Cuckfield march on – relief for Roffey – Horsham held – Middleton ease home

Cuckfield 1st XI vs Bognor Regis 1st XI

Sussex Premier

On another glorious day, Bognor won the toss and chose to bat on a pitch made for batting. Joe White (2-31) and Aidan Drew (3-44) opened things up tightly and were rewarded with two early wickets when Drew had Lachlan Walsh (1) caught behind and bowled Taylor Jaycocks (22), leaving Bognor at 30-2.

Henry Rogers entered the attack and soon had the visitors 41-3, thanks to a Joe Ashmore (45) drive being deflected onto the stumps with Mike Harris (10) short of his ground. Ashmore and Ben Woolnough (36) started to rebuild the Bognor innings, only for skipper Josh Hayward (3-16 from 13 overs) to apply the brakes, having Ashmore caught by Joe Cambridge and then next ball trapping Charlie Jays (0) LBW.

After some smart work in the field from Cuckfield, notably Joe Cambridge, who displayed impressive athleticism to runout Gary Maskell (3), Bognor finished on 167 as Hayward bowled Scott Bingham (18) after a 34 run last wicket stand.

Findon v Steyning in pictures.

Chippingdale v Broadwater in pictures.

Wes Marshall (15) and Joe Cambridge (43) started the Cuckfield innings knowing that the required total was below par on an excellent batting surface. Marshall was caught by Harry Hood off of Taylor Jaycocks (1-25) before Cambridge had scored. Cambridge soon got into his rhythm, scoring at a run a ball to take the score to 71-1 before becoming the first victim of Scott Bingham (3-29).

Two more wickets fell to Bingham before Henry Rogers (28) and Oscar Jago Lewis (50 not out) put pressure back on the bowlers and saw Cuckfield to victory in 31 overs. Cuckfield remain at the summit of the Premier League with a big game looming at Horsham this week.

Roffey v Eastbourne

Sussex Premier

There was delight and relief at the Innes Memorial Ground when Roffey pulled off their first win of the Sussex Premier campaign against fellow strugglers Eastbourne.

Eastbourne were put in and shot out for a below-par 124 as Will Fenwick and Harnoop Kalsi took the last seven wickets between them.

Evergreen Leigh Harrison grabbed two early scalps, but the visitors recovered, mainly thanks to 46 from Malcolm Johnson. After Nick Greenwood snared Johnson, it was the Fenwick and Kalsi show, with 4-11 and 3-39.

Needing 125 to win, two wickets apiece for Eastbourne skipper Jacob Smith and Scott Lenham rattled Roffey nerves.

But acting captain Theo Rivers’ unbeaten 41, aided by contributions from Sajeer Nizam, Usman Khan and Jonny Phelps kept Roffey on course before George Fleming whacked three fours from six balls to secure the win with aplenty to spare, sending Eastbourne bottom.

Roffey skipper Matt Davies, still out with an elbow injury, told the County Times: “Great to get the win, moving us up to eighth – and to see Will and Harnoop bowling so well. Theo, our senior batsman, did what he needed to do.

"We go to Bognor on Saturday, they’re one place above us, then on Sunday we visit West Chiltington & Thakeham in the Sussex T20 Cup.”

Fenwick said: “I was brought on at exactly the right time, it was turning and bouncing a bit.”

Rivers added: “We needed the win and it was a good batting surface.”

MARTIN READ

Horsham 298-5 dec; East Grinstead 255-7 – match drawn

At Saint Hill, Horsham posted the highest Premier Division score of the day, EG finishing 44 short and seven down with the game fizzling out in a draw – leaving Horsham fourth.

Inserted, Horsham’s top six all got good starts, especially opener Joe Willis, fresh from a debut for Sussex twos, making 85 and skipper Nick Oxley 92, following 40 from consistent Bertie Forman.

Bradley Hatchett took 6-92 but Horsham set EG 299 to win from 53 overs.

At 160-3 with Will Adkin and wicketkeeper Lucas del Bianco were well but when the pair were dismissed for 44 and 36 respectively, Will Beer (3-42) chipped in with two more lbws.

Earlier skipper Tom Haynes had made 42, but Tom Hinley (56no) and Hatchett were content to bat out from 226-7 with an unbroken partnership of 29.

Horsham skipper Nick Oxley told us: “It was disappointing that there wasn’t a winner – I felt we did enough throughout the match to set up a victory, but East Grinstead were determined not to lose.

