Hellingly lift shield as East Sussex cricket clubs get stuck into their July friendlies

Hailsham v Hellingly

Hellingly made the short trip to Hailsham to contest the sixth annual Martlet Shield in a 40-over game.

Hailsham elected to bat and openers Rob Wilkinson and Tom Carpenter (31) made a solid start, reaching 48 before Dan Pellett (3-28) trapped Wilkinson lbw for 24.

Despite some hard hitting from Matt Dawber (28). Arthur Rossi claimed 3-34 and Owen Miller 2-9 as Hailsham were dismissed for 165. Resistance came from James Bellett who made 36 before being run out.

In reply, Hellingly lost two early wickets before Harry Wooton and David Rippengal put on a huge partnership of 113 to swing the game in Hellingly’s favour.

Wooton smashed 83 off just 59 balls including seven fours and six sixes as Rippengal supported him with 42 from 56 balls. Both players were dismissed late on by Tom Carpenter (2-20), so Adam Devlin (10*) and skipper Arthur Rossi (8*) saw Hellingly to a six-wicket win.

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Uckfield Anderida CC v Eastbourne III

The sun was shinning, the covers were off and cricket was back at Victoria as Uckfield Anderida took on Eastbourne 3s.

Uckfield won the toss on the newly laid square and decided to field first. Eastbourne openers Sam Holder 53 and Fraser Hicks 69 got them off to a steady start.

Uckfield opening bowlers Matt Reed and Dan Gee toiled away without success. The introduction of Mark Greenslade accounted for both openers and he finished with 3-48.

Chris Brady’s 3-28 accounted for the middle order with superb help from Neal Boniface 2-31 and Banks 2-31. Eastbourne were bowled out for 226.

Uckfield got off to a shaky start, losing opener Chris Burns second ball for four. Matt Mccallum and Richard Coates started the recovery, with Eastbourne opening bowlers Chell and Brady causing trouble. Uckfield were struggling at 70-4.

Uckfield captain Matt Taylor took the attack to the opposition and top scored with 33 before a superb catch halted the fightback. Reed continued where Taylor had left off and finished unbeaten on 23, but t Uckfield were bowled out for 162.

Glynde Cricket Club have their first competitive match of the season this Sunday when they host Rottingdean in the first round of The Cricketer National Village KO Cup.

Glynde have so far played two matches, losing to St Peters and beating Lewes Priory.

Because of the very late start to the season, the Village Cup will be played every Sunday until the final, which will be on September 13.

It’s still to be confirmed whether Lord’s is available.

Glynde have been giving more youth players a game in the first team and they have been very keen to impress.

Glynde’s first and second teams will take part in the Sussex Cup in August and will be playing a number of friendly third XI games.

Glynde’s win at home to Lewes Priory saw them score 245-5 from 40 overs with Yani Flind (62no) top scoring and good contributions came from Charlie Hobden with 44, skipper Alex Thornhill 42, Edward Murray 23, George Burton-Durham 23 not out and Archie Burrows 22.

Ahtesham Ali took 2-31 for Lewes Priory.

Mark Bartholomew with 63 and a late flurry of runs from Phaninder Seshu 44 not out and Frankie Cripps 24 allowed Lewes to reach 195 all out. Spinners Charlie Hobden 2-25 and George Burton Durham 2-41 were the most successful bowlers for Glynde.

Glynde’s seconds defeated Lewes Priory twos with an outstanding innings from Charlie Silvester, who scored 114 not out off 59 balls, which included six sixes, while Archie Howard (79) supported well at the top of the innings.

Gavin Sutherland (4-28) was the most successful bowler for Glynde.

Claremont v Iden

Sussex Slam

Iden CC hitched a ride with the all-new Sussex Slam and for the opening game travelled to Claremont who put the Iden Blue Caps into bat.

Intent was shown with K Kahn’s boundary of the first ball. E Avann (47) and G Avann (24) played some silky drives and cuts while running hard between the wickets.

Skipper G Rens (32) and R Clemence (54*) built a combustive partnership aided by Clemence smiting the boundary. A quick collapse of wickets near the end didn’t stop T Waters (6*) hitting a maximum of the last ball.

With 182 to chase Claremont started quickly with B Dickie (32) and G Sargent (32), but a rattle of wickets at regular intervals saw their chase fall 53 runs shy. Iden’s pick of the bowlers were F Mackenzie (3-14-2) J Hanshaw (3-16-2) and N Pearce (3-21-2).

Hastings Priory v Mayfield

Cricket returned to Hastings as Priory 1sts took on Mayfield 1sts in the first pre-season friendly at HorntyePark.

