East Sussex cricket: Buxted Park hold leaders, Crowhurst Park and Glynde win

Buxted Park CC headed to table-toppers Worthing for the first game of the second half of the Sussex Cricket League Division 2 season.

After rain, the game started three hours late with overs reduced to 74, with a maximum of 40 in the first innings.

Park won the toss and elected to bowl in favourable seam conditions. Nick Ballamy (31) had other ideas, and hit regular boundaries off the opening bowlers. Despite this, Isaac Heater (1-16) managed to keep a lid on things at his end, with Will Sheffield (3-65) taking the wicket of Ballamy.

Josh Wood (11) followed, but runs were hard to come by thanks to accurate Buxted bowling and excellent fielding. When Martyn Swift (26) entered the fray at 66-3, the run rate was slowing, but with good counter-attacking cricket he managed to get things moving again.

He departed at 112-5 and Arslan Khan (4-21) kept runs to a minimum with good spin bowling, taking wickets as the Worthing tail end looked to add late runs.

When Khan caught and bowled Joshua Hyde (two), Worthing found themselves 155 all out, off 37.1 overs.

Buxted’s openers got their side off to a positive start, with the score at 26 before Alfie Hunter (13) was caught behind off the in-form Harry Dunn (6-39).

Khan and Will Rist (16) added to the total before the former was removed for 25, also by Dunn. The rest of the top six all got to double figures before losing their wickets.

Tight spin bowling in good bowling conditions from Hyde (1-11) and Dunn left Buxted reeling at 105-6, with a draw the more likely result.

I t was down to Dom Heater (two not out) and Ollie Jones (one not out) to see things out for the last four overs, which they did without any real scares.

Buxted walked away with 10 points, Worthing with eight.

Elsewhere, there were wins for Buxted twos, threes and fours who all made strong boosts to their promotion hopes.

Fifties for Finley Coddington and George Read were the twos’ highlights, a 50 for Harry Clifford the third XI’s high spot, while the fours beat Uckfield Anderida.

Glynde came out best in yet another tight game last Saturday when travelling to Preston Nomads II in Division 3 East of the Sussex Cricket League.

After an early delay for rain, Archie Burrows won the toss and asked Nomads to bat and eight of the Nomads batsmen reached double figures.

But only Chris Borsoi with 43, Adam Ibrahim with 23 and Daniel Lategan on 21 gave the Glynde bowling too many problems, as Preston Nomads second string were bowled out for 162.

Will Burton Durham with 2-21, Jani Flind (2-34), Charlie Hobden (2-38) and Louis Barron (2-43) all posed problems for the home side’s batting, in another solid bowling performance from Glynde.

Once again though Glynde struggled with the bat, after getting off to a good start.

Matthew Blunt with 26 and Burrows with 24 added 47 for the first wicket.

After this, there came what is becoming the usual batting collapse, as they fell towards defeat at 125-8, with Stuart Faith (4-28) and Ravi Jadav (3-40) ripping through the middle order.

Hobden, who came in at the fall of the second wicket, struck a well made 54 not out and along with Barron, who scored 17 not out, got Glynde across the winning line with 11 overs remaining.

Glynde move up a place to sixth, but will need a lot more consistency with their battling to push the side further up the Division 3 East table.

Glynde twos had no game last weekend, while Glynde thirds played their Division 11 East (North) match on the main pitch for a change, with no other home game on Saturday.

They restricted Isfield twos to 162 all out, with Ollie Anderson scoring 46 and Andre Robinson (42), batting well for Isfield.

Youngster Felix Moore (3-10), bowled well and straight, while Zak Barber and Ridley Flind both recorded figures of (2-22).

Alistair Randall (32) and Flind (20) scored well at the top of the order, but after this only a late flurry of runs from Lee Atkinson (21 not out) made much impression as Isfield bowlers Nick Lawler (2-10), Dan Harding (2-16) and Jamie Hall (2-27) bowled well.

Glynde's third string were bowled out for 141.

This weekend Glynde are back at home as they take on Lindfield, looking for another win, with a 12.30pm start, at the Recreation Ground.

Crowhurst Park 182-9; Brighton & Hove 157

Sussex League Division 2

In a rain reduced match sides Park secured a valuable victory by despatching Brighton & Hove for 157.

In reply to Park’s target of 183 the home side made a steady start before Brad Payne (1-9) made the breakthrough. Simon Hetherton (59) Adam Mates (21) Kia Potzas (22) all added valuable runs for Brighton, but wickets fell at regular intervals.

All Park’s bowlers shared the spoils as Matt Peters (4-23) and Ollie Constable (2-42) spun their way through the batting with four overs to spare.

Earlier Crowhurst Park continued their improved batting form as the top five all made double figures.