"We’re in a great position in the table with still our best cricket to be played.”

On Saturday Horsham are at home to leaders Cuckfield.

Willis said: “I was very pleased to get another score, but I’m hungry to get a big one. I was delighted to play for Sussex twos, a great environment to be in, and I’m looking forward to Cuckfield – it’ll be a good game.”

MARTIN READ

Cuckfield v Bognor

Sussex Premier League

Bognor won the toss but were unable to set a commanding score on a flat deck at Cuckfield, Joe Ashmore top scoring with 45 and Ben Woolnough adding 36.

Aiden Drew and Josh Hayward took three wickets apiece for the hosts.

In response, Taylor Jaycocks got rid of Wesley Marshall early, but dropped catches blighted Bognor as Cuckfield chased 168 comfortably,

Oscar Jago-Lewis finishing 50 not out.

Bognor sit seventh in the table and host one-place-below Roffey on Saturday.

Middleton v Three Bridges

Sussex Premier

Middleton’s bowlers made merry to set up an eight-wicket win over Three Bridges at Sea Lane.

The hosts won the toss and put Bridges in and it proved the correct decision as the visitors struggled.

Three wickets apiece for Fraser Sheat, Russell Talman and Ajit Sambhi, plus one for James Barker, left Bridges 116 all out.

Arran Brown with 29 was their top scorer as they were skittled out in a shade under 30 overs.

The targwt was not a problem for Middleton and after two early wickets, 41 not out from Barker and an unbeaten 65 by Josh Wood saw them home by eight wickets, taking only 20.5 overs to get there.

Middleton move up to fifth ahead of this weekend’s trip to Eastbourne.

Buxted Park v Chi Priory Park

Sussex Division 2

Chichester lost by three wickets on their first-ever visit to Buxted Park in East Sussex.

Put in, Priory got a good start and openers Tim Wergan (48) and Simon Hasted (72) gave them a perfect platform.

But after they were out, Ollie Dabinett-Jays’ 52 was the only other notable knock in a total of 232-7.

Buxted reached their target despite Chi taking seven wickets, with Mitchell Heyward and Lewis Hawes nabbing two each.

Steyning v AldwickDivision 6 West

Aldwick batted first and Alex Cooper (44) gave them a good start.

Dan Cox (42) gave the innings momentum but Andy Isaac and Michael Bell kept the score to 198.

Ben Buckley's 88 saw Steyning home by five wickets. Luke Barnes led the bowling with 2-35.Aldwick hope to get back to winning says when they entertain league leaders Crawley this week.

Crawley Eagles 4th

v West Wittering 2nd

The track looked like a run machine and Wittering won the toss and had first go on it.

Liam Bates hit it to all parts of the ground in a run-a-ball 46 before falling first at 73. Dom Fecher was bowled by Rifas Rasheed for five which brought Rohit Chauhan in with Steve Day.

Chauhan was out for 39 and soon after, Day went for a classical 66 and the score at 175-4.

Charlie Caddy and Alex Salmon crashed the ball to all parts – Caddy scored 53 not out off 34 balls and Salmon 48 not out off 28 in a total of 273-4 – around the score skipper Kev Allsobrook had forecast.

Eagles set off like a train with Waqas Hafiz on fire and 52 on the board before the first wicket, a simple caught behind.

A flurry of wickets saw Joe Sissons get three men back in the hutch for 64. An impressive knock from Ayyash Ziyam (54) and bit parts from Rosh Diwelgama (27), Saim Ayub (21) and then Zaheerul Mansoor (28) started to chpi away at the score.

Skipper Allsobrook and Chauhan slowed the ball down and the run rate increased.

Fecher, Salmon and Caddy ended the Eagles’ innings on 234 all out.

Sisson (3-40), Fecher (2-12) and Chauhan (2-35) all bowled well,

Aldwick v West Wittering

Div 12 West (SW)Aldwick scored 210-9, with Sam Connelly’s 36 and Josh Collins’ 34 the top scores. West Wittering were all out for 122, Liam Hicks taking 4-37.

Haywards Heath v Brighton

Sussex League Division 2

Heath entertained Brighton at Clair Park and with the sun shining, stand-in home skipper Ben Matthew won the toss and elected to bat – on what looked a good day for it.

​Heath started well, putting on 50 for the first wicket with Jethro Menzies playing positively.

