Priory hope to return to action against Nomads

Hastings Priory's cricketers will hope to return to action with a home game against Preston Nomads tomorrow (Saturday).
Hastings Priory captain Tom Gillespie ducks under a bouncer during the club's last outing at home to Billingshurst a fortnight ago. Picture by Simon Newstead (SUS-161106-231733002)Hastings Priory captain Tom Gillespie ducks under a bouncer during the club's last outing at home to Billingshurst a fortnight ago. Picture by Simon Newstead (SUS-161106-231733002)
Hastings Priory captain Tom Gillespie ducks under a bouncer during the club's last outing at home to Billingshurst a fortnight ago. Picture by Simon Newstead (SUS-161106-231733002)

Priory experienced their first cancelled league game for two years last weekend when the Sussex Premier League match away to East Grinstead was cancelled at 8am on Saturday due to the Friday deluge, which left the outfield resembling a lake and an incursion of water onto the pitch.

Both teams picked up 10 points for the cancellation on a day when all of the division’s other four fixtures were completed.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Priory remain seventh in the 10-team division and are 25 points ahead of the two relegation places with a game in hand on the bottom two.

They will be aiming to reproduce the sort of form which earned them a crushing victory over bottom club Billingshurst last time out a fortnight ago when they take on fourth-placed Nomads tomorrow. Play is due to get under way from 12.30pm at Horntye Park.

* Priory’s second team, meanwhile, made it a magnificent seven wins out of seven with an eight-wicket victory at home to Findon last weekend.

The result leaves Priory a commanding 33 points clear of second-placed Mayfield at the top of Sussex Cricket League 2nd XI Division Two.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After winning the toss and choosing to field at an overcast Horntye Park on Saturday, Priory made an early breakthrough when Sam Hobbs dismissed Ross Ball for a 13-ball duck.

Neil Priddy bowled Matthew Glover for 23 to leave Findon 33-2, but the visitors hit back with a third wicket partnership of 60 between John Cox and Jabe Rogers, who fell to Jack Coleman.

William Lucas got rid of Simon Legge (10) to make it 116-4 and the innings faltered thereafter, with seven wickets falling for 36 runs, including Cox for a valuable 61.

Hobbs and Lucas finished with three wickets each, and there was one apiece for Priddy, Coleman and Sujith Perera, in addition to an Adam Maharaj-Newman run out, as Findon were all out in 52.3 overs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Priory lost Joe Lamb with just nine on the board in reply, but a second wicket stand of exactly 100 between Alex Coyle (37 off 41 balls) and Maharaj-Newman put them firmly on course.

Maharaj-Newman blasted Priory across the finish line with an unbeaten 92 from just 62 deliveries featuring 12 fours and four sixes. Ryan Hoadley (14 not out) was alongside him at the end as Priory finished the job in the 24th over.

Priory will seek to continue their 100% winning record when they travel to second-bottom Steyning tomorrow.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make this website your homepage

2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex

3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

Related topics: