In this week’s news : Firsts

• Wisborough Draw and 6 wickets on the day sum up A272 style pitch.
• Napper continues fine form with 104*
• Berry and Cox shine in field.
• Alistair Cook turns down chance to play for WGCC, apart from all of Nappers tweets.

see full match report below   Seconds

• 2nd team enjoy comfortable victory by 7 wickets.
• Brooks impresses with the ball on home debut
• Colbran brothers comfortably outbowl first team opener
• Thatcher promoted up the order and rewards skipper’s faith with fine century
• Stuart Davey marks his debut with half cenutry

see full match report below   Under 14’s

• Captain Colbran leads team to emphatic victory over neighbours Billingshurst
• Tom Colbran, Ewan Duff score undefeated 40’s –  ably supported by Leon Kilford
• Josh Dixon scores only 6 of the game (and makes it look so easy !)
• Harold Hardie and Leon Kilford dismiss openers and hold back the runs
• Fin narrowly misses out on hattrick
• Eric Moore chips in with 2 great wickets
• Second win on the trot for the team- showing great team spirit

see full match report below   Under 12’s  WGCC U12s first outing of the season sees the mighty Green (101 for 9) beat Lingfield (74 all out) by 27 runs. An excellent team performance with no panic batting and electric fielding. Well done !   Under 9’s 

• Thursday 12th May : WG U9s steamroller Pulborough with clinical performance and 100 run victory playing away (WG 321 for 6, Pulborough 220 for 7)

• Mon 16th May : WG U9s cast aside Horsham at Collards showing true class on a barmy evening with 45 run victory (WG 291 for 5, Horsham 246 for 6).

