Cuckfield are cooking… Horsham edge Roffey in thriller… Chi Priory Park look strong… Chippingdale down but not out

Preston Nomads v Cuckfield

Sussex Premier

A 50 by Henry Rogers and three wickets from Nick Patterson helped Cuckfield beat Preston Nomads by six wickets to record their fourth straight league victory.

Nomads elected to bat first, which suited Cuckfield. The away side opened the bowling with spinner Will Goss, who in tandem with Aidan Drew bowled very tightly.

It was clear early on it wasn’t an easy wicket to bat on with the ball moving prodigiously, so Cuckfield skipper Josh Hayward turned to seamer Nick Patterson.

Horsham beat Roffey – in 54 pictures.

Patterson was unfortunate not to dismiss opener Nathan Poole as he edged just short of first slip. Poole and Zach Lion-Cachet reached 47 in the 14th over before Patterson was rewarded, taking the edge of Lion-Cachet which was caught by keeper Oscar Jago-Lewis for 24.

Rogers, who is just 15, quickly dismissed Poole before Patterson took his second wicket, bowling Jaeydn Bartosh-Short for 7. The home side were in strife after Patterson claimed the key scalp of Jonty Jenner for 22, caught at point by Greg Wisdom. The seamer finished with 3-40 from his 10 overs.

Chippingdale v Goring – in 42 pictures.

After left-arm spinners Goss (2-34) and Hayward (1-34) dismissed Ammad Khan and overseas Josh Clarkson, Nomads had lost six wickets for just 59 and were 106-6.

An excellent fielding performance continued as Joe Cambridge sprung high into the air at mid-on and brilliantly caught Joe Musto one-handed off Wes Marshall (2-21).

The Nomads tail-end fought back through Nav Patel and Dan Birrell. The pair put on 67 for the ninth wicket. Marshall dismissed Birrell for 42 and Goss ran out Patel for 46 and Nomads were all out for 212.

In reply, Cambridge and South African overseas Marshall got Cuckfield off to a flyer. Cambridge before he was adjudged lbw to Birrell with the score 72.

Marshall bludgeoned the ball to the boundary on eight occasions before he was caught at extra-cover off Adam O’Brien for a run-a-ball 48.

This brought Rogers in to join Alex Thornhill. They pushed the score along, with Rogers recording his second 50 in as many weeks, which included six fours and three sixes.

He was out for 56 but with the score 193-3, Cuckfield only required 20 for victory with 12 overs left. Thornhill finished on 43 not out and the winning runs were hit by Jago-Lewis with a six off just his second delivery.

Cuckfield remain top, level on points with East Grinstead. Cuckfield host Eastbourne this week.

Cuckfield v Ifield

T20 Cup

Cuckfield hosted Ifield in the T20 cup, with the visitors electing to bat first on another flat looking Cuckfield wicket.

Despite taking 10 from the first over, Ifield found scoring difficult as Cuckfield’s bowlers proved difficult to get away. Henry Rogers (2-8) removed Mike Norris (12), before Nick Patterson (1-15) accounted for Raminda Wijesooriya (10).

Daniel Groves (15) and Pratik Patel (21) combined for a 33-run partnership. But the innings stuttered as the hosts took regular wickets. Wes Marshall (3-24), Rogers and Patterson the most effective as Ifield scrapped their way to 107-8.

Cuckfield openers Joe Cambridge and Wes Marshall (18) took the attack to the visitors, scoring 38 off the first two overs with powerful ball striking.

Marshall was caught at deep mid-wicket by Pratik Patel for 18 off Archit Patel (1-32), but Cambridge and Henry Rogers (9) put on 48 in just 18 balls, with Cambridge bringing up a rapid 50.

Rogers fell with Cuckfield needing just 12, and victory was completed when Dan Turner (5no) struck Patel through mid-wicket. Cambridge finishing on 74 off 23 balls with 15 fours and two sixes.

