Cricket: Horsham beat Eastbourne – Roffey beaten by Nomads – Cuckfield beat Middleton in thriller

Horsham 305-4 (50 overs) - Eastbourne 272 all out (48.1 overs) Horsham won by 33 runs

Sussex Premier

by Martin Read

When Horsham won the toss, Ground Manager, Chris (Shaka) Shambrook, talking exclusively to the County Times, said: “The wicket here is so good that we’ll need a minimum of 300, preferably 325.” And, Horsham duly obliged, throwing down the gauntlet to visiting Eastbourne, who were bowled out 33 runs short, despite an outstanding century from Sussex’s Archie Lenham.

Two of Horsham’s young bloods – Joe Willis (61) – out immediately after smiting a 6 - and Ollie Haines (30) created an excellent opening launch pad for skipper Nick Oxley and Will Beer to capitalise with 87 apiece, Lenham taking 2-41 as Horsham posted 305-4 from their 50 over allocation.

Replying, Eastbourne were soon 36-3, courtesy of 3 dismissals by Sam Martin-Jenkins, but Lenham took the fight to Horsham, before finally succumbing to the wiles of Ben Williams for 115, including 10 fours. With 118 required off the remaining 10 overs it was always going to be a stiff ask for Eastbourne, but, aided by some early season fielding lapses, Hugo Walsh, Jack Meacher and Joseph Sarro all challenged, only to be thwarted by spirited Horsham bowling,

Haines finishing with 3-46 to seal the 30 point success. While the scores might suggest a close game, in reality this was a relatively comfortable win for Horsham with the result never being in serious doubt once Lenham had departed.

Post match, Nick Oxley said: “We put up a competitive total, then, until the lower order came in, only Archie Lenham really threatened. We’re still short of time in the middle, but after our first two games were rained off, we’re delighted to get a win under our belt.”

On Saturday Horsham visit Bognor, who are yet to win, after being bowled out for 140 and 182.

Pagham 84 all out (18.3 overs) Horsham 88-1 (7.3 overs); Horsham won by 9 wickets

Sussex T20 Cup

by Martin Read

Horsham scythed through to the second round of the Sussex T20 Cup at Pagham on Sunday, bowling out the host’s Division 3 West side for a totally inadequate 84 – 416 runs having been scored at the ground the previous day - and then dashing off the target in just 7 and a half overs.

Electing to bat first, Pagham put on 28 for the first wicket, with openers Flynn Bennett and Theo Beynon-Ayres both reaching double figures ahead of Horsham Cricket Manager Ben Williams completing a hat trick in his 4-7, Pagham staggering to 46-5 just beyond the half way stage of their innings. Number 7, Wayne Green top scored with 21, but Horsham’s surge was relentless, Mike Shaw (3-10) and Nicholas Swire Thompson (1-2) polishing off Pagham in double quick time.

Pagham’s only hope of an upset was to make serious early inroads, and they got off to the best possible start with a wicket from the first ball of Horsham’s reply. But, that was as got as it got, with Captain of the day Bertie Foreman crashing 68, with 7 fours and 5 sixes from his 30 balls. 12 and a half overs were unused, with Pagham’s bowling analyses best not dwelt upon.

A very happy Ben Williams told the County Times: “Nick Oxley and Will Beer had to pull out sick overnight, and we had others from yesterday’s 1s unavailable, which gave us the opportunity to play three up and coming young lads from our feeder teams – Sean O’Donnell, Louie Purchase and Nicholas Swire Thompson, and it was really great to see them so keen to play and grabbing the opportunity.

"Bertie Foreman stepped up to lead the side, he’s settled in brilliantly, always determined to give his very best – and to encourage everyone else to do the same. We’ve got Bognor at home in the next round on Sunday June 4, and we’re all looking forward to that.”

Preston Nomads 228-9 (50 overs); Roffey 119 all out (34.1 overs). Preston Nomads won by 119 runs

Sussex Premier

by Martin Read

After two wash outs, defending champions Roffey finally got their Sussex Premier League campaign underway, only to crash to a heavy defeat at Preston Nomads’ Fulking stronghold.