  If there is anything we should know – you know where to find us #upthegreen Cheers Wizzy   Match reports  Firsts A depleted Wisborough Green had to settle for a draw on a high-scoring wicket away at Littlehampton. The home side won the toss and elected to bat on what can only be described as a road as they set about posting an impressive 275-3. A lively start saw Junior get their opening bat in the first over with new boy Doug Cox spinning 360 degrees before holding on. Louis Paul set about hitting a steady 136, backed up by Tom Lee’s 92 for a second-wicket partnership of 220. Hopkins claimed the other wicket, after collecting the ball from East Preston a couple of times, and again Doug held onto another catch. The final wicket was a Run Out, Jack Carter having had a great day behind the stumps hit direct. Special mention to Ollie ‘The Wall’ Berry, who fielded anything that flew his way! Tea was taken and sadly Littlehampton are in no hurry to receive any awards from Mary Berry. How we look forward to returning home to the Cricks feed …. In reply, Wisborough were well in the game at drinks with a similar run rate to their hosts as Byron Napper batted the whole innings to make 104 not out, assisted by Jack Carter’s unbeaten 48 as they replied with 217-3. The away side continued to chase the total, but against an impressive bowling attack, they fell behind in the chase and failed to score as quickly as Littlehampton, who in hindsight, should have declared earlier or backed their bowlers by inserting the visitors. Skipper James Self, who saw his side pick up seven points despite missing two of their main bowlers, said: “The guys worked really hard and we got nothing less than we deserved. On what was a somewhat lifeless wicket, everyone put in a good shift. “I thought that 275 was always going to be a big ask and Littlehampton bowled with a lot more discipline. “We got ourselves into a good position to chase it down but a couple of quick wickets halted our momentum. “There are very encouraging signs in the early season and I’m very pleased with how we did considering our struggle with numbers.”   Seconds Wisborough Green 2nd X1 V Worthing With the normal chaos May brings with availability due to football, School Matches and exams etc, I was annoyed that the 1st team had 7 players and the 2nd X1 who had 11, suddenly had one more drop out on Friday morning. However, with some determination we managed to get X1 for the fixture, a special mention goes to Andy Colbran who has helped with finding new players for Wisborough Green. Wisborough lost the toss and Worthing batted. The wicket was looking really good, and again thanks to Albie Napper for his tireless work on the wicket. The wicket was so good the opposition rattled to 130 for 2 off the first 20 overs and Wisborough looked like chasing 250+. Ben Thatcher taking most of the stick after his first over maiden, the next 3 went for 21. Then John Pleasants managed to curtail the openers and with some tight bowling 1 for 42 off 8. Well supported by Joel Colbran who bowled with pace and swing, getting 1 for 33 off 7 overs. Richard Brooks also bowled very well with 3 for 20 coming off 8 overs. Tom Colbran bowled beautifully finishing for 1 for 27 off 6 overs. Having managed to curtail the runs, Worthing’s 40 overs finished with the score on 208 for 6. Wisborough set about the total with a change in order (Due to Ben Thatcher having to go to a wedding reception). Ben rarely given a chance to bat in the first team, was put to open and after a shocking first shot which should have been caught, started to play nicely. Nick Scott Payne opened with Ben and was unfortunately soon bowled. Thatcher was supported by Scott Bennett on debut who after keeping wicket very well earlier in the day, unfortunately fell for 12. Then in came another debutant Stuart Davey. After a slightly nervous start Stuart started to play some great shots, over taking Thatcher to his 50. Stuart smacked the ball to all parts and was particularly brutal through point. Davey eventually fell for a great 55. In came ‘Frank the Tank’ Vickery and he supported Thatcher well, who at this point (6:15pm) was starting to hit out to get to the wedding reception, which he should have been at by 6pm. Thatcher blasted some great boundaries and achieved a maiden League 100 eventually finishing not out 107. Wisborough passed the 208 needed in the 39th over and 26 more points were achieved. A fabulous win and great bowling displays from John Pleasants and Richard Brooks and batting displays from Stuart Davey and Ben Thatcher. Well done all. Cheers James Sadler 2nd X1 Captain   Under 14’s After the glorious weather conditions which introduced the season opener the previous week, last Saturday saw the under 14s take on local rivals Billingshurst under bitterly cold, overcast skies. Winning the toss, Billingshurst invited Wisborough Green to bat first. As the umpires plunged their hands into their pockets for warmth, the non-batsmen withdrew their extremities into their sleeves, and the scorers clutched their (literally) warmly received coffees to thaw frozen fingers, Tom and Leon strode out to the crease. Facing some tight opening bowling, the score ticked along steadily at around four an over during the early exchanges, with few scares and few chances conceded. But as the halfway point and the half century approached, seeking to up the run rate a little, Leon lofted a chance to midwicket which was snaffled admirably by the cold hands of the Billingshurst fielder, the first wicket falling for 45 in the tenth over, Leon departing for an impressive 26, Tom holding strong and steady at the other end with 11 not out. This brought Ewan to the wicket, and with the opening bowlers now seen off, he immediately set about the second string attack, plundering 22 off his first six scoring strokes. Tom also decided it was time to up the rate, and with nicely paced acceleration began peppering the boundary from the other end. And so the next 6 overs saw 59 runs speeding off the bat before Tom was called in, retiring not out at 42 and bringing his cumulative score to date this season to an undefeated 82 . With Ewan still scoring freely at the other end, Harold and Luke fell for 1 and 5 respectively as they took the necessary risks as they sought the big shots to keep the chase going for a big score. The nineteenth over saw Ewan retiring for a superb undefeated 43 with the score on 140. Then, with just a handful of balls left, Josh hit a lusty six into the gardens lining the Green before losing his wicket as he tried to repeat the dose, and Oliver and Wilbert saw the innings safely to a close, setting a very competitive target of 152 for Billinghurst to chase. With interval drinks and cakes came glimmers of sunshine, and whilst the temperature remained far from warm, the bitter wind of the early morning had dropped and playing conditions for the second innings were altogether more inviting. Harold and Leon opened with some tight and accurate bowling, and the openers were both sent back to the pavilion before the end of the fourth over with the score on eleven, the bowlers taking a wicket apiece. With the run rate in check, Oliver and Tom took over the bowling, and although a few boundaries were conceded as Billingshurst took risks, wickets continued to tumble, Tom sending back two more batsman, including a fine caught and bowled, leaving Billinghurst teetering at 49-4 in the ninth over, ahead of Wisborough at the same point in terms of runs, but with the wicket tally to prove costly. As the bowlers rotated, giving all the boys a chance to play their part, Fin was unfortunate to miss out on a hattrick as he took two wickets in two balls, removing the opposition danger man for 19 assisted by a third catch of the innings for Tom, before following up by bowling the incoming batsman for a golden duck. Some fine economic bowling from Callum Hall saw just one run conceded from his two overs, including the only maiden of the match, and with Eric following up with two wickets, including an excellent stumping off a wide by Luke, the 17th over concluded with Wisborough almost home and dry and Billingshurst floundered on 79-8. This just left time for Wilbert to bag himself a wicket before Josh polished off the match, bowling the number 11 off just his third ball, leaving the opposition 91 all out. So as the sun now shone and temperature reached more clement levels, Wisborough ran out comfortable victors by an impressive 60 runs. Although there were some star performances by Leon, Tom and Ewan in particular, once again all of the team played a part, whether through their wickets, tight bowling, improved fielding or wicketkeeping, and the impressive start to the season continues apace.