Once again a near perfect week and weekend of results for Lansdown this week with all but the First XI throwing in a victory. Plenty to report below and it’s really encouraging to see our 2nds and 3rd XI dominating at present – promotion the goal for both sides this year.

It was disappointment at Combe Park as we lost out to a high quality and experienced Bath outfit. The standard of cricket was very high and whilst we didn’t quite manage to dominate with the bat, our performance in the field and with the ball was of the highest calibre.

Thanks to all who came and supported the boys at Combe Park on Saturday – the place was a picture in the sun – so much so that Bath artist and Combe Park neighbour Peter Brown painted the scene, which I’ll hopefully be able to share with you soon. With the outside bar in full swing on World Gin Day and the BBQ tent busy all afternoon, the atmosphere was terrific.

You can see all stats from our senior cricket via this link

https://lansdown.play-cricket.com/Matches?tab=Result

We’ll start with our Under 15s this week though. We’ve got a talented group of boys in that age group and they showed that with a great win in the National Cup against Bath …

Lansdown U15s vs Bath U15s (Combe Park) National U15s’ Cup

LCC: 118/6 (20) – Win
Thornbury: 104/6 (20)

Lansdown and Bath U15s played off on Thursday evening for the right to represent the Bath and district league in the next round of the ECB's National U15 club competition.

A short but incredibly sharp shower prior to the start and warm but increasingly gloomy conditions prompted Bath to bowl first after winning the toss.

After losing an early wicket Will Hurle (17) and James Ebdon helped to consolidate Lansdown's innings, Ebdon's eventual 34 contained several well struck boundaries and against tight bowling in difficult conditions was well worth a few more on another evening. The middle order chipped in with a handy knock from Will Goymer, some positive running from Oliver Bell and Ben Church and a couple of late boundaries from Eoin Godfrey to finish on 118-6, seemingly a reasonable score in the conditions.

In reply Bath's openers batted well against some quick bowling from Goymer and Ed Johnson and appeared to have seen off the new ball before a fantastic delivery from Johnson bowled their free scoring opener, Bath's second wicket pair took the score past 50 and with the run rate still around a run a ball and the momentum appeared to have shifted towards Bath. Some tight bowling from Bell and the Lansdown spinners Godfrey and Donovan (a wicket apiece) suddenly pushed the run rate up to over 8, wicket taking spells from Ollie Kohut and Rory Vallis (coming on to bowl two nerveless overs at the death) saw Lansdown win by 14 runs.

All round an excellent team effort with bat, ball and in the field in tricky conditions, an away trip to Weston Super Mare CC is next up.

Lansdown 1st XI v Bath (Combe Park) WEPL Prem 1

Bath: 198/8 (45) – 18 points
LCC: 163 all out (42.1) – 6 points

It was a clash of two gun sides, as the strongest XI we could put out, faced Baths strongest XI as well. Having lost the toss, on what we believed was definitely a batting day, the boys got off to a very strong start with a beautiful opening spell from Josh Smith, taking 3 early wickets to reduce bath to 19-3, with Brad Evans, our new overseas, holding up the other end nicely. The change bowlers continued to mount the pressure with George Scott again showing his class, and Tim Wyatt looking to be back in great form, when unfortunately, he suffered an injury and had to be taken out of the attack. The introduction of the spin twins- Wheller and Allen showed just how tough the wicket was to bat on as we turned the screws on the opposition. We thought we could run through Bath, however they had numerous batsmen down the order and so managed to get back from 103-6 to post a competitive 198-8.

In reply we started poorly, losing both openers cheaply. However myself and George Scott combined to take the game away from Bath and put Lansdown back in a dominant position. However, when Scott was runout on 40, the feel of the game changed. Despite a few quick 20s, our vulnerable middle order was exposed again and we fell 35 runs short. We are so close as a side and we would like to thank everyone who came to support us this weekend. Big wins are coming in the near future- Watch this space.
You can see the full match detail on play-cricket:

Lansdown 2nd XI v Bitton CC (Away) B&D Div 2

LCC: 225/ 7 (40) – 20 points
Bitton: 140 all out (31.4) – 5points

On the hottest day of the cricket season to date, the 2nd XI team took a short trip down the road to struggling side Bitton CC. With the toss back in favour, we made the decision to bat first on a very troublesome looking wicket!

