Sunday 22nd March 2015 witnessed the birth of the Levante CC 2nds. Their first fixture was against a young Alfas 2nd team. The talk before the encounter was of the famous Albir microclimate.
In the run up to the day Valencia had been wetter than a limp handshake. The Levante gladiators had concerns that their hopes of a first game of the season would be washed away. However, the famous Albir microclimate proved their savior as a little pocket of sunshine poked through the clouds guiding their way to the Woodbridge Oval from the water logged A7.
Hunt, captain for the day, asked Alfas to field first. As Little and Lofthouse trudged out to the middle you could smell the tension in the air (or it may have been the burgers and lager breakfast).
Basharat and K Perman opened their bowling attack and it proved to be a cagey affair. Levante were on 19 off 11 overs. Little showing little urgency with his usual patient game. Eventually Lofthouse became impatient and lofted one into the sky for L Laundon to juggle with and eventually claim. Soon Noon was back at the clubhouse and in came the captain Hunt to join Little on the battle field.
The Kiwi and Scouser set about putting some runs on the board and got themselves into a tidy rhythm. But it was a short lived affair as Little (33) was bowled by a straight one by young Laundon and Hunt (38) also had his stumps uprooted by an even younger K Roper.
Up stepped the Aussie Italiano Nugnes and smashed a 4 off his first ball and then smashed his next shot to the waiting K Perman´s hands. Alfas now smelled the scent of blood like a school of piranhas.
Luckily the tail wagged a little and the rabbits managed to notch a few runs between them. Most notably Taylor (11) who was showing some good technique and some impressive after shot posing to boot. Eventually Levante finished all out for 148 in 35.2 overs.
It was an impressive bowling display by the young Alfas lads and the Levante boys will be annoyed at giving away their wickets as easily as iced buns at weight watchers.
After lunch it was the turn of Alfas to swing the willow. After some inspiring words from Hunt it was Nugnes who was asked to open the bowling. Nugnes was as fired up as a Welshman at a sheep beauty paegent.
His first ball was an absolute ripper (that’s his words, translates to “not too shabby”) and clean-bowled Brown for a golden. Then a couple of balls later another ball with wheels on got snicked behind to remove Ali. Great start for Levante 2 for 0.
In came the impressive K Perman who set about dispatching the ball all around the ground helped by a few dropped catches. Along with the support from Byrne the partnership was starting to take the shine off of Levante´s great start. Then when they had put on 70 a moment of true magic from Levante´s resident Italian Cesare.
After dropping a catch from Byrne he angrily threw the ball, which managed to hit the stumps with Byrne in no man’s land to run him out. K Perman (51) soon followed him to the tea hut when he was nonchalantly caught on the boundary by Tickel (even though his team mates thought he would spill it!) from Taylor´s bowling.
All Levante bowlers had a go and all did well to get Alfas to 94/7 off of 20 overs. Eventually they were 9 down with 40 odd runs to notch off. However, the fat lady had yet to sing and Alfas had the wily Evans and M Perman at the crease who showed more cunning than a room full of aging foxes.They picked off the remaining runs showing the experience they have of finishing off games.
Levante´s bowlers tired and developed the yips towards the end. Alfas finshed on 151 for 9 off 38.5 overs. All in all a really good day out from the rain of Valencia and some good performances all round for Levante 2nds to lose their virginity.
Nugnes, Taylor and Harris (first wicket in 30 years) all impressing with the ball plus Little,killing some of the demons from the last time he bowled at Alfas with a tidy 2-5-1. Great performances by the young Alfas players and their future looks very promising. Cheers to Dave for umpiring even though he gave nothing! Thanks also to the Alfas lads, very hospitable, great banter and nice cold Mahou on tap as usual.
Dan Tickel – Levante CC
Related Article – https://www.cricketspain.es/news.php?id=1258
Levante C C Website http://www.levantecc.com/default.aspx
Levante C C Batting
| Player name | Runs | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
extras
TOTAL : |
1nb 23w 3b 2lb
for 10 wickets |
29
147 (35.2 overs) |
|||||
| T. Little | b L. laundon | 28 | 51 | 2 | 1 | 54.90 | |
| A. Lofthouse | ct L. Laundon Bowled B. Ali | 6 | 33 | 18.18 | |||
| J. Noon | ct B. Dean Bowled K. Perman | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||
| G. Hunt | b K. Roper | 34 | 38 | 5 | 89.47 | ||
| B. Nugnes | ct K. Perman Bowled L. Laundon | 4 | 2 | 1 | 200 | ||
| R. Bangle | run out M. Perman / T. Brown | 10 | 15 | 66.67 | |||
| R. Harris | b K. Roper | 6 | 18 | 1 | 33.33 | ||
| J. Singh | ct B. Ali Bowled T. Brown | 7 | 8 | 1 | 87.50 | ||
| Ceasare | b L. Laundon | 2 | 16 | 12.50 | |||
| M. Taylor | Not Out | 11 | 19 | 1 | 57.89 | ||
| B. Trickle | b K. Roper | 10 | 6 | 2 | 166.67 |
Sporting Alfas Cricket Club Sporting Alfas 2nd X1 Bowling
| Player Name | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Average | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basharat Ali | 6.0 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 13.00 | 2.17 |
| Kieran Perman | 5.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2.00 | 0.40 |
| Leo Laundon | 7.0 | 0 | 42 | 3 | 14.00 | 6.00 |
| Ali Raza | 5.0 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 0.00 | 7.60 |
| Jack Perman | 1.0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Tyler Hogan Brown | 3.0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 18.00 | 6.00 |
| Kyle Roper | 6.2 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 4.33 | 2.05 |
| A.N. Other | 2.0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0.00 | 6.00 |