They lost Guy Moore with the score on 57 for 13 and Menzies for 40 with the score on 70, run out.

Skipper Matthew joined overseas Rory Livingston and they took the score to 111 before Livingstone was lbw to Simon Hetherton, who was bowling an economical spell from one end.

Brighton then took a cluster of wickets, reducing Heath to 126-5 before Chris Blunt joined Matthew and they built a partnership – taking Heath to 175 before Blunt was removed for a valuable 18, again to Hetherton.

Matthew batted very well with the tail, taking Heath through to 228 off their 53 overs.

He finished unbeaten on 85, and Hetherton was the pick of Brighton’s bowlers finishing with 3-92 off 23 overs.

In reply the Heath bowlers started well with Livingstone getting an early wicket.

But from there, Brighton went on the attack through Bryce Hounsome and moved quickly to 100-1 and well on course for the win.

Heath turned to 16-year-old spinner Fred Wallis and he, along with a tight spell from Dan Gee, pulled Heath back into the game, reducing Brighton to 129-4 and removing the dangerous Hounsome for a well-made 78.

From here Heath took regular wickets with young spinner Wallis doing most of damage, taking 5-39.

With 10 overs to go Brighton needed 70 and Heath four wickets – so all results were possible.

Heath struck again through Livingstone and from that point Brighton shut up shop and batted out the rest of the overs, ending on 184-8 and leaving Heath frustrated not to get the win.

But it was a good comeback by the hosts after Brighton’s positive start.

All in all it was a good game even if neither side won.

Heath head to St James’s on Saturday then host Hastings on Sunday in a rearranged league fixture.

In an extraordinary match in Sussex Division 3 West at Jubilee Fields – where the superb wicket was clearly a winner – hosts Billingshurst, fourth in the table, elected to bat, posting what looked like a match-winning 352-5 from their 45-over allocation, with Dan Phillips making 128 and Paul Osborne 98.

But, incredibly, visiting Ifield chased down the daunting total from 37.4 overs, for the loss of only one wicket, courtesy of 108 not out from a former Roffey player, opener Mike Norris, and a spectacular unbeaten 196 from Raminda Wijesooriya. His innings lasted 111 balls and included 27 fours and nine sixes.

After 707 runs in the match – with only six wickets taken - moving them up into second spot, Ifield’s gob-smacked reaction was: ”WOW, WOW, WOW !”

Billingshurst scorer Roger Lusted said: “Our wicket is so good, yet we thought we’d scored enough. Their Sri Lankan overseas, Raminda, was brilliant.”

MARTIN READ

They’re separated by a half-mile length of Cissbury Road – but on Saturday there was a bigger gap when Chippingdale met Broadwater.

The sides met at Chipps’ Rotary Ground in Division 4 West – having both been relegated from 3 West at the end of last season.

It’s been a mixed season so far for Chipps but after two wins in their past two games, their young team went into this game with a little more confidence.

Broadwater were determined to get back into winning ways after a loss on Broadwater Green to Felbridge and Sunnyside a week earlier.

Winning the toss, Broadwater elected to bat and in the first over hit 13 runs.

Wickets tumbled with Broadwater bowled out for 61. There were four wickets for skipper Josh Bourne and three for the Chipps’ U18 Sussex Academy player Ollie Avinou.

In reply Chipps lost both openers before Tom Good with 29 not out and Josh Bourne finished the game for an eight-wicket win.

Chippingdale go third with a game against table toppers Middleton twos this weekend, which will be a big test.

Hastings Priory v Worthing

Sussex Division 2

Worthing marched on at the top of the table with a 46-run win at Hastings.

The visitors won the toss and elected to bat but only Nick Ballamy and MartynSwift passed 30 as they were bowled out for 190.

But it proved enough as skipper Harry Dunn continued his superb form, taking 6-30 as the hosts were all out for 144. Giorgio Rigali and Darryl Rebbetts took two wickets apiece.

East Grinstead 3rd XI v Southwick

Division 8 Central

A weakened Southwick chased down 180 after the home side won the toss and decided to bat first.

It was an EG total that could have been considerably smaller had Parth Nagpal (67) and Rohan Patel (25no) not forged a last wicket stand of 90 having been a meagre 90-9 off 28 overs when they came together.