Another change in the opening pairing this week saw Jack Betenson take up with challenge with regular Sam Athay back in the side. Together they made a very competent start to game putting the pressure on the bowling side. Sam Athay, continuing where he left off adding 43 runs to his name for the day. After losing a couple of wickets, partnerships began to form with Adam Carlin remaining resolute at one end. Showing encouraging signs during a mid-week game, the runs began to flow for Adam with some excellent scoring all around the ground. Ending with 64 runs, a key knock which provided the anchor needed for the innings. Some power hitting at the end of the innings from Sam Bowery ending with 29 of 23 balls and Ollie Gooding hitting his only ball for 6, it was the cherry on top the cake of another quality all round batting performance. Finishing on 225-7, it was pressure on Bitton CC to bat on a fast-deteriorating pitch.

We took to the field, looking to keep our bowling plans simple and take full advantage of the condition of the wicket. Tom Henly back opening the bowling alongside Joel Parry, we were in the game from ball one. Runs were coming in the early overs for Bitton, however both opening bowlers stuck to their task and we soon had the opposition 31-3. With an arsenal of bowling options at out disposal, pace off was the order of the day with Sam Athay, Sam Bowery and Louis Mancini backing up the openers with some very tight and economical bowling picking up a wicket apiece. With Ollie Gooding still to enter the attack and the run rate still ascending, the pressure proved too much. Picking up 3 more wickets giving Ollie a total of 15 so far for the season, which sees him joint top of the league table.

It was another great day of cricket with a fantastic team showing, set up by a strong batting display and finished off with a well-executed bowling and fielding performance. The consistency being shown by the squad is ever pleasing to see, this is being reflected in the team's results. Therefore, our continue rise up table sees us settling into 2nd place with our eyes only looking up. A tough opposition lie in wait this coming Saturday against Almondsbury CC, who we leapfrogged in the table this weekend. A strong week of focused training ahead ensures we'll be ready to host them at Combe Park, and so we look forward to what promises to be an exciting game of cricket!

Lansdown 3rd XI v Thornbury 5th XI (Away) B&D Div 30

LCC: 205/2 all out (30) – 16 points
Thornbury: 146/2 (30) – 2 points

A great win on Saturday against Thornbury at Oldbury on Severn, a pretty ground. Great atmosphere and team spirit from the younger and also more senior members of the team enabled us to cruise to a win. I'd like to thank George for skippering in the field and encouraging the team to victory.

We batted first on a wicket almost as tired and sleepy as Oldbury on Severn itself. The game only produced 4 wickets in all which reflected that. Ben Church opened with Angus Finney. Ben looked eager and elegant as usual but his eyes widened when he saw the friendly bowling and he played a shot which looped to mid-on. A few more years under the belt and a bigger bat would have had that shot clearing the boundary rope.

Angus batted positively, playing some great shots and gave us a solid base. He made 32 then retired, leaving the field unbowed, like a great old cavalry charger who had galloped around the battlefield all day like a young stallion, half his years but then trotted off the fray having given his all.

George Wood, at number 3 retired on 55. He didn't put a foot wrong and shook the fences on a number of occasions, thumping two straight sixes in his last two balls.

Dave Hirst played well, scoring 11 runs and was unlucky to be bowled out. Said Burvill scored 17 not out and played some solid shots mixed with some aggressive flourishes. Enter Charlie Gooding who scored 52 out and played a sublime innings comprising mainly of sixes and fours. There looked absolutely no way that he was going to get bowled out.

So having scored 205 we felt our position was unassailable.

The opening batsmen looked strong and we were very pleased to see Charlie Gooding catch him LBW with a lovely off break.
Their other opener carried his bat with 33 but never looked like taking on the total we had amassed. With 12 overs to go they needed 13 an over and to make things safe George came on for two overs, taking a wicket with his second.

Sam Costello was excellent and swung the ball well; he was unlucky not to take a wicket. As was Rory Vallis who looks a promising prospect. The two spinners Alex Donovan and Eoin Godfrey were parsimonious as usual and on a dead wicket showed how spinners can be an effective defensive tool to a captain.

All the bowlers bowled well. Pick out for me, standing, as I must these days, at slip - the ageing cricketer's final posting - was Eoin who had their excellent opener shaking his head in confusion as the ball scuttled about to leg and off with no clue given at all from the bowler's action.

Fielding was generally solid. A good win, by a strong team

Finally, on Sunday our Sunday 2nds travelled up the road to Hampset

Lansdown Sunday 2nd XI – no match