Tom Powell (60) led the way with Jordan Shaw (37) and Clive Tong (26) contributing. Brighton’s Jack Chopping (3-45) and Felix Sheppard (3-31) ensured the batters did not run away as the visitors closed on 182-9

CPCC MoM: Tom Powell

Crowhurst Park 2nd 245-6; Battle 176

Fielding a balanced team of experience and outstanding youth, Crowhurst Park needed a victory in this rain-affected match.

Battle found themselves up against a secure opening duo of Joe Lovell (73) and Dave Rayment (70) laying the platform. Guy Ballard (4-54) was the best of Battle’s bowlers.

Useful runs were also made by Jon Peters (13) and Basie Stirdee (10) as Park closed on 245-6.

Taking the field it was Park’s young bowlers that stole the honours, displaying a mixture of pace, athletic fielding and flighty spin.

Early wickets fell to Charlies Ferguson (2-17) including a spectacular C&B, Bassie Stirdee (2-25) and Freddie Russell (3-27).

For Battle Curtis Coombes (65), Roger Soan (20) and Kyle Ridgway (20*) made determined efforts but leg break bowler Seb Cobbold (2-44) kept Park favorites. Battle were finally all out for 176 with overs to spare.

CPCC MoM: Joe Lovell

Crowhurst Park 3rd 91-1; Bexhill 4th 87 all out

Electing to field first, the visitors were quickly into the Bexhill batting with John Kakkasseri (2-19) and Vineeth Mathew (5-20) taking the honours.

For Bexhill Richard Matthews (31) and Chriss Anderson (20) gave stubborn resistance. Bexhill were bowled out for 897

In reply league leaders Crowhurst Park cruised to a nine-wicket victory in 12.3 overs thanks to Dan Flanagan (23*) and Nick Moore (41*).

Seaford 3rd XI: 227-4; Battle 2nd XI: 230-5

Division 11 East (South)

Battle’s second string overcame high-flying Seaford at a humid George Meadow.

Batting first, the seasiders started confidently. Josh Bourn removed Simon Gozzard, but that only brought in Haydn Cummins.

Together with Gavin Wright (78), left-handed Cummins (85*) put his side in control, assisted by some Battle fielding that did not quite meet the home side’s usual standards.

A stand of 117 gave Seaford a chance to launch an offensive in the concluding overs, but tidy spells and a wicket apiece from Sanjay Sharma and George Harris, along with a further victim for Michael Dudgeon, ensured the visitors never managed to get out of reach.

Battle’s reply was initially built around a solid innings from Sharma (52) as well as bruising drives from opener Phil Bourn (28) and skipper Leigh Tullett (36).

There were some tight overs from Dom Weisz (3-43), who also took a very sharp return catch to cut short Bourn’s knock.

At 142-5 after 25 overs, the game was in the balance. In the end, Battle relied on an excellent partnership between Henry Du Plessis (55*) and Steve Huggins (28*) who steered the side to victory with three overs to spare.

Both sides find themselves in the top four.

Hastings Priory 3rd 185-9 (15pts); Sidley 185-6 (15pts)

Sidley contested a dramatic tied game at home to Hastings Priory thirds.

The hosts ended their 40 overs on 185-6 in reply to Priory's 185-9, meaning both sides picked up 15 Sussex Cricket League Division 11 East (South) points.

Sidley captain Steve Ramsden was 48 not out at the end and Craig Ramsden unbeaten on 19 as the scores finished level at Sandhurst Recreation Ground.

Neil Priddy (29), Paul Oxborrow (27), Alex Povey (16), Jackson Jesupatham (11) and Mark Gransden (10) also contributed to the run chase, while Chris Rautenbach took 2-16 for Priory.

Gopinath Sellappan earlier claimed 3-30 with the ball for Sidley after they won the toss and chose to field in a match which marked the start of the second half of their season.

Priddy finished with 2-27, and there was a wicket each for Craig Ramsden, Cavan O'Connor and Jesupatham. Mohammed Rahman top-scored for Priory with 34 at number nine.

Sidley's second team, meanwhile, lost by 104 runs away to Crowhurst Park fourths in Division 12 East (South East).

Park posted 192-8 from their 40 overs batting first, with Wayne Russell making 77. Ryan Polton bagged 4-37 and Andy Pearson 3-24 for Sidley.

Russell Cole (23), Harry Little (18) and Dave Coveney (16) were the only players in double figures as Sidley were all out for 88. Michael Hambridge snapped up 4-2.

Barcombe v Herstmonceux

Division 5 EastHerstmonceux 190-8 in 36 overs; Nick Beck 4-43 Josh Wheatley 3-29; Barcombe 196-6 in 34.5 overs; Joe Wheatley 56no George Christmas 40 Matt Cordwell 25no. Barcombe win by 4 wktsSeaford 4th v Barcombe 2ndDivision 12 East (South)

Seaford 95 all out in 28 overs; Ade Broadway 4-19 Stan Hughes 3-15; Barcombe 96-2 in 21 overs; Dave Apps 62no; Barcombe won by 8 wkts.

