Cuckfield celebrate huge win over Ifield in the Sussex Premier

Henry Rogers and Joe Cambridge opened the batting for Cuckfield and got Cuckfield off to a blistering start, setting the tone with an opening partnership of 47 off just 6.3 overs before Rogers was dismissed by Mahad Ahmed (1-60). George Galbraith-Gibbons joined Cambridge as runs continued to flow, with Cambridge punishing the Ifield bowlers whenever they missed their spot, even by the smallest of margins.

Cambridge brought up his first Premier League hundred off just 103 balls, as Cuckfield’s runs continued to flow. Cambridge was eventually dismissed for a fantastic 119 off 114, but this brought Oli Carter to the crease at 191-2, in the 42nd over.

Carter’s intent was clear from the outset, even after Galbraith-Gibbons was dismissed for a well-made 58, as he smashed the Ifield bowlers to all parts of the ground and even out of it, as well as hitting one of the biggest fours ever at Cuckfield, just hitting the top of the tree. Carter was ably supported by Cuckfield overseas Jake Gibson (33 off 19).

Carter brought up his first 50 runs off 32 balls before reaching his century after just 50 balls and finally finishing on 106*(51). A couple of late wickets from Raminda Wijesooriya (2-62) left Cuckfield declaring after 56 overs for 350-5.

Ifield perhaps regretting their decision to elect to field could have been spurred on by Cuckfield’s result from the previous week having a similar score chased down, however, the Cuckfield openers (Jake Gibson and Theo Barker) hit their straps from ball one with Barker even bowling a brutal bouncer first ball to Daniel Smith forcing him to retire hurt, although he later came back, this brought Wijesooriya to the crease who attempted to counterpunch with 15 off 6 balls, however his resistance was short lived as he was dismissed by Gibson (1-37) caught at second slip by Cambridge.

Barker (4-15) teared through the rest of the top order with a combination of hostile short balls and full swinging deliveries. Rogers (4-13) followed Barker down the hill and continued the momentum bowling an equally effective and hostile spell ripping through Ifield’s middle/lower order, supported by Ben Canfield’s 3 maidens in a row, before Nick Patterson (1-4), took the last wicket with his third ball, finishing the Ifield innings on 71 in just 24.3 overs, Keelan Bulger offered the only real resistance for Ifield finishing 23* (63).

Cuckfield won by 279 runs in as convincing fashion as one could imagine, thanks to outstanding performances from Cambridge, Carter, Barker and Rogers, giving Cuckfield a much-needed win to hope kickstart some mid-season from after a bit of a slump, as they head to Preston Nomads next Saturday.

Cuckfield 2nd XI Vs Rottingdean 1st XI

Home side Rottingdean won the toss on a misty morning against Cuckfield, electing to bat. Cuckfield's seamers started strongly, with Sam Candfield (9-1-18-2) not moving from a consistent off stump line.

First change bowlers Matt Slinger and Will Broyd then got into their work, again not affording the Rottingdean batters much room tomppay their shots. From 83-2 at drinks to 123-5, the bowlers stayed on top - but a dropped catch let former Cuckfield keeper Connor Betsworth to move to 59 off 57, before being removed by returning opener Will Galbraith-Gibbons at the death. Cuckfield finished well to restrict Rottingdean to 198-7, a below-par score, albeit on a pitch with variable bounce.

Captain Dominic Sear and Nathan Buckeridge began the reply cautiously, before Sear was stumped down the leg side off opposite number Jack Cox. This started a collapse which took Cuckfield from 30-0 to 52-5, with all manner of dismissals taking place, including a run out at the non-striker's end to remove no.5 Greg Wisdom.

Tom Lord and Buckeridge recovered well from this setback, keeping Cuckfield in the game with a partnership of 65. However, Buckeridge fell for 44 after a length ball held up in the pitch, and Lord was eventually bowled for a very well made 57, leaving the tail with too much to do. When last man Slinger was ran out, Cuckfield were 33 runs short on 165, in another game which had slipped away from them.

Cuckfield 3rd XI Vs Lindfield 2nd XI

Cuckfield 3XI entertained Lindfield 2XI on a sweltering day at HQ. Captain Caleb Hawkins won the toss and elected to field. This decision was rewarded early when opening bowler Sam Shepherd (2-49) found the Lindfield openers outside edge and fell to a surprised Chris Taylor at gully who managed to cling onto the catch.

Bowling partner Joseph Thorpe (1-36) strode in from the far end, putting the top order on the back foot with some back of a length pace and picked up the dangerous Simon Shivnarain – caught on the leg side by Will Ward. Cuckfield continued their good start to the bowling stint, having Lindfield on the back foot at 30/3 after a steepling catch held by Matt Power of Shepherd.

However, a stabilizing partnership between Tom Kalber (68) and Michael Hewett (45) rebuilt their innings and runs were becoming easier to come by in the middle overs. Lex Duffy’s economical line and length accounted for Hewett’s middle stump and Wards disguised full toss saw the back of the middle order. The introduction of Stephen Perce (40 off 16) saw a flurry of runs being scored and the momentum swinging the oppositions way.

Power and Charlie Mole bowled well in partnership to restrict the flow of boundaries in the late stage of the innings. Lindfield finished on 239/9 off 40 overs. Despite picking up 9 wickets, the Cuckfield bowlers were hampered by extras and missed fielding opportunities to consolidate their moments of control.

Cuckfield’s reply got off to a promising start with Ellis Buckeridge (30) and Richard Amer (26) providing a solid platform. However, just as the innings looked to gain momentum, wickets began to tumble with Lindfield’s spinners Pearce (2-35) and Tanmay Sharma (4-35) combining with great effect - the Cuckfield middle order couldn’t withstand the consistent bowling attack.

Caleb Hawkins played a fighting hand with a well-constructed 41, but ultimately the increasing run rate proved to be too great a task. Unfortunately, none of the batters could convert their starts into a match-defining innings, and Cuckfield were bowled out for 166, falling 73 runs short.

Despite patches of promise with both bat and ball, Cuckfield couldn’t sustain pressure for long enough periods to gain control. The missed opportunities during the first innings, coupled with a lack of big partnerships in the chase, ultimately told the story of the day.

Cuckfield will look to bounce back in the derby away to Ansty next week.

Cuckfield 4th XI Vs Palmers 2nd XI

Cuckfield 4XI lost the toss and were put into to bat by Palmers CC 2nd XI. The openers James Buckeridge (42) and Glenn Smith (23) got Cuckfield off to a good start.

Then the middle order, Iain Pringle (40) Digny Deighton (14) and Tom Mole (33), all scored useful runs to put Cuckfield into a good position before Stuart Plant (43) and Adam Jull (14) finished off the innings setting Palmers CC 227 to win

The Cuckfield opening bowlers started well with Jamie Tuddenham (2-37) and Adam Jull (3-41) taking early wickets as well as Stuart Plant running out Palmer's opening batter for 30. Then Paul Meader (1-46) and Godfrey Baker (2-6) both took wickets before Joseph Atkins (1-0) got the final wicket to dismiss Palmers for 134 all out.