Winning the toss, Nomads elected to bat, soon finding themselves 30-2, thanks to a wicket apiece for Alex Collins and Jonny Phelps. Then, former Sussex player, 25 year old Jonty Jenner rapidly made the highest score of the match – 55 - including 5 fours and 3 sixes. Earlier Collins had accounted for the county’s Danial Ibrahim for 3, Roffey subsequently keeping Nomads in check until thirties from wicketkeeper Joe Musto and skipper Nav Patel carried the hosts beyond 200, despite Will Fenwick hollowing out the middle order with 4-43.

Requiring 229, Roffey got off to a promising start, only to slip to 57-3, following which wickets fell all too regularly, two lower order run outs contributing towards a remorseless slide to 119 all out, Nomads winning comfortably with only Theo Rivers and Nick Greenwood passing 20.

Reflecting on the disappointing start to Roffey’s season, Rivers said: “We bowled and fielded well, but although some of us got starts, we didn’t build on that and lost wickets in clusters with nobody able to put a rescue partnership together. It’s been frustrating to have games cancelled and our training interrupted by the weather, but we’re not the only team to suffer from that and just need to get a win to kick-start our season. We’ve got joint leaders East Grinstead at home on Saturday – they’ve won both of their games handsomely, so we’ll need to be at our best.”

Cuckfield v Middleton

Sussex Premier – report from Middleton

In an enthralling match at Cuckfield, the hosts emerged victorious by two wickets in a closely contested battle.

Winning the toss, Cuckfield elected to field first, hoping to capitalise on any early advantages offered by the pitch and weather conditions.

Middleton got off to a solid start, with Sean Heather and Mason Robinson forming a promising partnership. The duo displayed excellent stroke play and put together a decent stand, frustrating the bowlers.

However, the tide turned when both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession, shifting the momentum towards the fielding side.

Following the breakthrough, wickets started falling at regular intervals for Middleton.

The Cuckfield bowlers found their rhythm and created consistent pressure on the opposition.

Despite the middle-order collapse, Josh Wood showcased his exciting ball striking, playing a magnificent innings.

Wood's exceptional knock of 76 off just 39 balls helped Middleton recover and post a respectable total of 249.

Josh Hayward was the standout performer with the ball for Cuckfield, claiming 4-44 from his ten overs.

Chasing a target of 250, Cuckfield had an early hiccup when they gifted Middleton an early run-out.

However, the Cuckfield batsmen remained undeterred and battled hard to seize control of the innings. James Barker bowled a fantastic spell into the wind from one end (0-27 from 10 overs).

But the trio of Thornhill, Graham, and Candfield played crucial roles, each notching up impressive half-centuries. Their composed and calculated innings steadied the ship for Cuckfield.

At 217-4, victory seemed within Cuckfield's grasp, as they appeared to be cruising towards their target. However, a flurry of quick wickets reduced Cuckfield to 224-7.

Middleton sensed an opportunity to turn the tide in their favor. Nevertheless, the Cuckfield tailenders were able to keep the scoreboard ticking making the most of any width on offer.

In the end, with five overs to spare, Cuckfield managed to reach the target, securing a thrilling two-wicket victory. Cuckfield gained 30 points and Middleton a deserved 14.

West Wittering v Billingshurst

Division 3 West

Billingshurst batted first and raced away at five an over, the openers riding their luck with a couple of tough chances dropped.

They put on 130 before the introduction of leg spinner James Staight bought about a couple of wickets. Billingshurst reached 200 before losing their third wicket to Harry Staight.

At one point Billingshurst looked like they could reach 300 but some tighter bowling and regular wicket-taking in the final overs stopped the surge of runs at 267.

Mike Burroughs scored 80, Isaac Thorneley 54, Dan Phillips 39 with Staight the pick of the bowlers with 3-49.

