Match Reports
Saturday 10th May - Swans make hard work of getting over the Hill
SXICL - 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington beat Scaynes Hill by 3 wickets
After last weeks aborted lift off, Paul Smith was able to make his debut as Storringtons new 1st XI captain and did so with a maximum points win that left his team in fourth place after the opening two rounds of matches. Smith signalled his confidence in the ability of his batting line up to chase a target by giving Scaynes Hill first use of the pitch on a glorious afternoon. Indeed the Storrington batting line up did look powerful with Simon Furlonger at 10 and Alex Barritt at 11 both more than capable with the willow.
From the outset the match went in phases. The visitors started reasonably without ever fully imposing themselves. They moved towards thirty without any real scares before Barritt found the outside edge to give Furlonger his first victim of the season. Barritt followed up with another quick wicket, this time lbw as the Swans took the upper hand. Smith then showed that he might have that invaluable captaincy quality of good luck in his locker. With Gavin Clarke struggling for rhythm from the duck pond end, Smith threw the ball to Chris Hurst whose first baller was a tame long hop that asked to be dispatched over mid wicket. Instead the Scaynes Hill skipper shovelled it behind square into the hands of Rob Norris. Hurst forced another batsmen to play on and Storrington were well in control with four wickets down by the time sixty runs were on the board.
Scaynes Hill then had their first spell of control in the match as opener Ricky Wright finally found someone to stay with him. Hoadley and Wright took advantage of some slightly wayward legside bowling to take the total past 140 before Smith took responsibility for the situation himself and bowled Hoadley with a beauty. There followed another burst from Storrington to wrap up the innings for 173, Barritt and Hurst both finishing with three wickets from tidy spells.
In reply, Dan Le Roux and Dan Pickard set off rapidy, taking the score to forty without any alarms. Pickard then skied a catch to square leg from a full toss that appeared marginal as to whether it was a no ball. Le Roux chipped straight to square leg shortly afterwards to leave Gav Clarke and Rob Norris to pick up the baton after the bright start. Clarke looked in control from the outset and was supported by Norris as the pair built a half century partnership to ease their side past 100. Clarke went past fifty but then with the run rate having stayed at five an over throughout, the Swans were guily of trying to finish the job too quickly. Clarke walked straight past a delivery from the off spinner and was stumped for 57, Norris drove expansively at a ball that wasn't quite there and lost his off stump for 25 and then panic set in as Duddy, Harding and Smith all fell cheaply. In the end Hurst and ex-captain Matt Talbot saw Storrington over the line to secure victory.
Smith will be delighted with maximum points in his first match as skipper but would have been alarmed at the fact that the match ended up looking like it had been a closely contested encounter. In reality the home side dominated for all but two passages of play and would have only had themselves to play if their carelessness had cost them.
Sun 27th April - There's no substitute for experience
Sunday 27th April - 25 overs a side Club Match - Over 30s beat Under 30s (comprehensively)
The rain stopped just about in time and then held off for the afternoon to allow the completion of this 10 a side curtain raiser for the 2008 season. The club match was billed as over 30’s against under 30’s but the two oldest players in the match – Steve Watkins and Ian Massbury - switched sides to balance the numbers up. Twenty five overs a side were agreed and the over 30’s had first use of a very soggy track that would probably have been unplayable had the heavy rain persisted for just another 10 minutes. After a slow start, the cobwebs were blown away and a total of 142 was posted with Graham Humphries making 51. The total would undoubtedly have been higher on a shorter, drier outfield although Humphries, Rob Norris and Paul Smith did their best to take this out of the equation by taking the aerial route.
The youngsters appeared to have a strong enough batting line up to pursue less than 6 an over but Steve Watkins, Dominic Anderson and Dan Pickard were all back in the pavilion without making much impression on the score as Martin McGilligan and Alex Barritt bowled well from the off. It fell on Gav Clarke to go after the target. Jamie Watkins provided some support but his innings was more about crease occupation than strike rate and the game started to slip away from the under 30s. Clarke ran out two partners in consecutive balls as his efforts to farm the strike became more desperate and when he was caught and bowled by Simon Haggart, the writing was on the wall. Youngsters Tom Good and Guy McGilligan provided a glimpse into the future towards the end of the innings, the latter looking solid and resolute and ending unbeaten.
It was a comprehensive result in the end as the over 30’s proved the old adage that there is no substitute for experience. A barbeque and a few beers followed before thoughts turned to next weekends opening league fixtures.
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