The bowling honours for the Wickers were shared between the evergreen Paul Hudson who took 4-40, skipper Harry Dorgan with 3-23 and elated Aussie Gary Mussen 2-15.

Possibly downhearted by East Grinstead’s comeback, Wickers batters began poorly. Although Dean Ghasemi hit 19, two of the first four went for ducks and another for a paltry four.

But Farhad Barakzai, promoted from the 2nd XI following fine form, was in the mood to take the fight to the bowlers.

Farhad hit 45 with three massive sixes, one of which shattered tiles on the nearly Scientology school building.

An excellent partnership with Dorgan (51no) put Southwick in the box seat before Harry Sutton whacked 35 to see them home with hree wickets to spare.

Dorgan said: “It was an enjoyable game that ebbed and flowed, a really impressive bowling and fielding performance and a great chase.”

Findon are top of Division 3 West of the Sussex League after a two-wicket win at home to Steyning.

Steyning batted first and Nathan Tyler with 41 and Christopher Barnett with 42 not out got them to 173-9, with Jabe Rogers taking 4-23 and Brad Bridson 3-47.

The reply was a tricky one but Felix Jordan’s unbeaten 43 underpinned it and the hosts won by two wickets, with 4-27 from Hwyel Jones and Gary Mockford’s 3-34 not enough to swing it Steyning’s way.

Steyning are third – only two points behind second-placed Ifield and four behind the new leaders.

You can see a picture special from Findon-Steyning match at sussexworld.co.uk/sport

Southwick 2nd Xi v Portslade 4th XI

Southwick were in decent form and good spirits as they took on their ancient rivals in the Old Shoreham Road derby.

Having won the toss and opted to field, skipper John Sharman was delighted when his bowlers restricted Portslade to 145 all out.

It was a decent showing from a side containing four under-14s and two under-18s. There were two victims apiece for youngsters Harry Cracknell, Roshan Walsh, and spinner Finlay Metcalfe-Martin, his first senior wickets.

Inexperience showed when despite five batters reaching double figures, Wickers were unable to put enough pressure on the Portslade attack and wickets regularly fell. Despite a battling 21 from last man Sharman, Southwick fell to 121 all out.

St Peters 1st XI vs Cuckfield 2nd XI

Division 3 East

Cuckfield 2nd XI travelled to Preston Park, the home of St Peters, in a desperate bid to get their second win of the season. Winning the toss, the Cuckfield skipper George Galbraith-Gibbons elected to bat first on a hot day against the side that is top of the league.

Cuckfield aimed to get off to a good start but proceedings were cut short as Dom Sear (6) was run out by Sharuvinothan Yoganathan. The St Peters opening bowlers bowled with guile, with Phil Smith (0-19) and Kit Middleton-Paine (1-23) squeezing the Cuckfield top order.

Attempting to re-build what was a shaky start with some tight St Peters bowling, Galbraith-Gibbons (63) steadied the ship, but failed to build a partnership with the upper order as Toby Shepperson (6) and, despite some clean hitting, Josh Downey (22) both fell to Wazir Khan (2-44). Eventually Galbraith-Gibbons managed to strike a partnership with Ben Willsdon (44 not out).

Despite efforts to up the tempo towards the end of the innings, it was eventually Dom Seed (15) who forced the narrative, getting 15 off just 4 balls, making the most of the short, straight boundary.

Cuckfield found themselves with 180 to defend, a do-able, but albeit hard task. Theo Barker (1-32) bowled superbly in the early overs, getting the wicket of Michael Dawes (7), while Dom Sear (0-32) kept the other end tight.

However, some Cuckfield missed chances in the field allowed Max Wheatley (118 not out) to build a partnership with Harry Craker (37) which put St Peters firmly in the driving seat. Wheatley made the most of the short boundaries, taking advantage of the Cuckfield spin attack, with some big hitting. Sam Candfield bowled with gusto (1-40) superbly dismissing Rajesh Dhupar with an excellent caught and bowled low to his left.

Despite Candfield’s best efforts in the heat, St Peters inevitably got over the line in 26.1 overs, continuing their fine form with the hope of returning to Division 2. Cuckfield will have to pick themselves back up for a massive game against Glynde & Beddingham next Saturday.

Dormansland 1st XI vs Cuckfield 3rd XI

Cuckfield 3rd XI made the journey to top of the table Dormansland, looking for another win to take them into the top half of the table. Cuckfield batted first upon winning the toss and Will Rossiter got the innings off to a quick start with a typically attacking array of shots in an opening stand of 47 with Dave Downey.