Needing six an over was always going to be tricky, especially with tight bowling early on from the openers restricting West Wittering to 32-0 after 11.

Debutant Dom Fecher (17) got a leading edge and a catch at cover sent him back to the pavilion for a nice 17, which included a couple of lovely straight drives.

Wittering lost a few more wickets and Brandon Trimmer joined Oli Starr at the crease with the score 86-4. Starr departed on 44 for lbw.

Jordan Dear (22) and Trimmer (52) took the battle back to the bowlers with a stand of 66. Dear (22) departed and Joe Sissons joined Trimmer before the skipper was removed for a fantastic 52. Sissons finished with 26*, pummelling anything short to the fence – but it wasn’t enough as WWCC were bowled out for 208, losing by 59 runs.

For Billingshurst, Paul Osbourne took 4-28, Dan Phillips 3-50

Goring 2nd v West Wittering 2nd

Division 8 WestWest Wittering elected to bowl first and Kieran Baker claimed the first wicket in the first over.

Top scorer for Goring was Jacob Parkin with 16, with Aidan Goodwin and Graham Cornish both adding 12 and Joe Charman 11 the only players to reach double figures.

Rohit Chauhan took two excellent catches on debut with superb bowling from Baker (4-14) and the skipper Kev Allsobrook (3-9) bringing Goring's total to 71 all outWittering struggled from ball one, with Chauhan out for a duck and Steve Day soon after for two. Wickets fell until the skipper came in at 11-5 to assist Charlie Caddy and temper the bowling of Rajendra Makkunuri (1-10) and Graham Cornish (4-20).

These two limped added 44 but a few more wickets meant Goring were back in the game. Baker (8no) came to the cease at 10 and assisted Caddy over the line with a two-wicket win, Caddy 42 not out.

Ashling v Stansted Park

A high-scoring game at West Ashling saw the home team post a formidable 235-9.

Mohit led the way with 65, and there was ample support from Charlie Colley and Rob Colaco who both fell three short of half-centuries.

Stansted made a rapid start, led by Dan Lane who fell for 79, and the game was in the balance.

But determined bowling, particularly Colaco's 3-38, left Stansted with too much to do in the closing overs and they ended on 200-7 to complete Ashling's win.

Cuckfield 1st XI vs Middleton 1st XI

Sussex Premier – report from Cuckfield

Cuckfield hosted Middleton in the third league game of the season at Cuckfield Park, in what was Middleton’s first time on the field following consecutive abandonments. Having won the toss and inserted Middleton on what looked to be a very good batting wicket, Cuckfield’s opening bowlers set about their work with some early success.

Both seamers found some early movement, with Joe White in particular impressing – finding some slight lateral movement to remove Harry Hovey for 10. The evergreen Sean Heather and Mason Robinson came together and accumulated successfully, seeing off a testing new ball spell from both ends.

Both played cautiously as Cuckfield turned to their slower bowlers, before the first real show of intent as Heather stepped down the pitch to lift Josh Hayward over the sightscreen for the first 6 of the innings. They moved the score to 109 with ease, before a slice off Wes Marshall saw Robinson well caught at third man for 35, bringing Josh Wood to the crease.

Heather followed soon after, top edging a short, wide delivery from Hayward to short third for a well-made 57. A procession of wickets followed, with Hayward’s mixed bag of slow, straight – and sometimes wayward - deliveries accounting for a further 3 to leave the visitors 149-6. Wood had remained relatively quiet at the other end, before unleashing an assault on the Cuckfield bowlers.

Marshall was first swatted for a trio of sixes, before the rest of the Cuckfield attack felt the full force his of hitting. His 76 came from just 39 balls, included 8 sixes, and at times mixed the sublime with the ridiculous – a slog-swept 6 of Nick Patterson being the highlight. Wood began to run out of partners, and finally miscued one off Aiden Drew (3-56) to see the visitors finish up of 249. Joe White (2-26), Aiden Drew and Josh Hayward (4-44) were the pick of the Cuckfield bowlers.

