Sidley see light at end of tunnel

Six consecutive defeats have been followed by a pair of draws, the latest of which might even have yielded a long overdue first win on Saturday.

Sidley amassed 240-8 against Haywards Heath whose reply ended on 192-8.

Captain Jonathan Haffenden said: "It was a good effort all round. We just couldn't get the last two wickets, but we had the chances. If we had (effected) a couple of direct hits, maybe a few things would have been different."

The irony for Sidley is that, despite turning in their best performance of the campaign to date, they have fallen further adrift at the foot of the Sussex Division Two table.

Sidley are now 20 points behind second-bottom Worthing after previous occupants Roffey won their first game of the season by just five runs against Stirlands.

Haffenden is nonetheless confident of avoiding a third straight wooden spoon as the mid-way point approaches. He continued: "I still don't think we'll finish bottom. Twenty points isn't much. A couple of wins and we'll be 20 points ahead of them.

"We've always been quite upbeat about everything, but I suppose we're even more so now. It's all coming together and the first win will be there soon."

The chief reason for Sidley's upturn in fortune has been a marked improvement in the batting. Having been skittled for 42 and 44 in the opening weeks, they've reached 200 in their last two outings and posted their highest score to date on Saturday.

Haffenden commented: "The batting was superb. Everyone had the right application and was very focused."

None more so than Kashif Rasheed, whose 89 was the club's top individual score thus far. Haffenden was also among the runs, following up his 52 against Bexhill seven days beforehand with 49 this time out.

Sidley's reliable bowling attack then took centre stage and they remained on top throughout the Heath reply.

David Wood made 49 and Tom Dowdall 46 for the high-riding home side, but man of the match Rasheed took 3-45 to keep Sidley in the box seat.

Heath, who posted the highest ever Sussex Cup total against Sidley last season, survived the final few overs, however, to preserve their unbeaten record.