Finch posts ton - but Hastings Priory are beaten

Hastings Priory skipper Tom Gillespie spoke of his frustration after another Sussex Premier League draw for his team. We have a report from that game and ones involving Glynde, Newick, Little Common Ramblers, Lewes Priory, Battle, Hellingly, Ifield, Buxted Park, Rye, Bexhill, Pevensey, Hailsham, Chiidingly and Jevington in our latest round-up.
Harry Finch on his way to a Hastings Priory ton / Picture: Justin LycettHarry Finch on his way to a Hastings Priory ton / Picture: Justin Lycett
Harry Finch on his way to a Hastings Priory ton / Picture: Justin Lycett

Twice recently they have failed to clinch a win through failing to bowl out the opposition in the game’s second innings.

Against Cuckfield Harry Finch was the star with 114 as Priory totalled 195-9 in 58 overs. Harry Scowen backed him up with 46.

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That left them 52 overs to try to bowl out the visitors, but they were four wickets short of the win as Cuckfield ended on 167-6, with Adam Barton and Jed O’Brien taking two wickets apiece.

Redding Barnes scored 132 for Buxted Park secondsRedding Barnes scored 132 for Buxted Park seconds
Redding Barnes scored 132 for Buxted Park seconds

Gillespie said: “We were pleased to win the toss and bat on a pitch we thought might do a little more in the second innings.

“Cuckfield bowled well and set good fields and made it difficult and managed to really restrict our scoring options.

“They took a couple of wickets early but Harry Finch and Harry Scowen put on a good partnership to build quite a nice platform for us to try to create an advantage.

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“Unfortunately we weren’t really able to do that as we lost regular wickets and Cuckfield continued to bowl well.

John Dowsett struck a 50 for Pevensey thirdsJohn Dowsett struck a 50 for Pevensey thirds
John Dowsett struck a 50 for Pevensey thirds

“In the end, some great striking from Harry Finch to bring up his hundred and get us to 195 gave us what we considered a competitive score on a very hard wicket to try to force the scoring.

“With the ball, I think we went about our business really well. We got a fortunate and big wicket of Joe Ludlow early caught down the leg side and we were able to restrict them.

“We got a few more important wickets of their other opener and oversees and after that we felt like we were the only side with a real chance of winning.

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“While we tried quite a few things I don’t think it was ever going to be easy to take ten wickets on a pitch that was too slow with very little bounce and it ended up being quite a comfortable draw for both sides.

“It’s frustrating to draw two on the bounce at home, where bowling sides out has proved to be very challenging.”

It’s derby day tomorrow as Hastings go to Eastbourne CC.

Priory sit ninth, 45 points behind their hosts tomorrow.

Newick v Little Common Ramblers

Sussex Division 5 East

Little Common Ramblers made it six wins in a row.

After losing the toss, Ramblers were unsurprisingly put into bat on a very green pitch and found themselves under the cosh very early.

Varun Khullar, Ed Feist and Tom Crathern all went cheaply, leaving the visitors 5-3 early on. Jon Meredith and Mark Hopkinson went about leading the recovery, the pair digging deep to survive a tricky opening spell before countering well to ensure the runs began to accumulate.

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The pair put on a 99-run partnership to reach 104-4 in the 21st over before Meredith fell for 37 trying to clear the long boundary.

Ramblers continued to work up to a respectable total on a difficult deck and ended on 197 with Hopkinson having made an excellent 65.

Newick started aggressively in response but two wickets for Fin Jack in his opening spell had the game evenly poised at 44-2 after the first powerplay.

Ifti Ahmed and Meredith slowed the rate well in the middle overs but Matt Sawyer looked to have Newick in control heading into the last ten with 55 required.

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However Khullar returned for a brilliant spell of fast bowling which included the wicket of Sawyer. Khullar ended with 3-29 from his eight overs and was well supported by Tom Crathern (3-37) at the other end.

The win keeps Ramblers in second place ahead of the visit of league leaders Hailsham on Saturday.

Rye v Battle

A superb 75 by young batting talent Leigh Tullett and 78 from Andy Keen were key in Battle’s comfortable victory over Rye after they were asked to bat first.

The early wickets of Colin Driscoll (12) and Guy Ballard (10) put them under pressure, Ross Pierce (1-27)and Fred McKenzie (1-30) bowling nicely.

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Keen and Jo Carthew (35) settled into a partnership with plenty of twos and threes. Carthew fell lbw to Callum Haddaway (1-31) before Tullett seized his opportunity batting at No5.