Cuckfield were confident at the break, with the pitch playing well and a lightning fast outfield. Their optimism was quickly dashed however, when some suspect running between Wes Marshall and Joe Cambridge seeing Cambridge run out for 0.

Debutant Alex Thornhill and Marshall steadied the ship, before the introduction of spin saw Marshall hoist a Ajit Sambhi long-hop to long-on to fall for 18. Ollie Graham and Thornhill began accumulating, the latter taking himself to 59, before being bowled by Russell Talman to leave the home side 116-3.

Ben Candfield’s entry to the crease saw the momentum swing firmly back in Cuckfield’s direction, his 40-ball 51, complimented first by 50 from Graham, and after by an enterprising 25 for Oscar Jago-Lewis, took the equation to less than a run a ball with wickets still in hand. Middleton had other ideas however, taking 3 quick wickets to leave Cuckfield struggling at 224-7.

Aiden Drew and Joe White continued attacking the bowlers however, before White too fell, caught on long-on off Josh Wood’s bowling. With 9 to win, Drew safely steered the home side to a second successive win with 4.3 overs left and 2 wickets remaining.

Mayfield v Three Bridges

Sussex Premier

After the frustration of losing the first two weeks of the league season to the weather, Three Bridges finally got their campaign off to a stunning start away at Mayfield's picturesque Wellbrook Ground.

Having lost the toss and been invited to bat, openers Sam Cooper (51) and James Russell (31) set about the Mayfield bowling in spectacular fashion, smashing sixes and fours to all parts in a stand of 97.

Both departed on that score and any hopes that Mayfield had of turning the tide were soon dashed as Conor Golding (87) and Thorn Parkes (105) put on a masterful stand of 199.

Overseas recruit Parkes will rightly take the headlines for a superb hundred but his innings was matched in quality by Golding as both players scored freely in a fine display of batting to set their team on the way to a huge score.

To ram home their advantage, Bridges skipper Joe Walker (52) then joined the party with a 24 ball half-century and when the innings closed his side had amassed a mammoth 371 from their 50 overs.

The Mayfield reply was soon put in check as Golding (2-45) and Arran Brown (3-57) reduced them to 45-3 but whilst never really challenging Bridges score they built some partnerships and looked to take advantage of any opportunities on the fast scoring ground.

Tristan Killops top scored with 51 before being dismissed by George Cave (2-44) and there were some mighty blows from West Indian, Keon Harding (33) before he was tidily snared by Walker off a steepler from the returning Brown.

There were wickets for Rowan Naude (2-47) and James Russell (1-9) and a very tidy eight over spell by 14-year-old Osman Zahir (0-38). Mayfield ensured they picked up maximum batting points by passing 225 but they were soon all out in the 45th over with a score of 244.

Bridges will be boosted by the 127-run victory as they host Cuckfield in their next league outing at the Barker Meads next Saturday.

Ifield suffered a tight seven-run defeat at the hands of Steyning in Division 3 West. Steyning batted first and scored 196-9 from their 45 overs.

Owen Piper hit four sixes in his 30-ball 44 while Paul Clifford took 3-29 for Ifield. In reply, Mahad Ahmed (34), Mike Norris (38) and Raminda Wijesooriya (60) gave Ifield a great start but wickets at regular intervals hated their progress and they fell seven runs short.

In the same division, Crawley Eagles lost by 47 runs despite bowling Littlehampton out for just 92. Bilal Ahmed, Anjum Zafer, Usman Hussain and Usman Bashir all took two wickets each in a superb bowling display by the Eagles.

But a poor batting display saw James Askew (4-24) and Akshay Goyal (6-20) run through the Eagles and claim victory.

On Saturday, Ifield host West Wittering while Eagles travel to Slinfold.

In Division 4 West, Crawley suffered a 90-run defeat at Broadwater. The home side batted first and scored 267-9 with Chris Green top-scoring with 62. Shahbaz Haroon took 3-38 for Crawley.

