Bexhill coach hoping for show of defiance

Bexhill Cricket Club coach Hamish Russell is hoping for a show of defiance when the first team returns to home soil tomorrow (Saturday).
Action from Bexhill Cricket Club's home fixture against Ansty last season.Action from Bexhill Cricket Club's home fixture against Ansty last season.
Action from Bexhill Cricket Club's home fixture against Ansty last season.

Bexhill will host Ansty in Sussex Cricket League Division Two eager for a swift response to last weekend’s seven-wicket defeat away to Chichester Priory Park. Play will start at 12.30pm.

Russell said: “As Haff (captain Johnathan Haffenden) told them (the players) after the game, we’ve got seven games left and we can’t afford to dwell on this. We’ve got to turn it around straight away.

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“Everybody seemed to take it on board, but I suppose the proof is what happens on Saturday.”

Bexhill were also comfortably beaten in May’s reverse fixture against seventh-placed Ansty, with whom they were relegated from the Premier Division last summer.

“We’re at home now and it will be a very different game at home,” Russell continued. “We’ve got a point to prove. We know what to expect and I’m certainly hoping for a show of defiance from them (the players).

“I think we need to win it. We go in as underdogs, but it’s a winnable game for us, especially on Polegrove. We need to win games before the end of the season, before we hit the last three games really.”

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Bexhill will be determined to produce a far better showing with the bat having been bowled out for just 126 by Chichester.

“We had a decent side out, but we were really, really poor on the day and it was very frustrating to watch,” continued Russell.

“We should’ve been building on what we’ve been doing recently, but for some reason we played a series of very poor cricket shots throughout the afternoon. Nine out of 10 people can look at the way they got out and say ‘that was my fault’.

“The top four all got in and looked good, and then had a brain fade and got themselves out. The players know it wasn’t good enough.”

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Despite the result, second-bottom Bexhill are just three points behind a Bognor Regis side which occupies the final safe spot of third-bottom. Rock-bottom Lindfield, however, have now drawn level on points with Bexhill.

“We were lucky that Bognor didn’t pick up too many points either,” added Russell.

Bexhill are likely to see what the weather’s doing and what the pitch looks like before selecting their line-up, with Russell saying ‘we’ve got to get the balance right’.

Sussex Cricket League Division Two standings (all played 11 matches): 1 Mayfield 255pts, 2 Three Bridges 253, 3 Haywards Heath 225, 4 Billingshurst 208, 5 Chichester Priory Park 188, 6 St James’s Montefiore 180, 7 Ansty 158, 8 Bognor Regis 136, 9 BEXHILL 133, 10 Lindfield 133.

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See also: * Bexhill stay in bottom two after heavy defeat* Bexhill lose out in see-saw contestBenefit from an ongoing discount on your Observer by joining our voucher membership scheme. Once you’ve subscribed, we’ll send you dated vouchers which can be exchanged for your paper at any news outlet. To save money on your Observer, simply click here (www.localsubsplus.co.uk)