He began to deploy his sweep with devastating effect.

Chris Patel and Martin Blincow conceded 89 off 10 overs.

Keen continued to play a holding role with some delicious late cuts keeping his score moving, while Tullett produced a range of stokes. Keen and Tullett put on 120 in 18 overs.

In reply, Dave Baldock applied intense pressure early on and George Howard-Smith (1-32) made the breakthrough.

Towering seamer Jim Palmer bowled the best spell of the game. Beating the bat time and again, his eight overs cost a mere 20 runs, with his final two balls picking up wickets, including Rye’s top-scorer, John Mackenzie (43).

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Palmer also ran out Spenser Fielding (34) with an excellent throw. Keen (1-36) and Tullett (1-19) picked up a wicket each as Rye gave up all attempts to chase.

Carthew (3-15) finished off the tail, bowling three batsman.

Tullett and Keen were joint winners of the Bull Inn MoM award.

Bexhill 2nd v Hellingly

Another solid fielding display saw Bexhill second eleven come out on top against Hellingly first team.

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Having lost the toss and been asked to bowl Bexhill made a steady start. Evan Gill (2-24) bowled Nathaniel Dixon (1) with his first ball and Byron Smith (2-18) bowled Adam Devlin (5) to reduce Hellingly to 29-2 and by the time the pair were finished the score was 39-4. Matthew Wood (29) and Sachin Jose (1) took time out of the game and scored valuable runs, but when they both fell to Dahron Pitt (2-20) Hellingly were 67-6 and were in danger of being skittled out for under 100. Adam Miller (26) offered some stiff resistance alongside Andrew Rose (7), Daniel Pellet, Peter Westlake (5) and Paul Kirk (2). Hellingly closed their innings on 107 with the spin duo of Jamie Wicks (2-15) and Charlie Francis (2-14) wrapping things up for Bexhill in classic second team fashion.

In reply, Bexhill made steady progress, batting sensible and showing control with their shots on a damp wicket and faced with a wily attack. When Harry Strugnell (5) fell, bowled to Paul Kirk (2-24) Bexhill were 23-1 and feeling well set to chase. However, Bexhill soon found themselves 44-4 with Gary Wicks (12), Alex Murray (4) and Paul Crittenden (6) all back in the shed thanks to Peter Westlake (1-8) and Daniel Pellett (4-28). With Bexhill running out of genuine batters, James Bywater (17) counter attacked releasing some of the pressure before falling to a good catch in the deep. Joel Cheshire and Jamie Wicks kept the score ticking before the latter feel to leave Bexhill 66-6 with the game finely poised. Byron Smith (10) came and went to leave things 80-7. Joel Cheshire (13*) kept his head showing tremendous maturity and skill and with Dahron Pitt (10*) the pair saw Bexhill home in another nail-biting game.

Glynde v Ifield

Division 3 East

Glynde went into Saturday’s game with Ifield without four of their main bowlers, but still put up a really gutsy performance in a narrow defeat.

Glynde batted first and got off to a fine start as Alex Thornhill (60) and Archie Burrows (44), added 73 for the first wicket, before two wickets fell quickly thereafter.

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Matt Blunt (53) then added 67 with skipper Thornhill before he departed at 165-4.

There were further smaller contributions from the ever-reliable George Burton Durham (20*) and David Tungate (14*), as Glynde managed to get their total up to 223-7 at the close of the innings.

Ifield bowlers toiled away well, with Nicolo Fernando (2-33) and Jack Groves (2-56) being the most successful.

Glynde were then further hindered as their replacement opening bowler Aamer Riaz got injured at the end of his sixth over after going for just 19 runs.

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Glynde took an early wicket as Louis Baron (2-35) struck. However Jack Biden (39), Jack Groves (39) and Rahhul Patel 36 got Ifield well on top.

But Glynde’s makeshift attack bowled accurately, before Vish Patel (31*) and Daniel Groves (23) got Ifield close.

Ifield finally got over the line with, five wickets down and four balls remaining, but this performance from Glynde showed an awful lot of fight and determination.

This weekend Glynde travel to top-of-the-table St Peters.

Lewes Priory v Buxted Park

Division 4 East

Buxted Park put a frustrating loss against Mayfield behind them by beating Lewes Priory.

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New captain Tom Clift won the toss and elected to bat. Despite the loss of an early wicket, George Read (48) and Will Rist (51) shot out of the traps.

The score swiftly moved to 140-3 as Gareth Clift entered the fray, who made an excellent 42.

With a late cameo from the lower order, Buxted reached a strong total of 241-9 off their 45 overs.

