Priory seek to dent rivals' title bid

Finn Hulbert batting for Hastings Priory during June's reverse fixture against Roffey. Picture courtesy Steve Robards

Hastings Priory Cricket Club will be aiming to throw a spanner in the works of Roffey's quest for a fourth consecutive Sussex Premier League title.

The two teams will meet at Horntye Park tomorrow (Saturday), with second-placed Roffey 19 points behind leaders East Grinstead and sixth-placed Priory 13 points outside the top half.

Priory coach Ian Gillespie said: “Roffey should be a good challenge on Saturday. I think they’ll be desperate to win the league so it should be a good game of cricket. We just want to play with a bit of pride now and finish the season well.”

Hastings will certainly be keen to perform far better than in June’s reverse fixture, when they lost by 10 wickets and didn’t pick up a single point.

“We totally undersold ourselves away and we want to do a lot better,” continued Gillespie. “Roffey tend to bowl very straight and put pressure on, and almost force the batsmen to take on length balls and go over the top, which requires a very positive approach.”

Jason Finch is back from holiday and Priory are hoping that Leo Cammish has recovered from the neck problem which forced him to miss last weekend’s defeat at Middleton. Harry Finch’s availability, as ever, will depend on Sussex commitments.

Play is due to get underway from 12noon at Horntye Park.

Sussex Premier League standings (all played 15 matches): 1 East Grinstead 364pts, 2 Roffey 345, 3 Horsham 292, 4 Cuckfield 285, 5 Middleton 241, 6 HASTINGS PRIORY 228, 7 Preston Nomads 227, 8 Brighton & Hove 211, 9 Ansty 134, 10 BEXHILL 124.