When Rossiter was well caught at long off, from a mis-timed lofted drive for a quick-fire 36, this brought Karoki Lewis to the crease. Lewis and Downey battled through against the metronomically bowling of Roger Hart (1-24) and the off spin of Phil Stagg (1-31), before Lewis fell for a patient 23 - miscuing a shot over the top to Christopher Eastlake at extra cover off Stagg.

Richie Amer (7) and James Thorpe (4) both had unfortunate innings (injury and chopped on respectively), but Ellis Buckeridge joined Downey for the final charge, playing some creative scoop shots and attacking the bowlers very effectively to up the run rate nicely.

Downey, who had until then been anchoring the innings, then swung from the hip - moving from 50 to 76 in just 10 balls with a flurry of fours and sixes, before pulling a long hop from the leg breaks of Laura Bailey (2-51) straight down deep square leg's throat in an effort for one more maximum. It was left to Will Broyd (8) and Adam Bennett (4*) to support Buckeridge to the end of the innings, the latter finishing on a fine 39 not out off just 29 balls, to set Dormansland 225 to win.

A first class - and nowadays rare - tea was hugely enjoyed between innings, with many of the Cuckfield players regretting having to field second!

In reply, Dormansland got off to a flyer, thanks to the hard-hitting stroke play from skipper Alex Pelling, who got after the opening bowling of Will Broyd (0-41) and Chris Osbourne (0-30) in particular, in a very quick opening stand of 83 with Christopher Eastlake.

It took a fantastic piece of fielding from Ellis Buckeridge to break the partnership - cutting off a drive at extra cover and throwing down the stumps at the bowler’s end - removing Eastlake for 27. Richard Dodgson joined Pelling and put on a further 43, before Will Rossiter (1-42) bowled the latter with a great inswinger through the gate for a belligerent 67. John Holman - fresh from 132 the week before - continued the attack, hitting 8 fours and two big sixes on his way to an unbeaten 53.

The only further wicket taken was by Will Ward (his 17th of the season, making him second top wicket taker in the division so far), bowling Dodgson for 12. It was left to Roger Hart (31*) to ably assist Holman to see the home team to their target for the loss of only 3 wickets and with 11 overs to spare.

Overall, a very disappointing result with what was the strongest team so far this season, on paper. Next week, however, sees Cuckfield hosting bottom of the league Forest Row, so this will provide a good opportunity to make another push for top half status at the halfway point of the league season

Cuckfield 4th XI vs Ansty 4th XI

The sun shone brightly on Cuckfield as the 4th XI bounced back from defeat last week to make it two home wins in a row and the second successive home game amassing more than 300 runs.

Visiting Ansty made the short trip down the A272, promptly won the toss and elected to field. However, Cuckfield’s newest opening pair; father and son duo of Rob (30) and Oli Willsdon (15) got off to a flier with 40 on the board within the first five overs. With the score on 74 for 2, experienced pair Simon Hobden (112 not out) and Sam Shepherd (128 not out) set about building a target in what turned out to be a match-defining partnership. Unbeaten, the pair added 244 runs, mixing aggressive boundaries with good running between the wickets.

The final 6 overs yielding 88 runs to set a formidable target of 319 to win. Flynn Herbert (1-64) and Samuel Rees (1-34) took a wicket apiece as the Ansty attack toiled in the hot sunshine.

In reply, Ansty started brightly but Rev Taites (1-25) made the initial wicket breakthrough, bowling Ken Chapman (12) before Sam Shepherd (3-14) capped an all-action, all-round performance taking three wickets in quick succession to rip through the visiting top order. Useful contributions from Steve Jarvis (23) and Toby Simpson (26) pushed the run-chase along before Lewis Flint (56) enjoyed a swashbuckling innings.

Flint was eventually removed by youngster Liam Husselmann (1-71) combining bounce and turn to hit the top of off stump. Skipper Adam Jull (3-19) rotated his bowling options well but stepped up with some tight bowling of his own. Coupled with good hands in his follow-through, he secured two caught & bowled wickets to take the game away from Ansty.

Flynn Herbert (35 not out) and Henry Strong (35) made a late rally with some clean hitting but debutant Oli Willsdon (2-21) wrapped up the innings and the match for the home team.