In the Sussex Cricket League Division 9 East, Nutley were bowled out for 135 by Lewes St Michaels, who got home by four wickets inside 30 overs.

It was a hard-fought victory to bring 30 points back from Nutley.

After a thunderstorm caused a delay, Saints bowled out the hosts for 135, with Irfan Safi putting in another excellent display with the ball to take 4-26.

Naimat Zafary bowled economically for his 2-23 and Shrey Nilvarna (2-32) also nabbed a couple.

Nick Avis top-scored for the hosts with 33.

The chase proved tricky on a damp wicket, with Nutley bowling and fielding very well.

Richard Arnold (20) weathered some early wickets, before Guy Patton put in a fine performance for his 34.

Jim Thompson looked solid for his 17 not out but the game looked in danger of drifting away from LSM, with reduced overs.

However, man of the match Nilvarna came out and produced a magnificent display, making a rapid 41 with some lovely strokes including a beauty of a six.

This swung the game back into Saints’ favour to get over the line for their sixth win in the league this season.

News from Hailsham CC

On a nice rainy Saturday morning, Hailsham 2s went down the road to Willingdon. After waiting a while for the home team to arrive… We had a look at the wicket and had a thought of what we might do first. Not that it mattered as Lewis lost the toss and we was put in to field. After a short rain break and a well needed changing room rant. We went out to the field with openers Matty and Shiba. As always, they both bowled good lines and lengths with Shiba ending the day on 5 wickets. Charlie and Wazza came on keeping the run rate steady. Smithy bagging himself his first wicket with a lovely catch from Christy. Hols gaining two wickets in her first over and a third later on. Willingdon ended on 209 all out

Switching it up a little, Hols(12)and Anush(0)opened the batting. Anush departed early doors and after a few nice fours from Hols it saw Christy(0)and Fingers(9)at the crease. With a couple other unlucky wickets, Lew(22)and Ralph(18)kept their heads on and created a well needed partnership. Next in was Shib(17) and Wazza(28) increasing the run rate. With Wazza settling in and Smithy(10) joining him, with overs in hand but not many wickets to play with, soon enough we were bowled out for 150.

The EF Education player of the match went to Shibin for a beautiful spell of swing bowling.

On a muggy, yet gloomy Saturday, the 3s hosted Bexhill 3s at Roebuck park. To start, the 3s had a small fielding session with some high catches and ground fielding. Cal ‘the dragon’ Lainchbury must have channelled the confidence the positive warm-up as he actually won a toss and asked Bexhill to bat. However, this wasn’t to start right away as a band of rain kept the players away from the pitch with a delay of 45 minutes, leading to a 36 over a side game.

Once the covers were off, James Renals and his younger brother Alex were handed the new ball. After a wayward opening over, James struck early with ball hitting the opposition skipper’s glove on the way through to Ethan Hele behind the stumps. Alex kept the other end tight with some interesting lengths but solid pace to start Hailsham off. After 4 over a piece, this brought Andrew ‘Swanny’ Swansborough into the attack hoping to get some grip for his leg-breaks. Thankfully he did, helping the other opening batter depart leaving Bexhill 54-2. At the other end Thomas “the tank” Mills tied up an end really well with some fantastic areas, going for 1-23 from 7 overs. Sam Andrews was next with the ball and had great economy of just 3.8, showing the 3s why they did fielding drills to warm up. Taking a diving catch and a caught & bowled of the batsmen who was starting to pile on some runs. Lastly Dave Bennett-Tomlin came out of bowling retirement (again) to show the rest of the 3s how its done. Starting with a double wicket maiden, he somehow ended up 4-9 from just 4 overs to restrict Bexhill to 169/8 from their 36, leaving Hailsham to chase 170 to win.

After an assortment of meal deals and meal preps, captain Lainchbury and Josh Bennett-Tomlin strode out to the square. Both started aggressively, trying to get the 3s back to the Boundary bar as early as possible. However, Callum proceeded to chip one up for the keeper after a dynamic 20 from 19 balls. This brought out Tim ‘the return ticket’ Mullins at #3. In very un-Tim-like fashion, his frustration got the better of him and unfortunately gave a massive swipe before being bowled. This brought Dave (the 4-fer) to the crease, but unfortunately didn’t bring it home alongside his brother, being dismissed for 8. Jack Coughlin was in at 5, playing as a batter due to injury. Some fantastic shots, helping cement himself as an all rounder. Scoring 32 from 33 brought the team closer to victory. Lastly, Swanny was all we needed to get us home with some big shots (“hit it harder”), scoring 22 from 18 balls to bring Hailsham to a much needed win. JBT at the other end played a very solid innings with 74 from 83 balls, steering his side to victory.

Hailsham win by 6 wickets.

Men of the match are the Bennett-Tomlin brother for their impact with the bat and ball.