East Sussex cricket: Glynde win another close one, Hailsham on track, Eastbourne struggling

Glynde & Beddingham CC had another very close Sussex League Division 3 East game – and beat leaders St Peters by just one wicket.

St Peters batted first and started quickly thanks to Rohan Doyle, who scored 60, but wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end, with five wickets falling for 130.

Sam Wheatley with 49 not out and Sharuvinothan Yoganathan with 29 recovered their position as the bowlers kept things tight.

George Burton Durham took 2-22 from his nine overs and Charlie Hobden (2-30) did well. Will Burton Durham (2-54) was the other bowler to cause problems and St Peters finished on 229-8.

Eight of Glynde's batsmen reached double figures with Robbie Mouland the pick, scoring 67 before being run out. There was mid-order support from Matt Cramp (33), Charlie Silvester (24) and George Burton Durham (21).

Glynde needed seven when the ninth wicket fell and Mike Brooks struck the winning four with two balls left. This was a great all-round performance by the team.

Glynde II made the long trip to Iden and batting first scored 190-8 thanks to Dominic Harris who scored 70, supported by Joe Skeaping with 27.

Lee Atkinson struck a quick 21 not out.

Iden openers Rob Clemence (54) and Pete Harris (24) got Iden off to a good start, adding 64, and there was a match-winning 50 not out from Gary Rens as Iden squeezed home by three wickets.

There were two wickets apiece for Elliott Churton (2-10) and Lee Atkinson (2-38).

Brighton Dome Mission v Hailsham

Sussex Division 4 East

Hailsham kept up their promotion push with a six-wicket win over Dome Mission.

Hailsham travelled to the outskirts of Brighton hoping to get back to winning ways after a washout last week.

On a damp looking track, stand-in skipper Tom McDonald won the toss and elected to bowl.

This decision was immediately fruitful, with Bellett trapping the Dome Mission opener in front with the first ball of the game.

The match was tough going for both sides; a track that offered very little for the bowlers, alongside a severe lack in value for runs.

It would be an afternoon of grinding for both sides, but Hailsham took the early initiative, courtesy of two wickets from Tutt and a wicket from Dunning left the hosts struggling and looking for partnerships.

Dome Mission did find these partnerships, but with the long outfield, good shots weren’t finding the boundary as regularly expected, and this reflected clearly on the economy rates.

An interesting three-fer from Ollie McDonald, and two for Jason Tibble managed to restrict the Dome Mission batsmen to 153 from their 45 overs.

Tibble and McDonald combined again, this time with the bat, looking to negotiate the early stages of the innings.

After a steady start, McDonald was trapped LBW for 10, shortly followed by Peacock for seven, and Hailsham nerves began to rise.

But up stepped Tibble and Dunning with the all important partnership, keeping out the good balls, and dispatching anything in their hitting zones.

Dunning was caught on 31, followed by Dawber for two, both in similar fashion as they picked out deep mid-wicket.

Tibble however powered on, and showed a different class to any batsmen on display throughout the day, eventually seeing the side over the line alongside Tom McDonald; Tibble finishing on an incredible 85*, as Hailsham completed a 6-wicket win.

The Choice Medics Man of the Match went to Jason Tibble for that outstanding 85 not out that saw his team over the line.

EASTBOURNE CC

Eastbourne CC have it all to do if they are to preserve their Sussex Premier League status.

They are bottom of the table and 41 points off safety with five matches to go – but the fight is certainly not over yet.

Last weekend they lost heavily away to Mayfield, the other side in the bottom two.

Mayfield were all out for 266 despite 4-93 by Jacob Smith and two wickets apiece for Ben Barter and Freddie Freeman.

The Eastbourne reply did not go well and Malcolm Johnson (25) and Freddie Ferro (24) were the only two batsmen to pass 20 as the visitors were bowled out for 98 in a shade under 27 overs.

Smith’s men must go all out for victory when Three Bridges visit The Saffrons this Saturday.

Alfriston 226 all out; Lewes St Michaels 204 all out

Sussex League Div 9 East

Alfriston put on a great display to thwart promotion-chasing Lewes St Michaels on Saturday.

Arjun Thakker made an excellent 81 for the hosts, aided by a Barney Douglas 63 to give Alfriston a commanding 226 all out. Shrey Nilvarna took 3-32 and Naimat Zafary took 2-45.

In reply, Guy Patton top-scored for the Lewesians with a classy 59 – despite some hairy run out scares – with Richard Arnold batting well for his 30 and Naveed Zafary making 37.

Wickets kept tumbling though and despite a late rally from Nilvarna, who smashed 23, Saints were all out for 204.

St Michaels remain in third however, still within reach of the top two places and this Thursday into the last 16 of the Sussex Slam T20 competition.

Fletching v Barcombe

Sussex League Div 5 EastFletching 193-8 in 40 overs; Matt Tucker 3-35; Barcombe 194-2 in 26.1 overs; Harry Stewart 98no George Christmas 27no Matt Cordwell 22. Barcombe won by 8wkts.

