Richards 7-0-35-1
Kitson 7-2-27-4
Graham 7-0-28-2
Keiran 7-1-25-0
Skipper 4-1-32-1
James 3-0-28-0
Trafalgar 195-9 35 Overs
TBA b George TBA
TBA c Pearce b Phil TBA
Richards b Sykes 20
Moore b Nanton 4
Graham NOT OUT 104
Webster lbw Thomas 12
Kitson ct Ben C b Phil 13
Evans c&b Harry 6
Love ct Sykes b Harry 0 *WORLDIE*
Stanton st Ben C b Thomas 12
Chucker NOT OUT 3
Extras TBA TBA
George D 7-2-31-1
Rogers P 7-1-27-2
Nanton 5-1-39-1
Sykes 5-0-27-1
Rogers H 5-0-30-2
Thomas D 5-0-33-2
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