An inaugural draw at Arundel Castle

This year saw the inaugural fixture against the Duke of Norfolk’s XI, played at the beautiful and historic Arundel Castle Cricket Ground, where cricket has been played since the ground’s construction by the 15th Duke of Norfolk in 1895. A competitive LNZCC XI turned out looking forward to both the pristine ground and the highly regarded lunch that the Arundel ground is well known for. Whilst we hadn't played against the Duke of Norfolk’s XI before, we expected a high standard of cricket given the auspicious teams that frequently grace their fixtures calendar - including the likes of the MCC, The Arabs, and international touring sides. We were not to be disappointed.

Following the toss, lost by LNZ, we were sent out onto the manicured field, Ross Haines and Ryan Allan sharing the new ball and both bowling accurate spells. The Arundel openers set about their work in a measured way, the batting friendly track offering us few chances. It was a similar story with the bowlers that followed, with Shaun Raumati, Brogan McIlwrick and Ben Lockrose (on his LNZ debut) all bowling well but not troubling their openers beyond a very tough caught and bowled opportunity that went to ground off Shaun's bowling. LNZ did well to keep the lid on the run rate however, with tight bowling and some dedicated fielding keeping the run rate below 5 an over. The first breakthrough came a few overs before lunch with Ross Haines trapping Chris Vernon (eventual man of the match for Arundel) LBW after a fine knock of 84. Things got tougher for LNZ after lunch with Arundel starting to go after the bowling, and with fielders moving a tad slower (possibly due to the plus sized portion of roast lamb for lunch!). The next wicket did not fall until they had 234 on the board, with Ben Lockrose at last teasing out a false shot from Cyris White (82) who holed out at mid-on. Ryan then came back into the attack and claimed three further wickets in relatively short order, but Arundel had plenty on the board when they eventually declared at 318-5 after 56 overs.

That left LNZ with an improbably chase - approximately 40 overs left in the day and a run rate of almost 8 required for victory. Both Dan Robinson (LNZCC man of the match) and Andy Haines started brightly, both seeing the ball well and dispatching it frequently to the fence. Of particular note was Dan who at one stage plundered 3 sixes and a four from one over - things were starting to get interesting! The hundred went up with no loss of wicket. Mental gymnastics from the pavilion kept tabs on the required rate - now almost 10 an over required, but seemingly possible if the onslaught continued - which it did even once Andy departed on 64 snicking one of their many spinners behind. His brother Ross Haines replaced him and continued to score freely. Even when Dan eventually departed for 82, the score at 167-2, there remained some hope. As the overs ticked down however, it seemed a draw was the only likely result. Even a spate of wickets (including the skipper for a golden), falling to their young seamer Matthew Marriot late in the day, could not make a proper contest of the day. Final result a draw, with LNZ closing out on 263-6 after 39 overs - a highly commendable performance with positive cricket being played throughout the day. We retired to the bar (and the train after that!) for some well-earned beers and debated the pros and cons of the declaration format at some length! Ultimately it was a fantastic day out, and a fixture that we hope to see on our calendar again in the near future.