Cuckfield won in 7.1 overs and will face Findon in the next round.

Henfield 3rd v Cuckfield 4th

On a love sunny day at Partridge Green's ground, Cuckfield 4th XI played Henfield 3rd XI … with the unique scenario of Cuckfield fielding FIVE father-son combos, with all of the sons from U12 through to U14 sides.

Cuckfield gained their first win of the season.

Chichester Priory Park v Haywards Heath

Sussex Division 2

Heath visited Chichester looking to keep the winning start going in the glorious Goodwood surroundings.

Heath lost the toss and were asked to field on a hot day on a flat looking pitch.

Early inroads we’re made through Jethro Menzies and followed up by young Jonny Rutherford to leave Chichester 50/3 and Heath in control.

The Chichester middle order batted sensibly through skipper George Briance 47 and Oliver Dabinett-Jays 93 and rebuilt well although never got away.

Heath finished the innings wth wickets from overseas Livingstone and Charlie Rutter keeping Chichester to 224, which felt possibly a par score in good batting conditions.

In reply Heath lost Menzies early but Aussie Livingstone went on the attack taking to 60 before he fell for 38 and there followed a procession of wickets leaning heath 84-7.

Heath rebuilt through skipper Smith (47) and some lower order resistance but the damage was done by some good Chichester spin bowling and Heath suffered their first lost of the season all out for 156!

This week Heath are home to West Chiltington.

Horsham v Roffey

Sussex Premier

Horsham scraped home against Roffey in a memorable Sussex Premier Division derby – leaving skipper Nick Oxley to admit: That was too close for comfort.

James Brehaut struck two fours in the final over to get Horsham home by two wickets after Roffey had posted a challenging 289-7.

It left Horsham third in the table and Roffey bottom, still looking for their first win.

Relieved Horsham skipper Oxley told the County Times: “That was far too close for comfort - cricket can be a strange game with pressure doing funny things.”

His Roffey counterpart Matt Davies said: “Horsham are a very good side and fair play to them.

"While I think we should have been able to win at the death, apart from conceding 31 extras we’d played well and that’ll give us a welcome confidence boost.”

This captivating cracker of a game could have gone either way right to the end. But Horsham snatched it with one ball to spare.

Roffey elected to bat and put on 71 for the first wicket, overseas all-rounder Nick Greenwood going on to score his first century (101), including 12 fours and two sixes.

Ben Williams took four wickets, but, mainly due to skipper Davies’ cultured 78, Roffey kept going to finish on 289-7.

The Horsham reply got off to a bad start when Tom Johnson was run out without scoring, backing up.

Joe Willis hit 70, until he was also run out. Useful contributions came from Charlie Tear, Nick Oxley and Will Beer, but batting honours went to Bertie Foreman with 113.

With 10 overs to go, Horsham needed 79, but had seven wickets in hand.

Greenwood grabbed four, including a spectacular boundary catch by Sam Henderson.

Nine were required from the final over, then six from the last three balls. Enter Brehaut to clonk two fours to get Horsham over the line.

He said: “My heart was pumping but I just did what I knew I ought to be able to do!”

Horsham have a busy week ahead, with a trip to Middleton on Saturday – when Roffey welcome Mayfield looking to get off the mark – and a home Sussex Cup game versus Bognor on Sunday.

- MARTIN READ

Roffey CC are through to round three of the T20 Cup after beating Steyning CC by 14 runs.

With Steyning currently top of Division 3 West this was a potential banana skin for Roffey, who are still seeking their first win of the season in the premier division.

And Steyning started each innings well doing more than enough to worry Roffey, who needed to stage a major recovery to post a demanding total.

They then defended their score to win by a relatively comfortable margin with the asking rate escalating.

Roffey elected to bat at The Memorial Playing Fields and soon found themselves wobbling at 11-3, and, with the halfway point beckoning they slumped to 36-4.

But from there wicketkeeper Sajeer Nizam was joined by skipper Matt Davies.