Razwan Hussain hit 71 and Haroon 40 but it wasn’t enough as Freddie Tomlinson’s 4-23 helped Broadwater to bowl Crawley out for 177.

Horley men’s second and third teams both won their first league matches of the season, the ladies and under-11s also had wins to celebrate, but the men's firsts lost in the Surrey Championship for the second week in a row.

The firsts got off to a tidy start at Haslemere after the hosts elected to bat. A run out from Ant Puttick and a wicket from Jon Barnett, plus two wickets in consecutive overs from skipper Charlie Robins had them in the driving seat with the hosts on 84-4.Adam Stephenson came into the attack, picking up from where he left off last week, clean bowling A Hooker off the last ball of the 40th over and from the first ball of the very next over Ben Davies ran out J Wright and Haslemere were 114-6.

Guy Derham took the seventh wicket and Davies’s two, meant Horley restricted Haslemere to 169-9 from their 50 overs.Horley’s innings got off to a good start as Regan Derham (46) and Puttick (14) batted well, the former picking the gaps in the field with relative ease. When Puttick fell, Matt Ware (23) joined Derham and both were picking up singles where they could. Derham finally holed out and from 78-2, Horley collapsed to 98-6. Will Taylor (15) was one of only four Horley batsmen to make double figures but they were bowled out for 129 in 42.3 overs.It was a disappointing result for Horley, however they will pick themselves up and go again next weekend when they entertain Thames Ditton.

Horley under-11s are through to the third round of the Surrey County Cup after beating Reigate Priory from a league above them by five wickets.

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​Crowhurst Park v Haywards Heath

Sussex Division 2

Haywards Heath CC finally began their Sussex League Division 2 campaign – and did so with a win at Crowhurst Park.

Ground issues and poor weather have resulted in several cancellations and skipper Callum Smith was glad to win the toss and bat.

Jethro Menzies, fresh from his around the world travels, was bowled by Jamie Bristow.

Australian overseas Rory Livingstone and new signing Guy Moore built a good partnership and took Heath through the powerplay scoring freely.

The next wicket fell on 75 as Moore was caught behind. Livingstone was scoring freely and had partnerships with Ben Matthew (14) and skipper Smith (23).

Livingstone fell seven short of a debut century – attempting one big shot too many – and Park restricted Heath to 263.

Contributions from Karamveer Sondh (15), Charlie Rutter (21) and Sam Parsons (15) were important.

In the reply Heath struck early through Livingstone as he and Rutter bowled with good control. Menzies took another wicket to reduce Crowhurst to 45-2.

Heath were reduced to 10 men as bowler Parsons pulled up with a hamstring injury. With the score on 85 Menzies struck to remove Payne for 39, then had the new batter pinned in front to reduce Crowhurst to 100-4.

Heath introduced 16-year-old Sussex leg spinner Fred Wallis and he picked up 5-32 to take Heath to victory as the hosts were all out for 165.

Heath hope to return home this Saturday to host Buxted Park.

Rottingdean v Lindfield

Division 3 East

Lindfield finally began their 2023 league season with a tense win at Rottingdean that saw new overseas player Imesh Udayanga hit a 50 on his debut and skipper James Aggio-Brewe take five wickets.

Batting first, the Swans had a fine start with Andy Stillwell (50) and Harry Moorat (80) putting on 87 before Stillwell was run out - a fate that later befell Moorat.

Udayanga, batting at four, supported by Moorat, pushed the visitors to 196-3 they ended with 222-5.

In response, Rottingdean openers Connor Bettsworth (34) and Henry Ledden (37) got the home side off to a good start. But Mike Hernandez (2-32) saw the Swans back into it.

Udayanga's nine overs of off-spin cost just 10 runs and he picked up the wicket of Ledden.

A 50 from George Ledden kept Rottingdean in the game but the introduction of Aggio-Brewe saw Lindfield rip out the lower middle order to win by 13 runs.

Broadwater v Crawley

Division 3 West

Broadwater CC sit proudly at the top of Division 4 West of the Sussex League after recording their second straight win when Crawley visited.

