Sidley continue to stuggle with the bat

The Gullivers club came up 45 runs short of a mediocre target away to the early Sussex Division Two pacesetters.

Just as when finishing bottom last year, runscoring has been the major source of concern for Sidley in the early part of the 2006 campaign.

The warning signs were sounded early on a wind-ravaged afternoon when skipper Jonathan Haffenden was sent packing with the score on just seven.

Scott Woodroffe, who returned from wintering in Australia just days beforehand, and opener Steve Reeves followed not long afterwards to leave Sidley tottering on 21-3.

Hopes of a first victory of the campaign were raised, however, when overseas player Kashif Rasheed and Peter King came together.

The pair, who also batted well in the two wicket loss against Littlehampton the previous week, shared 56 for the fourth wicket.

The stand was ended when King was given out leg before - one of four such dismissals during the visitors' innings - for 23 and Pakistani Rasheed swiftly followed in identical fashion with the score still on 77.

Phil Belfield and Tyrone Wildman, the latter to his first ball, also fell before another run was added as a possible victory turned into an almost certain defeat.

Chris Deeprose, Paul Thompson and Ian Northorpe ensured Sidley got to three figures, but with an on paper lengthy batting line-up, they would have been hoping for far better than 105. Ian Newman was the pick of the home bowlers with 5-26 off 12 overs.

Sidley had done the first part of the job well by reducing Lewes to 149 all out, although it might have been even fewer.

Both Priory openers came and went by the time 11 runs had been scored and, although they recovered reasonably, three wickets went down in the 70s to leave them in trouble at 77-7.

The match perhaps turned, however, when Paul Farrow (36) and Alex Ham (22) pieced together an eighth wicket partnership of 59.

King claimed the last three wickets to finish with 4-28 from 11.1 overs, while Belfield (1-23 off eight overs), Deeprose (2-25 from nine overs) and Rasheed (2-31 off 13 overs) all returned impressive figures.