Veteran opening bowler Craig Olive (4-23) got Buxted off to a good start taking some key top order wickets.

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He was suitably aided by Read (3-24) and at 45-4 Priory had a mountain to climb.

Despite the efforts of captain Chris Baker (60) and a good hitting display from Ahtesham Ali (27), Lewes finished well short of the target, ending on 190 all out.

Another professional performance from Buxted who retained their place in the promotion spots in Division 4 East.

Buxted Park Midweek XI v Tunbridge Wells Wednesday XI

On a sunny afternoon Buxted Park won the toss and elected to bat.

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Buxted Park scored 208-5 and Tunbridge Wells Wednesday were all out for 61, meaning Park won by 147 runs.

Highlight of the afternoon was Buxted’s Dom Heater 7-3 off 6.4 overs.

Hailsham v Chiddingly

Division 5 East

Chiddingly made the trip to Hailsham hoping to get back to winning ways.

Hailsham lost the toss and were put into bat, but hit the first 50 off 11.1 overs.

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After the ten over mark, Ollie McDonald dispatched anything that was over pitched or too short.

As he reached his 50 he was not finished, and the barrage of big hitting continued.

But no one was able to replicate McDonald’s display, with no one getting above double figures apart from Rob Wilkinson (16) and debutant Joe Fingerneissl (10).

A huge six got McDonald from 98 over to 104 and he kept going in the same manner until Chiddingly finally got their man.

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McDonald ended on a magnificent 134 off 77 balls including 13 fours and a staggering 11 sixes. This left Hailsham on 206-6.

A late flourish from Andrew Anthony (33*) and Tom Hicks (32*), brought the score to 266-7 off 40 overs.

Hailsham’s opening bowlers managed to bowl tight lines. But as the game went on, the opening batsmen both reached fifty plus.

After some strong words at drinks, a first wicket for Fingerneissl (1-36) brought more life into the fielders.

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In the final 15 overs Chiddingly had to take risks, but Hailsham were equal to it with run outs coming from S Bala, Tom McDonald, Wilkinson and Matt Dawber.

Some excellent death bowling from Tom McDonald (1-48), Anthony (1-52) and Simon Dunning (1-37) saw Chiddingly fall just short at 250-8.

Man of the match went to Ollie McDonald. He not only got his first 50 for the first team, but converted that to 134.

* Pevensey 3’s travelled to Jevington for their league game in desperate need of a win. Pevensey won the toss and decided to field first in an attempt to make use of the very wet and slow wicket following the rain. Cam Hoadley (7-1-17-0) opened the bowling along with C Trunkfield(4-0-38-0). Hoadley kept the opening pair pegged down, but C Trunkfield was punished for bowling a little too short on a sticky pitch.

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A dropped catch off his second over allowed the opening pair to score over 30 in the first 6 overs. Opening batsman Jason Hurst (28) was then caught brilliantly by in form Biddle from T Cottington’s bowling(9-2-21-4) to put the homeside on 39-1. Bettesworth (19) remained stubbornly at the crease until he became one of the six victims of Paul Biddle’s(7-0-35-6) excellent bowling. Two Willingdon players fell for ducks in quick succession before M Baldwin (33) and T Marsden managed to add to the low score.

Three more ducks and a well hit 42* from Grant Smith gave Willingdon a total of 184 all out from 39 overs. P Biddle and T Cottington sharing all the wickets between them with some fine bowling. They both also took two of the best catches of the season so far.

Pevensey stepped up to the challenge to try and score 185 to win. Openers C Hoadley (30) and P Biddle went out to bat first. It was not the greatest of starts when Biddle was out for a duck against some excellent bowling from the young A Manoj (7-1-24-6). Matt Loe (10) was then caught at mid-on when trying to drive hard over the bowlers head, reducing Pev to 18-2.

Charlie Trunkfield arrived at the crease earlier than the team had hoped, and fended off 3 balls before being bowled by an excellent out-swinging delivery from Manoj. John Dowsett (78) then settled the nerves and fell into a good rhythm producing a Wagon Wheel like he was hitting the ball around the world. Dowsett & Hoadley put on nearly 100 runs together, before. Hoadley was bowled by T Marsden from a ball that barely left the ground. Skipper D Trunkfield then played the support role with Dowsett to put on another 29 runs. D Trunkfield was then given out LBW reducing the visitors to 134-5. The run chase was looking more and more difficult. The remaining batsman put on a good fight, but in the end Pevensey were unable to get to the target and fell 33 runs short.