Hailsham CC round-up: Bowlers make it a great start to the season

Hailsham 1st XI welcomed Fletching to the Recreation Ground for the start of the ESCL season.
Hailsham u9sHailsham u9s
Hailsham u9s

After winning the toss and electing to bat first Hailsham got off to a solid and mature start with Shaun Kevern continuing his recent form into this match, with new partner Gareth Wall (12) stepping up to open with him. Shaun batted well with a mixture of shots around the ground before mistiming one and being caught for 43.

This led to a Hailsham batting collapse, from 101-1 to 143 all out with only Ciaran Peacock contributing any runs of note with a well-made 23 before a mix up with Varun Khullar caused his run out and a useful 11 from Sam Piper. Unfortunately Hail sham’s batsman did not value there wicket enough and played some poor shots that did not help the teams cause.

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In response Hailsham knew they had to hit Fletching hard early in the innings and with a pumped up Andrew Anthony and captain Khullar taking the new ball they did just that. Hailsham soon had the opposition in trouble at 24-5, as the new ball bowlers blew the top order away with pace and aggression. They were well backed up by Will Parsons behind the stumps with two good catches. Things didn’t get much better for Fletching as the same bowlers carried on and dismissed the visitors for 53 from 22 overs. Khullar ending the match with figures of 5-20 and Anthony 5-27 to see Hailsham through to victory.

Tim Mullins hit 70Tim Mullins hit 70
Tim Mullins hit 70

Khullar later said: “We didn’t bat well enough as a team today, but our bowling did the talking and got us out of trouble. We will need to improve and work hard on our batting if we are to be competitive this season."

The Roots Gardening man of the match went to Varun Khullar for his bowling spell that hurt the visitors.

Hailsham 2nd XI set off towards Huggets Lane to play their first league match of the season against Willingdon 1st XI.

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After Willingdon winning the toss they elected Hailsham to bat first. Openers Paul Macdonald and Robin Sewell got off to a steady start before both being caught. This led to Stuart Kennedy coming into bat. After a long winter he was looking comfortable until he was caught behind off a rising delivery. Following on from this, Scott Vidler came to crease, coming out of a three year break Vidler, using his past experience, played some well time shots off the back foot, before being bowled for 17. With Captain Clint Mooiman arriving at the crease, he was joined Andrew Swansborough looking to trying to save an innings. Swansborough went in all guns blazing trying to get some quick runs before being dismissed for 14. This lead to James Bellett entrance to the fray, using some controlled shots reaching 17 before being caught. Mooiman then was bowled to end the innings with a high score of 18 runs and a team total of 114 off 35 overs.

Tim Mullins hit 70Tim Mullins hit 70
Tim Mullins hit 70

After a poor batting performance,, Hailsham went straight out to bowl with openers Alex Renals (0-9) and James Bellett (0-20) starting strongly. The openers however, could not break down the batting order of Willingdon, turning to Clint Mooiman (0-13) and Scott Vidler (0-18). After 2 overs Mooiman tried taking the pace off the ball in the hope it would lead to mistakes from Willingdon’s batting line up. Ollie Macdonald (0-14) and Manoj Yogendran (0-18) bowled with flight and guile leading to a run out from Toby Funnell. Toby Funnell (0-8) was brought on to try and get some wickets before Willingdon scored their final 20 runs needed to win. This all ended abruptly as Willingdon got the final runs off the match. This was a disappointing start for the new look team who will hope to improve their performance next week at the Rec.

Harte Coleman man of the match was not awarded as there were not outstanding performances from any of the Hailsham players.

Hailsham 3rd XI opened their 2017 season by hosting Buxted Park 3rds at Roebuck Park.

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They lost the toss and were invited to bat first. After a bright start by Jason Head and Tom Carpenter with Tom (13) playing a couple of beautiful drives off both back and front foot, Tom uncharacteristically was bowled through the gate after a wild heave. Nick Brady came and went. The middle order of Nigel Anthony, skipper Harry Gent and Warren Downs managed 1, 0, and 1. Hailsham were batting in binary! 52-1 became 80-7 when Jason (38) then Lewis Williams were caught in the outfield. Several of the more senior players were imagining the game would be all over by tea. However, the youngsters in the team had far more imagination! Handsomely paying off the investment Hailsham has made in their youth teams over the past few years, they quite simply turned the game on its head! Diesel Hallett started the transformation with some stunning shots.