Under ECB return to cricket rules, the 40-over match had sanitiser breaks every six overs and players had to maintain social distancing wherever possible.

Mayfield won the toss and batted and were soon in trouble after an impressive opening spell from Adam Barton. Well backed up by Adam Pye and spinners Elliott Hooper and Jed O’Brien, Hastings made Mayfield struggle but Eddie Finch and Steve Harmer finally came to terms with a slow wicket and saw the visitors to 183-6 at the close.

In reply, Priory captain Tom Gillespie (47) led the way and debutant Will Hutchings impressed with a powerful 27 but wickets continued to fall ,resulting in a thrilling finish as Jack Coleman and Barton put on the final ten runs in an unbeaten last wicket partnership to see the home side to victory with balls to spare.

Priory head to Eastbourne this week for a final friendly before the August Cup provides some competitive cricket in a Covid-19 truncated season.

Priory result: Mayfield 183-6 off 40 overs, Adam Barton 4-30, Elliot Hooper 1-39; Priory 184-9 of 39.2 overs, Tim Gillespie 47, Will Hutchings 27, Jed O’Brien 19.

Priory twos were also in action at Mayfield and won convincingly By 46 runs. They will host Eastbourne this week for their final warm up game.

Result: Priory 2snd XI 194-9 off 40 overs, Harry Scowan 51, Seaver Cowley 25, Harvey Faulkner 23; Mayfield 2nd XI 148 ao, Harvey Faulkner 3-24, Freddie Hensher 2-6, James Pooley 2-26, Joe Tutt 2-32.

Priory 3rd XI lost their opening friendly by 68 runs away to Crowhurst Park

Result: Crowhurst 188 ao, Ben Steadman 3-17, Mo Rahman 2-33; Priory 3rd XI 120 ao, Jack Bounsall 26, Ben Steadman 19.

Battle v Ashburnham

Battle’s first competitive match, a midweek affair, of this late-starting season with yellowing birch leaves already swirling around the boundary edge, concluded with a victory for the home side at George Meadow.

Gary Wicks (21) and Corbishley (14) provided a positive start for Ashburnham, but wickets fell at fairly regular intervals with Michael Dudgeon (2-25) and Leigh Tullett (2-17) doing most of the damage.

Matthew Sinden’s 30* and Smith 23* gave the visitors a fairly healthy total, but most of the tail could not quite cope with the sharply-turning leg-breaks of Harvey Faulkner (3-11) in the closing overs.

Guy Ballard (30, retired) struck some meaty blows in reply for Battle. Jamie Faulkner (23) provided good support, and though there was a wicket apiece for most of Ash’s bowlers, Roger Soan’s long-limbed and powerful drives (14*), allied with a well-judged innings from Jo Carthew (12*), took Battle to the win with two overs to spare.

Battle 2nd XI v Crowhurst Park 3rd XI

Battle batted first against a youthful Park side. Despite the fall of an early wicket to Wayne Russell (2-45), the two Jims set about building a substantial total with Butler (56 retired) destructive and Palmer (42) equally so.

Park came back well, with the testing spin of Likhith Mestha (2-24) and the seam of Toby Burdekin (2-24) rewarded with wickets. However, late-order runs from Leigh Tullett (29), Jo Carthew (28*) and Guy Ballard (43) meant a substantial Battle total was reached.

In reply, Russell held together the Park innings with a half-century. Although some of Battle’s catching was somewhat shoddy, there were still a brace of wickets each for George Harris, Butler and both Tim and Kieran Dudgeon.

For Park, Matt and Toby Burdekin, Freddie Russell, Tom Andrew and Mestha all made double figures but none could go on to make the big score that might have threatened to overturn a win for the home side.

Eastbourne IV v Sidley

Sidley contested another enjoyable and closely-fought friendly.

Steve Ramsden’s side triumphed by four wickets by chasing down a target of 205 in the last of their 40 overs.

From 1-2, Sidley got their run chase back on track through a partnership of 116 between Ramsden (48) and Hollie Young, who played superbly for her 72.

An unbroken seventh wicket stand of 54 involving Craig Ramsden (20no) and Mark Gransden (31no) then guided the visitors home. Jacob Kelly took 3-16 from seven overs for a youthful Eastbourne.

The home side had posted 204-7 on a sunny afternoon at The Saffrons, with Paul Elphick (57 retired) and Tom Kelly (38 retired) leading the way.

Craig Ramsden was Sidley’s most successful bowler with 3-33, Jacob McDonough took 2-23, and there was a wicket each for Simon Newstead and Young.