Cuckfield lose low-scoring affair to Brighton

Winning the toss, Cuckfield opted to bat on a decent-enough looking pitch. Openers Silk and Mitchinson quickly set about the task of setting a total, adjusting quickly to a very slow and occasionally unpredictable surface. With both batsmen seizing on anything short - Mitchinson being particularly dismissive, striking two consecutive sixes off Atherton - the two brought up their second consecutive 50 stand. However, the early success was short lived; a leading edge saw Mitchinson walk back for 27. Gayler fell for 16, before Silk followed him for 44. Cuckfield then began to lose regular wickets, with the medium pace of Atherton proving particularly tricky. With no lower order resistance, Cuckfield were all out 129. Atherton took 7-53.

Defending such a low total was certain to be a tricky task for Cuckfield’s bowlers, however Hutchings extracted significant bounce to remove Hardwick in the second over.

Australian u19 batsman Henry Hunt followed soon after, adjudged LBW off Patterson for 11. Chris Grammer showed a level of grit and determination that Cuckfield had lacked, scoring a careful 28 before he was well caught by Silk off Patterson. At 55-3 Cuckfield felt they had a chance, but the arrival at the crease of hard-hitting Sussex batsman Philip Salt saw Brighton quickly take the score to 73. The introduction of skipper Josh Hayward threatened to swing the game into Cuckfield’s favour as Salt was deceived in the air, his ill-advised slog-sweep was met with an ominous rattle, before Atherton met a spinning delivery with the edge of his bat, well caught by Gayler behind the stumps.

Two quick wickets from Patterson left Brighton 114-7, but some good lower-order striking from Jack Chopping saw Brighton home in the 50th over.

Cuckfield 2nd XI v Brighton & Hove 2nd XI

Cuckfield 2s drew with Brighton & Hove racking up 539 runs in the game. Brighton won the toss and elected to bat at Cuckfield. Runs came slowly to begin with as Cuckfield took early wickets, one each for Matt Denyer, Chris Taylor and George Galbraith Gibbons.

The quick-fire 150 run partnership that followed between Guy Williamson (109) and Liam Windel (66) set Brighton up for a big score. Denyer picked up two more wickets including Williamson and Tom Morrissey grabbed two including Windel, a stunning catch by Chris Mole at gully.

The runs kept coming though and 50 not out for Simon Hetherton enabled Brighton to declare after 49 overs at 296 for 7.

The Cuckfield innings faltered just as the Brighton one had as Senadhira was out for a duck. Fellow opener Matt Wynn followed for 32, leaving the home team 47/2. This brought George GG (55) and Chris Mole (106) together and another quick-fire partnership of 130 gave Cuckfield hope. Needing more than 10 an over for the last 10, Cuckfield tried to maintain the momentum but finished 50 runs short of their target with 243 for 7 from 51 overs. Liam Windel took 3/56. Cuckfield host Horsham next week.

Cuckfield 3rd XI v Dormansland 1st XI

Cuckfield 3s lost to Dormansland by 3 wickets as their game went to the final over. Dormansland won the toss and invited the hosts to bat. Cuckfield set a total of 170 for 8 in their 47 overs, thanks chiefly to 74 from the dependable Piers Harrison. James Scott (61) and Scott McRae (30) did most of the damage for Dormasland as they reached their target 7 wickets down with 4 balls to spare. Goff Baker took 4/56 for Cuckfield.

Cuckfield 4th XI v Dormansland 2nd XI

Cuckfield 4s beat Dormansland by 151 runs. Having been put into bat, Cuckfield amassed 209 for 7 in their 47 overs. The middle order of Caleb Hawkins (65), young Will Rogers (20) and Tom Bonanate (55*) provided the engine room topped off with a late flourish from Guy Dixon (24). Dale Whitford (3/66) and Alex Alderson (3/62) were the pick of the bowlers. Wickets fell from the start and regularly through the Dormansland innings as they were dismissed for 58 in the 23rd over. Cuckfield newcomer, Chris Osborne did the damage with the ball, taking 6/30 as Peter Collins and Dixon grabbed two wickets each.

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