The partnership began steadily, taking the visitors to 91 without further loss with five overs remaining.

Then Roffey took off, with the batsmen matching each other run by run with an aggregate of 13 fours and five sixes, setting Steyning 156 to win, Nizam making 63 and Davies 61 (from 37 balls) – both unbeaten.

Requiring just short of eight an over, Steyning began brightly, but slowed to 61-2 at halfway, before three wickets fell.

The run rate increased to 12 with six overs left.

Harri Lee-Young and Gabriel Redding each made 33, but Roffey kept chipping away, and with 31 required from the last over, Steyning finished on 141-7, Roffey winning by 14 runs.

Alex Collins and Theo Rivers took two wickets apiece, with young bloods Josh Dance and William Fenwick combining to take a highly creditable 2-43 from eight overs.

In round three Roffey will travel to the winners of the Chichester v West Chiltington & Thakeham tie on a date to be advised.

Meanwhile, Roffey skipper Matt Davies told the County Times: “It was very encouraging to see our young players doing well, and hopefully we’ve turned the corner with our performances yesterday (at Horsham) and today. We’ve got another cup game on Sunday - at home this time – against Sutton in the Bertie Joel Conference Cup.”

– MARTIN READ

Ansty v Lindfield

Division 3 East

Lindfield's inability to defend a decent total came back to haunt them in a thriller with local rivals Ansty.

Winning the toss and batting, the visitors again heavily relied on the in-form Harry Moorat who scored his third successive 80.

He ensured the run rate remained above five an over and with the help of Thad Tucker (23) got the Swans off to good start despite the early loss of Andy Stillwell.

The innings really took shape with the introduction of overseas pro Imesh Udayanga who joined Moorat at 31-2.

They put on a magnificent 143 but when the home captain Jake Wilson turned to Luke Wood, the game changed. Wood (2-22) saw off Moorat and Udayanga and reduced Lindfield to 191-5.

This halted the charge and while James Scott hit an unbeaten 38, the visitors’ late order failed to fire and the innings fizzled out at 251-7.

In response, Ansty got off to a fine start with 40s for both openers Charlie Lewis (44) and Max Barson (42). When Barson fell, Leo Anderson came to the crease.

Hitting 13 fours and sixes sixes in a virtuso 118, his knock pushed the Ansty reply along at a fine rate. Lindfield had no answer and relied on a run out to see the back of him.

David Croydon and Jack Groves saw the hosts over the line to a two wicket win with three balls to spare.

Lindfield skipper James Aggio-Brewe said: "Again, we find ourselves in a good position at the halfway point but can't hammer home our advantage. Fair play to Leo who put away the bad ball and kept ticking over the score.”

Chippingdale v Goring

Sussex Division 4 West

A young Chippingdale side took on experienced Goring in the first competitive game between the two Worthing teams for many years.

For Chippingdale it has been a mixed start to the year with their first two games called off due to the weather. A win against Wisborough Green and a loss to Horsham twos followed.

Losing the toss and being asked to field, the result of this game could have been very different if a catch had been held when opening bat Alex Maynard hadn’t scored. He went on to score a quickfire 64.

Goring were on course to score a much bigger total but some tight bowling and a couple of run-outs restricted them to 215 all out with four Wickets for captain Josh Bourne and three for Jason Dows.

In reply Chipps’ top order struggled with wickets falling regularly. Ben Saunders scored 43 off 37 balls, ably supported by Sussex U18 player Ollie Avinou, who with another U18, Lewis Wells, made the score respectable – but ultimately they came up 57 runs short.

With their mixture of youth and experience and some hard work Chipps will hopefully bounce back quickly.

This week they have a trip to Felbridge & Sunnyside.

Chichester Priory Park v Haywards Heath

Sussex League Division 2

After a disappointing defeat to St James’ Montefiore last week, Chichester bounced back against Haywards Heath.

Having won the toss, Chichester elected to bat under clear skies at Goodwood.

A poor start saw the hosts slump to 9-2 with the two early wickets falling to Jethro Menzies (2-48). However, a 100 partnership from Ollie Dabinett-Jays (93) and captain George Briance (48) moved Chichester into a commanding position.

Briance was dismissed looking to accelerate in the last ten overs with Dabinett-Jays and the rest of the batting order pushing Chichester up to a score of 224-9 off the 45 overs.

Heath’s overseas, Rory Livingstone (3-31), was the pick of the bowlers.

In reply, Harry Walker (1-21) took the big wicket of Menzies before a counter-attacking knock from Livingstone (38) forced Briance (3-21) to turn to the left arm spin duo of Elliot Scott (3-23) and himself.

Tight bowling resulted in Scott removing the Australian overseas. The duo continued to apply the pressure leaving Haywards Heath at 84-7.

Heath skipper Callum Smith (47) provided resistance but smart work from Mike Smith in the field resulted in a run-out and the hosts took the final two wickets to leave the visitors 156 all out.

Another win at home gives the team a big confidence boost as they head into the red ball phase of the season.

Chichester make the long trip to Hastings this weekend.

East Grinstead v Middleton

Sussex Premier

Middleton travelled to top side East Grinstead aiming to continue their previous week’s good form, but ended on the losing side.

Sean Heather won the toss and elected to bowll hoping to get the most out of any early moisture.

Fraser Sheet and James Barker started well with Sheat taking an early wicket but East Grinstead batted patiently.

The introduction of leg spinner Ajit Sambhi brought a couple of quick wickets and at 52-3 Middleton felt another wicket would mean they were really in the game. Tom Haynes and Will Adkin put 52 for the 4th wicket, but when Sam Green broke the partnership removing Adkin for 27, Sambhi (4-26), Green (2-22) and Sheat (3-39) were able to keep taking regular wickets, dismissing East Grinstead for 156 in the 37th over.

Middleton lost the top four in the first six overs reducing the visitors to 17-4. Some resistance from the young middle order gave Middleton some hope but with only three batters making double figures it was not to be and Middleton were dismissed for a disappointing 94.

Middleton will hope to bounce back this week at home to Horsham in the first game of the win/lose/draw format.

West Wittering 2nd v Birdham

In the battle of the Manhood Peninsula, West Wittering skipper Kev Allsobrook won the toss and decided to bat first on a glorious sunny day.

Initially was this looked a bad decision as Steve Day and Zach Stewart back in the hunch both for ducks and then soon after Mark Taylor for 11.

It was a slow start with 68 on the board at 20 overs but the middle order came through with marvellous knocks from Rohit Chauhan (42), Ollie Small (22), Charlie Caddy (34) and Will Finch (33) bringing the total to 172 all out with four balls to spare.

Pick of the Birdham bowlers were Josh Rankin with 4 for 46, George SuyssGoodwin 3 for 23, Ollie Fuller 3 for 25.

Small opened with the shiny cherry and bowled the Birdham openers in quick succession, allowing Jake Moores (26) to attack the bowling with a flourish of boundaries until caught and bowled by Caddy.

Then there seemed to be a crash of wickets as the Birdham batters fell, John Fuller (18) and Goodwin (29) batting well with Wulfie Smith Pink (21no) ending the innings.

However with the excellent catching from Chauhan and Day and some very quick glove skills from Taylor the Birdham innings came to a close 28 runs short on 144 all out.

Allsobrook with 3 for 15, Caddy 3 for 16, Small 2 for 34 and Jack Harte and Kieran Baker with one each were the wicket-takers.

Aldwick v Arundel

Div 6 West

Aldwick continued their winning ways with victory over Arundel.

Aldwick decided to bat and made the use of a good wicket. Joel Lodge 43, Tim Robinson 27 and Louis Paul 51, helped the home team to a respectable 225-9. Carl Harris and Sean Twine took two wickets each.