Sachin Jose caught the bug and made a brilliant 52, mixing circumspect defence with ferocious attack. Matt Anthony played superbly for 33 not out and even Tom Walder made 19, his first 3 balls going for 1, 4, and 6! Diesel at no 8, Sachin at 9, Matt at 10 and Tom at his customary 11 had collectively put on 124 and Hailsham were all out for a giddy 213. Hailsham started their quest for an opening win superbly. Diesel bowled the away opener in the first over then repeated the trick a few overs later to leave Buxted in trouble at 13-2. Tom Walder, Tom Carpenter and Matt Anthony all chipped in with a wicket apiece as Hailsham nagged away at the batting. Warren Downs came on and bowled with accuracy and intelligence. 3 wickets was just reward for his efforts, along with his outstanding one handed slip catch.

The light was fading though, overs were running out and Hailsham still needed 2 wickets. Diesel returned and bowled both tail enders! 30 points for Hailsham; starting their season as they have finished the last few seasons. A genuine team effort when young and old alike stood up to be counted and won a game that looked lost at one point. Diesel Hallett was the IQ Builders Merchant man of the match for his aggressive batting and 4 wickets - every one bowled!

The first game of the season not only saw decent sunny weather, but also, a very strong and spirited performance full of energy and enthusiasm. Hailsham travelled down to Newhaven in good spirits. Lost the toss on a reasonably sunny but windy day and were asked to bat. Hailsham opened with Steve Bowden (27) and James Renals (2). A solid start from the openers, until James edged one behind. Wayne Pettigrew (27) set about the bowling from the off and took the attack to Newhaven, well supported from the other end by Bowden. The partnership only broken by a mix up ending in a run out. Ed was bowled out early, which brought out Tim Mullins to join Steve, and they began building a very solid partnership and putting pressure on Newhaven. Both played well, defending the good balls and punishing the bad.

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As the score progressed, Bowden was well caught for 27. Jason Wickham was caught and bowled by page (2/34), bring Camron Puttick to the crease. Puttick (10) supported Mullins well, playing some good shots in the process, which allowed Mullins to play more aggressively and make his first 50 for the club. Captain Hallet made his way to the middle and set about the bowlers, who were beginning to find some more movement as the sun disappeared and the wind picked up. Hallet played some powerful shots until he was lbw for 18. John Cole (17*) supported Mullins who departed lbw for a fine 70, which left Joe Lloyd (0*) to defend well from one end and allow us to get the 210 and declare.

After tea, and the sun choosing to stay behind the cloud, Hailsham opened with Ed Garbett and Mo Akbar using the old ball. Both openers bowled really well, bowling tight lines and asking serious questions. Ed bowled both openers in his first spell, letting the conditions and the pitch work for him, and at the other end Mo was getting movement which caused the batsmen real problems. Cole came on for Garbett and picked up a wicket. Newhaven captain Lee Pollard played solidly at one end, supported by the middle order kept their score moving, although never at a rate to pose a threat. Hailsham fielded superbly throughout, with great energy from all. This enabled the pressure to build and resulted in Kev Hallet picking up two wickets in the process, one bowled and one well caught by Mo. James Renals bowled with real pace and was backed up superbly in the field by Camron with what could already be the catch of the season! With one wicket left to get, Mo came back on and deservedly claimed the last wicket with a great caught and bowled effort. Garbett (2/19), Akbar (1/34), Cole (1/26) Hallet (2/18) Renals (2/13) Puttick (/14) a great fielding performance from all, supporting the bowlers throughout and backing them up with vocal support as well. The Pizza Bella Man of the match goes to Tim Mullins for his fine 70 and great fielding throughout the innings.

The U9s first match of the season saw them away to Buxted Park. Hailsham's captain Theo Veiga lost the toss and Buxted chose to bat. Hailsham got off to a great start with a maiden over from Sam Andrews and wickets fell in each of the next 8 overs. Hugo Neville took six stumpings and and a catch on his debut as wicketkeeper with further wickets from Sam Andrews, Oliver Jaquet, Morgan Elliott and Maisie Harris.. Buxted Park's top batsman Kian hit three impressive 4s, but Buxted were restricted to 215 runs.

Hailsham's batting got off to a successful start with runs from Morgan Elliott and a 4 from Maisie. Hugo and Oliver continued with a partnership of 14, Oliver hitting two great 4s. Ethan Hele batted with confidence to top score with 14 runs which included three 4s. The final pair, Captain Theo Veiga and Sol Skinner added further runs to Hailsham's impressive total, Theo scoring 8 runs and Sol finishing the match with two outstanding 4s, increasing his run total to 10. Hailsham's final score of 293 saw them win by 78 runs. A great team performance from all players. Crane & Co Man of the Match goes to Hugo Neville for an inspirational debut wicket keeping performance.

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