Sussex Premier Cricket League: Roffey just clear of East Grinstead at top

Roffey (226/8) could only draw with third-placed Horsham (213/7). Mike Norris hit 51 while Will Beer took 5-78 before Jas Bassan took 3-57 as Horsham hung on for the draw.

Tom Hinley took 5-29 as East Grinstead (262/9) enjoyed a comfortable 102-run win over Middleton (160 all out) and took advantage of the Horsham/Roffey draw. Will Adkin hit 54 and Tom Haynes 57 in Grinstead’s innings while spinner Ajit Sambhi took 5-63 and Sean Heather 4-36 for Middleton. Only Harry Hovey got going for Middleton with 54 as Hinley and Sam Rattle (3-47) bowled East Grinstead to victory.

Roffey and East Grinstead have 327 and 325 points respectively while Horsham are 25 more points behind.

Records broken in East Sussex.

Bognor Regis (175/2) jumped up to fourth with an eight-wicket win over Eastbourne (174 all out). Jordan Turner top-scored for Eastbourne with 54. But the star of the show was Bognor skipper Ryan Maskell who hit an unbeaten 110 from just 77 balls with 98 of his runs coming in boundaries. He was supported by Joe Ashmore (54 not out) as they saw Bognor home.

Roffey boost title hopes.

Adam O’Brien took 6-79 as Preston Nomads (238/5) beat Hastings and St Leonards Priory (232 all out) by five wickets. Harry Scowen (52) and John Morgan (65) batted well for Hastings. Nomads were 58-3 before Liam O’Brien (66) and Dan Philips, who fell on 99, guided Nomads to the target.

Three Bridges (259 all out) edged home by 15 runs against Brighton and Hove (244 all out). Will O’Donnell (74) and Joe Walker (86) were the main contributors for Bridges while Frankie Cripps took 5-62 for Brighton. James Degg kept Brighton interested with a superb 110 but Conor Golding (6-79) and O’Donnell (3-56) bowled Bridges to victory.

Brighton are second from bottom, 30 points ahead of Hastings. Third from bottom are Eastbourne, who are 29 points ahead of Brighton.

In Division 2, Cuckfield (218/7) opened up a 39-point lead at the top as they beat promotion rivals Haywards Heath (215/9) by three wickets. Ollie Graham hit an unbeaten 58 to see Cuckfield home. The defeat saw Heath drop to third.

Louis Storey was the star of the show for West Chiltington (210/2) as they enjoyed an eight-wicket win over Chichester Priory Park (209 all out) and moved up to second. Tim Wergen hit 50 for Chi as Storey took 4-62 with the ball. He then smashed 130 from 69 balls while Hugo Gillespie hit 70 not out as Chilts cruised home.

Burgess Hill (93/2) cruised to an eight-wicket win over St Peters (91 all out). Prasansana Jayamanne took 4-2 and Daniel Rapson 5-33 for Hill before Kevin Ramsay hit 51 not out.

The relegation battle is hotting up. Three teams go down in Division and currently Findon are bottom on 178 points, St Peters are on 197 points while Lindfield and St James’s Montefiore are both on 218 points. Lindfield (264/7) had a high-scoring draw against Findon (282/8). Bradley Bridson hit 106 and Alasdair Wilson 66 for while Lindfield skipper James Aggio-Brewe took 4-90. Top three Max Kidman (76), Jayson Butler (65) and Toby Shepperson (60 not out) all batted well in Lindfield’s reply.

St James’s (250/9) managed to hold on for a draw against Mayfield (270/9). James Hockley (96), Keon Harding (76) and Rob Sharma (58) batted well for Mayfield.