CRICKET: Weekly round-up (September 5)

Challen is now targeting a successful season next year in Division 3 West, with a bolstered squad to see them shoot straight back up again.

He said: "Everybody is extremely disappointed and, to be honest, slightly embarrassed. When I look at some of the sides we have put out, I have no idea how we haven't won a game.

"We've got to try to keep together the side we have, and add a couple more players '“ maybe another batsman and a bowler.

"We're looking to get in an overseas bowler next year, as we're backing ourselves with the bat in that league.

"Hopefully, a nice quick bowler will help us get teams out for 150-odd, so then it's not a huge total to knock off.

"A lot of us couldn't wait for this season to be over, but now we're looking forward to pushing on and putting things right, to show we are not a Division 3 side.

"We'll be wanting to go straight back up, although Middleton will as well, so it could be a bit tricky."

Littlehampton lost to Worthing by seven wickets on Saturday, despite a great start with the bat.

James Askew (48) and Ben Smith (29) put on 56 for the first wicket.

Benn Challen smashed 99 not out and lasted virtually the whole innings as Littlehampton eventually declared after 52.2 overs on 251-9 when Challen was out.

Stuart Hanks made 48 in support of Benn Challen before the next four wickets all fell for ducks, thanks to a fine spell from Rishi Bhardwaj, who took figures of 5-46.

Worthing openers John Kaye (63) and captain Dominic Clapp (123 not out) got Worthing off to an excellent start and they were cruising home when Kaye was dismissed with the score on 119.

Ollie Rogers chipped in 15 and Alex Harris made 29, before Darryl Rebbetts saw them over the line with four not out.

Gareth Challen added: "We batted really well and set a pretty good total.

"When we were more than 200 with just four wickets down, we hoped to get to 250 and declare. That way, they would have needed to play for the win to get the 11 points they needed to definitely stay up.

"But it was a bit of a mess towards the end and we lost a number of wickets.

"We dropped John and Dominic twice each. Taking them may have made things a bit different, and added some more pressure to them."

Arundel's recent run of poor results continued on Saturday as they ended their season in Division 3 West of the Sussex League with their sixth consecutive defeat.

They lost by 10 wickets to champions Billingshurst '“ a result which meant they finished second from bottom.

Arundel never really got going with the bat and with openers Ryan Chitty (16) and captain Richard James (0) dismissed early on, they slumped to 44-4.

Bradley James added a little resistance as he made 35, but only Ally James (24) and Harrison Temple (24) hit double figures.

And Arundel were all out for just 131 in 37.4 overs. Nine of the 10 wickets fell to catches as Ben Williams led the attack with 4-14 from his 7.4 overs.

Billingshurst's openers then single handedly saw off the task of knocking off the total.

Mike Burroughs hit 86 from 56 balls, with 16 fours and one six, while John Burroughs smashed 39, and they reached their target in just 17.4 overs.

Littlehampton's 2nd XI also had a season to forget in 2nd XI Division 2 as they finished bottom of the table and registered just one victory all season.

They drew their final game with Worthing on Saturday after Littlehampton finished on 197-7 in response to Worthing's 201.

Arundel's 2nd XI finished their season with a 10-run win over Billingshurst in 2nd XI Division 3 West but still finished second from bottom.

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