Largonauts and Woodcutters defy the elements

 

It was appropriate in Largo's 25th Anniversary year that Woodcutters made a prominent appearance on their fixture list, as they had been the club's longest standing friends and foe!  Last Saturday and Sunday saw two games take place with many of the Woodcutters making a weekend of it and booking into local hotels rather than make a double journey from the capital.  The weather forecast was diabolical but not enough to offset the quiet determination that the game would be played in spite of all.

Saturday's game took place in gale force winds and saw Largo, having won the toss, opting to bat first.  President Matthews opened the innings with young blood Andrew Warrender and both achieved personal best scores in a stand of 104 with Warrender making a fine 51 not out before retiring.  Thereafter the innings never managed to maintain its momentum with only Steve Bentley making double figures and Woodcutters faced a respectable total of 142 in reply.  Stephen Warrender, younger brother of Andrew, distinguished himself guesting for the opposition, taking two wickets for 16 and along with Jones emerging with their best bowling figures.

Bowie and Bennet opened the Woodcutters innings and raced along at breakneck speed before the introduction of Bentley into the attack saw an immediate fall in the run rate followed by the departure of both openers, both comprehensively bowled by Bentley trademark off-cutters.  In a similar way to the Largo innings their opponents were then unable to increase their run rate and despite stout resistance from old hands Glynn, President McCutcheon and Leslie, the innings closed on 88 for 9 wickets, leaving the rest of the day to be enjoyed in reminiscences of past games and local hospitality!

Sunday's weather, which had promised better things, fared even worse and the game started in constant drizzle.  Woodcutters had their much vaunted Australian Sorrell in their team while Largo were glad to see Barnes, fresh off the plane from holidaying in the USA, back on home turf. Another pairing of youth and experience saw Alex Anderson and Rob Tooze open Largo's account.  Playing some fine shots which found the gaps in the field and profiting from a number of  Woodcutters dropped catches, no doubt caused by the sodden ball, these two both reached the agreed retiral score of 30 and were then followed by Tristan Leicester, another of Largo's promising youngsters, who in no time had amassed 29 invaluable runs before falling to a catch by Glynn.  Runs then became a scarce commodity as the conditions induced false strokes and batters endeavoured to push the score along.  David Scott produced a cameo innings of 10 not out, however and Woodcutters were left facing a total of 140.  Brown (2 for 22), Sorrell (1 for 6) and Roshan Vorah (2 for 20) emerged as the pick of the Woodcutters attack while Bowie, sporting a fine Largo cap, made the catch of the weekend to dismiss Ali in the outfield.

This time there was to be no rapid start to the Woodcutters innings as Scott and Stephen Warrender found good line and length, both claiming wickets in their opening spell. The Andersons, father and son, then both took wickets and with Asman Ali dismissing the dangerous Sorrell  and Walker's wicketkeeping causing constant vigilance in the middle order batsmen the  threat of a Woodcutters victory disappeared.  Glynn again defied the Largo attack, scoring 15 not out and with Chisholm, N. Vorah, Bennet and Lochrie giving him good support, a final total of 113 brought a memorable weekend's cricket to an end.