Cuckfield beaten by Haywards Heath in Mid Sussex derby

Haywards Heath won the toss and elected to field, and after losing early wickets Cuckfield found themselves 37-2.

Nipun Karunanayake and Ollie Graham built a solid partnership over the middle overs until Karunanayake (61) was dismissed by Ollie Bailey.

Power hitting from Brad Gayler (31) and Harry Clark (19*) left Cuckfield on 234-5 from the revised 41 overs as Graham top-scored with 71.

For Haywards Heath, Jonny Phelps (2-37) and Jethro Menzies (1-50) were the pick of the bowlers.

After further rain, Haywards Heath were left to chase 254 due to a Duckworth-Lewis recalculation.

Jethro Menzies (72) and Max Barson (68) took the reply to 125 before the first wicket fell putting Haywards Heath in a strong position.

However, Cuckfield began to take regular wickets and bowl themselves back into the game, with skipper Ben Candfield (4-44) shifting the game in thier favour.

However, Haywards Heath’s tail kept up with the run rate to take the game to the last over with Henry Sims (36*) and Chris Blunt (12*) requiring 12 to win.

Singles, a two and a slog sweep for six, took Haywards Heath to victory off the final ball of the match.

A quality game of cricket which both sides could have won, ended with a derby victory for Haywards Heath.

CUCKFIELD CC 2ND XI

Cuckfield CC 2nd XI travelled down to Goodwood on another wet Saturday to face Chichester Priory Park CC 2nd XI.

Cuckfield won the toss and elected to field which looked to be the wrong decision as William Price (26) and Peter Lamb (40) put on 62 for the first wicket.

However, a much-needed wicket from Will Galbraith-Gibbons brought the game back in the balance with wickets then being taken at regular intervals.

Owen Spicer (33) batted well through the middle overs for Chichester however the fall of his wicket at 140-4 put the innings in the balance with 12 overs to go.

Paul Vickers (52) and Jonathon Maynard (13) began to push Chichester towards a competitive total, doing well to put on a partnership worth 70.

However, when Vickers fell victim to Will Galbraith-Gibbons this halted their momentum going into the last couple of overs.

At the death, Galbraith-Gibbons and Theo Barker bowled extremely well to eventually restrict Chichester to 216-8 which Cuckfield felt was well within their reach to chase.

The pick of the bowlers were Will Galbraith-Gibbons (2-50) and Theo Barker (2-36) with wickets being shared between Chris Osborne, Matt Slinger and Greg Seed.

Cuckfield used the momentum from the back end of the bowling innings to get off to a good start with the bat.

Will Rossiter (34) put pressure on the Chichester bowlers to put Cuckfield in a great position to chase the total, however the fall of two quick wickets left Cuckfield at 55-2 to put the game in the balance once again with the threat of rain on Cuckfield’s mind.

Two important partnerships, however, between Richie Amer (25) and Dan Turner (76*) and then Turner and Chris Taylor (ten) put Cuckfield in a great position at 160-5 needing 57 from 17 overs.

Turner was hitting boundaries everywhere and changed the pace of the innings completely with Chichester constantly making bowling changes to try and stop the onslaught.

Will Galbraith-Gibbons (30*) joined Turner in another important partnership to see Cuckfield home with 11.2 overs to spare.

Another good win for Cuckfield who record consecutive victories and look forward to a tough test next Saturday at home against Steyning CC.

CUCKFIELD CC 3RD XI

Cuckfield CC 3rd XI met Southwick CC at Buckingham Park. Given the damp wicket and improving weather, Southwick won the crucial toss and decided to field.

Cuckfield battled to 150 all out from 36 overs with Piers Harrison (38) and Joe Cotton (38) top-scoring to give Cuckfield something to bowl at.

Russell Martin (4-33) and Harry Dorgan (3-30) made the most of the bowler friendly conditions.

Cuckfield felt slightly short of runs going into the break but if the bowlers could find the right areas, they were in with a chance.

In reply, Rob Cornell (62) and Chris Paine (29) batted well to survive early testing spells from Josh Downey (0-22) and Adam Jull (0-39) but Cornell’s watchful innings proved to be decisive with excellent bowling from Jack Best (1-19) being too little too late.

A wicket apiece for Best, Cotton (1-16), Sam Shepherd (1-23) and Goff Baker (1-29) was not enough as Southwick won by six wickets with four overs to spare.

CUCKFIELD CC 4TH XI

Cuckfield CC 4th XI entertained newly formed side Mid Sussex Heathens CC with Cuckfield winning the toss and electing to field first.

Tim Power (1-13) and George Ponsford (3-21) got Cuckfield off to a sterling start and built pressure with tight lines and clever deliveries.

Young Matthew Power (1-21) picked up from where his dad left off and a blinding spell by Bryce Van Straaten (4-22) concluded Heathens innings for 81.

Special mention to Ellis Buckeridge and Dom Seed for some brilliant fielding in the covers. For Mid Sussex Heathens, Grady Pummell top-scored with 18.

After a quick turn around to avoid the rain, Richard Loveridge and Ellis Buckeridge opened the Cuckfield reply only to see Loveridge sent back to the pavilion being bowled by Grady Pummell (1-16) first ball.

After Jamie Wilkes (2-24) had removed Buckeridge and Caleb Hawkins (15), the Cuckfield run chase looked in trouble but the combination of Dom Seed (28*) and Adam Bennett (24*) saw Cuckfield home to win by seven wickets with 22 overs to spare.

A first win of the season for Cuckfield 4th XI after their match was rained off last weekend.