Barcombe 2nd v Hailsham 5th

Div 12 East (South)Hailsham 97 all out in 27 overs; Ted Burke 4-17 Ade Broadway 3-30 Harry Austin 2-30; Barcombe 99-3 in 18 overs; Tommy Gaydon 27no. Barcombe won by 7wkts.

Soggy weather failed to rain on Sidley's parade as the cricket club staged the first game back in their community after a 10-year absence.

Players, umpires, spectators and guests braved the elements at St Mary's Rec in St Mary's Lane on Sunday as the century-old club christened its new home.

Sidley vice-chair Jamie Ramsden, the driving force behind securing this new base, said: "It was a good day despite the weather."

Conditions were fairly pleasant when Sidley's juniors, in their brand-new shirts, were first on to the field in the morning. But rain had started falling by the time a Sidley XI took on a Chris Milton XI in a memorial match for the Sussex Cancer Fund.

In keeping with the determination the club had shown to secure its new home, the players decided to go ahead with the match, albeit with overs reduced to 10 per side.

The Chris Milton XI totalled 99-3 batting first before Sidley reached 63-5 in reply.

Several former Sidley players featured, including Scott Woodroffe, Johnathan Haffenden, Adam Berger, Simon Calver and Mark Hopkinson.

Other names of note in action from neighbouring clubs included Steve Phillimore, Shawn Johnson and Paul Crittenden, while Dave Morris and Dave Shillabeer were the umpires.

Also in attendance were Rother District Council leader Cllr Doug Oliver and Cllr Sam Coleman, Bexhill town councillors Tony Carroll and Julie Norris, and Sussex League representative Hamish Russell.

Heart of Sidley - which has played a key role in helping the club complete the move to St Mary's - was represented by Jay Carroll and Linda Seddon.

Bexhill restaurant Pebbles on the Beach - the club's primary junior sponsors - ran a barbecue and bar, and there was a marquee for the Sussex Cancer Fund.

Local residents watched and some contributed prizes for the raffle.

The club was keen to honour Chris, a hugely-popular and long-serving player and club official who died in 2021. The day also commemorated Keith Bradshaw and Cavan O'Connor snr, two other members of the Sidley CC family who died the same year.

Sidley's first and second teams will play their remaining 2023 home league fixtures at Sandhurst Rec in Hastings, but all home games from next season will take place at St Mary's.

Crowhurst Park 102; Hastings Priory 103-5

Sussex Division 2

This eagerly awaited derby turned out to be an anti-climax as the experience of Priory was the deciding factor.

The poor weather of the week had made the pitch a bit unknown.

Electing to field Priory were soon in the wickets with both openers gone. Barton and Mahendran made the breakthroughs.

Tom Powell (30) and Brad Payne (20) stabilised the innings but both fell to the dependable John Morgan (4-27).

Thereafter only Nick Peters (20) made double figures as Park’s batting surrendered – they were all out for 102 runs. Other successful Priory bowlers were S Mahendren (2-350 and S Cowley (2-20)

In reply Hasting’s openers played purposefully D Wooley (24) and T Gillespie (35) took the score to 67 before Nick Peters (2-31) struck.

Jordan Shaw (3-23) ran in at full pace as Priory’s middle order suffered a wobble.

Their hopes were dashed by a flourish from A Osbourne (20) that brought proceedings to an early close.

Crowhurst Park 2nd 102-8; St Peters 2nd 99

Crowhurst Park elected to field on what looked like a bowler friendly pitch, knowing that St Peters usually provide stiff opposition.

On this occasion only one St Peters batter made double figures – Danny Killalea (19). Park used five bowlers and 28 overs to dismiss St Peters for 99. Bassie Sturdee (3-17) and Vikas Kumar (3-21) the best bowling figures.

In reply Park found batting to be an uncertain prospect. Nick Taylor (41) did most of the scoring, supported by Freddie Russell (18) and Bassie Sturdee (10) as the visitors squeezed past St James target with 2 wickets to spare.

Alex McGuiness (4-29) Henry Mamon (2-21) Jinit Bafna (2-23) bowled well.

Crowhurst Park 3rd 219-9; Sidley XI 88 all out

Park’s table topping 3rd X1 reduced Sidley to (88-all out) 131 runs short of the target. For the home side Steve Ramsden (37) top scored with support from Niel Priddy (18) and Harry Little (10) for the visitors, bowlers John Kakkassari (4-22) Sam Byrnes (3-33) Seb Cobbold (2-10) were the most successful.

Earlier Crowhurst Park notched up a challenging target of (220) with Gryff Watkins (27) Sam Jones (37) and Sam Baker (31) top scored. Sidley’s Craig Ramsden (4-35) had the best bowling figures.

Pett 2nd XI: 218-6, Battle 2nd XI: 98 all out

On a breezy day at Pett, the home side were comfortable victors.

Joel Greig and Liam Stamp gave Pett a good start, helped when catches didn’t stick for Battle and despite an impressive but luckless spell from George Harris.

Robert Poulter removed Greig and Kieran Dudgeon took 3-39 and Sanjay Sharma 2-46.

In the reply Glen Oakman (2-20) and Andy Murphy (1-13) kept control.

Opener Dudgeon (38) and Henry Du Plessis (24) put on 49, before Stevie Faulkner (4-12) swept away most of the lower order.