Broadwater won the toss and batted. Chris Green and Andy Reid opened well and Reid was first out for 42 with the score 56-1.

At 80-2, after Les Ward’s departure, Benn Challen joined Green, adding 35 in a partnership of 81 before being bowled. With contributions from Gareth Challen 15, Akhona Mbanga 17, Keir McCathy 33 added to Green’s 62, Broadwater finished with an above-par 267-9.

Crawley’s reply started poorly with the openers falling cheaply to Fitzroy Hodges for a duck and Mbanga, both to good catches by Reid.

A partnership of 43 followed before Hodges claimed his second wicket.

Wickets fell regularly and Freddie Tomlinson cleaned up the tail to finish with figures of 4-23 as Broadwater won by 90 runs.

Delighted captain Ben Challen said: “We've had two wins, one loss, one called off. We lost our first game but now have a few players back and have won the last two.

"Last year was a difficult year with some older players stepping by and lots of unavailability. Having been relegated to Division 4 West we are now in the correct division to be able to get some younger players in the team while being competitive.

"We will be aiming for a top half finish while bringing on the younger players and enjoying our cricket.”

Burgess Hill 3rd XI v Southwick

Division 8 Central

The Wickers are top of the table after a win at Burgess Hill.

They travelled to Clayton in high spirits and weren’t to be disappointed as they took all the plaudits in an extraordinary triumph.

Tom Bell won the toss and put the Hillians into bat.

Soon, bowlers Paul Grennan and Gary Mussen wreaked havoc among the shell-shocked batters.

Mussen took four wickets and Grennan 3three (all clean bowled again) in 18 overs as the opposition sank to 19-7.

There was no improvement for the batters when the first changes came about as Paul Hudson and young Matt Rowson polished off the innings in frugal style to leave Burgess Hill 23 all out.

Captain and keeper Dan Austin top scored with six as Hill limped along at barely a run an over and without managing a boundary.

Mussen’s figures read 9-6-7-4 and Grennan’s were 9-4-7-3. The metronomic Hudson bowled two overs, took two wickets and didn’t concede a run.

In response the Wickers lost openers Dean Ghasemi (9) and Dan Reilly (2) before strolling to an astonishing victory in just six overs.

Bell said: “We put in an extraordinary performance in the field to bowl them out for 23, led by Grennan and Mussen.

"We knew every run counted on a tricky wicket, and everyone fielded with great commitment to ensure that we didn’t give them an opportunity to get back into it.”

Ansty 1st XI vs Cuckfield 2nd XI

Following a disappointing loss against Rye last week, Cuckfield looked to bounce back away against local rivals Ansty. Skipper, George Galbraith-Gibbons, won the toss and elected to bat on what looked to be a flat pitch.

George Galbraith-Gibbons and Dom Sear opened the account for Cuckfield, both looking solid early on until Galbraith-Gibbons (14) was out, caught behind off Max Barson (1-24) after playing a few nice shots. Josh Downey joined Sear and looked to put the pressure back on the Ansty bowlers. Downey got to 20 quickly before falling to Luke Wood (1-19). Ansty spinners Leo Anderson (2-35) and Charlie Lewis (3-34) bowled tightly in the middle overs whilst picking up regular wickets.

Sear (59) played a very controlled and important innings for Cuckfield but wasn’t supported by anyone, bar Sam Candfield (20) at number 7. After Candfield fell the tail only managed to put on 1 run between them thanks to the accurate bowling of Ansty captain Jake Wilson (3-22). In the end Cuckfield posted 145 in their 36.2 overs with Sear’s knock of 59 being the only score of note.

Chris Osbourne and Dom Sear opened the bowling for Cuckfield looking to defend the below par total. Sear bowled a tight opening spell with Osbourne creating a number of chances down the hill to no avail. Matt Slinger (4-35) replaced Sear and swiftly picked up the wicket of opener Max Barson, trapped in front.

Slinger took wickets regularly, including a spectacular catch at square leg from Osbourne. Charlie Lewis batted nicely for his eventual 64 not out but found support at the other end hard to come by as Greg Seed (1-27) also picked up a wicket with another incredible catch from Osbourne, this time at mid-off. Skipper Jake Wilson (37 not out) provided the stability that Lewis needed, taking the game away from Cuckfield. The pair knocked off the runs in the 36th over for the loss of only 5 wickets.

Another lacklustre performance from Cuckfield with the bat but some encouraging signs in the field. Cuckfield face Seaford at home next week and will look to get their first 30 points of the season on the board.

Cuckfield 3rd XI vs Brighton & Hove 3rd XI

Cuckfield 3rd XI hosted Brighton and Hove, with the visitors winning the toss and asking the home team to bat first again.

With the pitch and outfield being much drier than last week, batting conditions were far more favourable. Dave Downey got the innings off to a quick start with some nice attacking shots to the boundary through the covers and was ably supported by James Buckeridge, who worked the ball around sensibly against the opening bowling attack.

Downey brought up his 50 before the drinks break, in an opening stand of 86, before Buckeridge fell to a sharp catch, flicking a ball to short midwicket off the very controlled off spin from Girish Murali (3-20), for a patient 29.

Karoki Lewis joined Downey at the crease and these two kept the scoreboard ticking over nicely. After Downey became Murali's second victim - trapped LBW for a well-made 58 - it was a similar story to the previous week, with only Adam Jull (15) able to support Lewis, who continued his good form with a fine array of shots (including a lovely straight six) in making 47.

This left the visitors requiring a below par 173 to win, with Murali and Sayid Safir (4-30) being the pick of the bowlers.

In reply, Brighton and Hove lost 3 early wickets for just 24, courtesy of a good opening combination of seam of Adam Jull (2-38) and off spin of Matt Power (1-50). However, with a weakened bowling attack again, and up against two decent and attacking batters in Sean Ripley (67 not out) and Martyn Adams (60 not out), who both played some lovely shots (particularly straight down the ground) in a great partnership of 150, the visitors reached the target in just the 23rd over to win by 7 wickets.

A special mention must be given to a number of players who stepped up to help the 3rd XI in a torrid week of availability: Chris Bunning, Ben Mitchell, Julian Thorpe and Matthew Kuriakose.

This week sees a visit to Felbridge and Sunnyside, with the hope of much improved availability and an important win.

Brigthon & Hove 5th XI vs Cuckfield 4th XI

Cuckfield 4th XI won the toss and elected to bat on a gloriously sunny day at Falmer. Unfortunately, Charlie Dunnett was bowled by Harrison Brayshaw for 0 which saw Chris Mole (86) stride to the crease to join last week’s centurion Julian Ward (18). Some tight bowling from Brayshaw and Dan Mouland (0-18) made the Cuckfield batters work for their runs but it was not until the change bowling of Vasanthan Manoharan (1-31) that the break though came leaving Cuckfield at 49-2.

It was soon 55-3 as Wilf Williams came and went which brought father and son together with Hugo Mole making his adult league debut. Accumulating runs and taking the score to 97 before Hugo Mole became the first of Tony Jeswani’s (3-32) victims. Chris Mole became more expansive but wickets continued to tumble before Cuckfield were eventually bowled out for 151.

Cuckfield opened the bowling with Wilf Williams (0-15), who bowled accurately and with pace, and Woody Ward (0-35), who was unlucky to have a catch dropped. Chris (1-22) and Hugo Mole (0-18) replaced the opening bowlers with Mole Snr picking up the only wicket of the Brighton & Hove innings, that of Adam Millest (38). Despite using 7 bowlers, Cuckfield could not find a way to dismiss Archie Hall (53 not out) and Tony Jewwani (33 not out) who saw Brighton and Hove to victory with 10 overs to spare.

Cuckfield lacked the accuracy in the field shown the previous week and could not get going with the bat, but yet again a pleasing performance from the youngsters, with the elders really needing to deliver a little more.