Sidley show their competitive side

ALTHOUGH beaten for the third time in as many Sussex Cricket League outings, Sidley were again competitive on Saturday.

And with a heavily depleted side too. The Gullivers team was missing several regulars and had to field a couple of Sussex Division Two debutants, but still came within two wickets of a Littlehampton side only relegated from the Premier Division on the final day of last season.

Captain Jonathan Haffenden said: "It was good. I was very pleased actually. Everyone fought right to the end and it proves we're not going to give up this year."

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Second-bottom Sidley showed commendable spirit in the field and came close to successfully defending a modest total of 157 all out.

Haffenden continued: "The three main bowlers bowled tremendously well. They bowled really tight and it was a great effort from all of them. Everyone fielded really well as well."

Peter King, Phil Belfield and Kashif Rasheed each claimed two wickets, there was one for Ian Rise and Sidley also effected a run-out.

Pick of the bunch saw Haffenden claim a spectacular diving catch behind the stumps off the bowling of Belfield.

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It was ultimately in vain, however, because a series of solid contributions, the best of which came from Siya Sibiya (38) and Chris Kirkham (33), just about took Littlehampton to 161-8.

In the end, Sidley's downfall could be attributed to the fact that they were short of a few runs with the bat. Haffenden went on: "We could have done with about 20 more runs and that means using up our overs. Not batting out the overs is our one problem."

They began indifferently with the bat, Steve Reeves, Haffenden and Ian Northorpe departing for relatively few. But King (60) and Rasheed (43) joined forces to re-build the innings and steer Sidley towards a respectable score.

First team rookies Mark Gransden and 14-year-old Craig Ramsden provided useful runs at the end. Gransden hit a six and a four in a decent cameo knock, while Ramsden ended on four not out.

Third-placed Littlehampton's bowling effort was spearheaded by Benn Challen (5-23) and Adam Tester (3-22).