Calmore Sports finish runners-up at Lord's Voneus Village Cup Final
Calmore Sports wanted to give Mark Lavelle a retirement gift of a second consecutive Lord's Voneus Village Cup final triumph, but their plans went awry as Gloucestershire side Dumbleton outplayed them to win by 86 runs.
Lavelle recently stepped down as Calmore captain after eight fairly successful years at the helm at Loperwood Park – he is by far the Southern Premier League's longest serving captain – and proudly raised the 50 years old village trophy at Lord's 12 months ago.
West of England Premier League's Dumbleton rattled up a commanding 241-4 before reducing Calmore to 39-5 and an eventual 155 all-out.
It was the first time Calmore Sports had been beaten in two seasons of Village Cup cricket, but to get to Lord's again and finish runners-up out of an initial entry of over 250 clubs is a fantastic achievement.
Calmore were second best for all bar the initial ten overs, with England U19 prospect Tommy Boorman (73) and skipper Rupert Salmon, with a forceful 71, peppering the short Tavern boundary.
Seventeen years old Boorman, who has played regularly for Gloucestershire seconds in recent weeks, launched three sixes into his own ecstatic band of supporters after entering the fray when Steve Wright bowled the prolific Ross Martin early doors.
Run gun Dan Holland, the eldest son of former Calmore batsman Nick Holland, made a tidy 29, his punchy second-wicket stand of 62 with Boorman providing an ideal platform for Salmon to clout a run-a-ball 71 and effectively bat the 2021 winners out of the game.
Dumbleton then put Calmore's bowlers to the sword in the lead-up to tea, with 101 runs coming off the last ten overs of the innings.
Already needing to make their highest winning total of the season, Calmore needed another equally important innings from Ben Johns, the competition's leading run maker of 2022, but it didn't happen.
Calmore's reply had barely got underway when Johns cramped up and, the very next ball after treatment, edged a low catch to Boorman at second slip.
As the left-hander trailed despondently back to the pavilion, Calmore's already slim hopes of repeating their 2021 triumph went with him.
Within 12 overs, Calmore were 39-5 and facing the prospect of an unwanted entry in the Village Cup final record books – the heaviest ever margin of defeat (119 runs inflicted by Seesay on Sibton in 2016).
But James Manning (41), supported by Max Bailey (18) and Josh Metcalfe (18), aided by a plethora of 35 extras, spared their blushes to take Calmore to 155.