Arundel's were soon in trouble at 26-2 thanks to two wickets from Ben Bambridge. Charlie Horne 70 survived a number of close chances but held the innings together. He lacked support, with Luke Barkes taking three wickets and Ollie Smith two and Arundel were all out for 166.

Aldwick travel to Clymping this week.

Chichester 5th v Aldwick 2nd

Div 12 West (S)

Aldwick scored 228, with contributions from Ian Guppy 62, Dan Austin 34, Mat Tozer 27, Dan Cox 26 and Luke Adams 25, Jamie Edwards taking 4-46.

But Chichester – thanks to David Graham-Wood 120* and Ewan Edwards 98* – knocked off the runs in 38 overs.

Worthing v Brighton & Hove

Sussex Division 2

Worthing’s bright start to the season continued with a three-wicket win at home to Brighton.

The home side restricted Brighton to 189-8, with Giorgio Rigali, Darryl Rebbetts and Harry Merritt-Blann taking two wickets apiece.

Dominic Clapp’s 59 was the key knock in Worthing’s reply and 37 not out by Merritt-Blann helped the hosts over the line.

It means Worthing sit proudly at the top of the table with three wins from five matches.

In Division 3 West, Steyning and Findon fill the top two places. Steyning had an eight-wicket win at home to Littlehampton after bowling them out for 162, while Findon won by four wickets at home to West Wittering.

St Matthias 2nd XI v Southwick

Division 8 Central

The Wickers surrendered their unbeaten start to the season at St Matthias’ Horsdean ground but not without a scrap.

Adam Walter, the latest captain to spin out of Southwick’s revolving door, won the toss and decided to field, a decision he may have regretted as Saints proceeded to make the most of a good wicket and an attack missing Paul Grennan, posting 247 for 4 in their allotted overs.

Wickers’ bowling attack, which featured two colts, wasn’t helped by six catches being dropped in the field as Madhan Ramesh with 89 and Abhiram Girgaonkar who scored 73 brought high riding Southwick down to earth.

The positive for the away side being a first senior wicket for Isaac Olympios while last week’s hero Mark Broxup was given some rough treatment, bowling six overs for 45 runs.

The Southwick openers began well in response, Rob Cornell (19) and Dean Ghasemi (27) providing a good platform but the arrival of Steve Carden saw three wickets fall in quick succession, leaving Harry Sutton with a huge task in rebuilding the innings.

Sutton batted well before being bowled for 42 and was ably supported by youngster Matt Rowson who finished on 64 not out.

At one point during their superb partnership, it appeared that the Wickers may snatch an unlikely victory but none of the remaining batters managed to forge another partnership with Rowson, with every batter getting runs apart from skipper Walter, who fell to a five-ball duck, A respectable total of 200 all out was attained.

Prakesh Mani helped himself to three wickets in five overs.

Southwick CC are celebrating after some of their young players were chosen to play representative cricket.

Isla Foggon and Joel Garrod were selected for the first ever Sussex Street Cricket team and played in the London and South-East regional finals in Mitcham.

Both greatly enjoyed the experience.Street Cricket can be played by children of all ages at Southwick Leisure Centre under the Chance to Shine scheme.

Meanwhile Matt Rowson and Findlay Walter turned out for the MCC Hub in a tournament in Reading.

It was a great honour for the club and all four of their proud youngsters.

​Southwick 2nd v Goring 3rd

Goring won the toss at Buckingham Park and asked Southwick to bat but only two batsmen made hay on a decent wicket - 14-year-old Finlay Walter outscoring his 1st XI skippering father by an excellent and mature 34 runs and a stunning 50 from Tom Van Vliet, returning to the club and cricket following a 10-year hiatus.

Chris Geere did most of the damage for Goring with figures of 9-0-33-4, leaving the home side a disappointing 123 all out from 33 overs

With captain John Sharman marshalling his bowlers well, Goring had to work hard to knock off the required total before securing victory for the loss of just one wicket in 31 overs.