Honours Boards for this week

Congratulations to all the players who feature on the Honours Boards this week.

First X1 vs Billingshurst

Wisborough had to travel to Petworth for the home fixture, while our grounds team put the square to bed after 5 tough home fixtures and multiple downpours.

Wisborough’s mentality (or the skippers anyway) was to win this game and all was good. It was of course the battle of Newbridge as local rivals Billingshurst were the oppo. Farmer won the toss and elected to have a bat.

The innings got off to a good start as SCS and JJ started well, knowing that dangerman Lowther would be a key battle. James fell to him for a well constructed 12 with the score on 30. Steve continued his recent form finding the gaps. Vickery came and went, as his Kryptonite got him again, a leading edge going straight to the fielder. SCS fell shortly thereafter for 34.

Skipper Farmer strode to the crease and along with Highie Ragg went about re-building the innings. The two were busy between the wickets with Raggy in particular punishing anything wayward and popping it over the boundary with ease. Despite some long covid, plenty of well run singles were taken and the score moved to around 150 before Farmer departed for 32.

Enter Nick Klein, and enter a mass gathering of family and friends. Is he the Greatest Showman…. WEll you would think he was prime KP. This innings was as brutal as it gets with one over going for 27 . Maybe we should invite more of his extended family to watch on a regular basis ! Ragg also didn’t want to miss out on the fun as Wisborough struck 81 runs off the final overs, with Raggy falling for 70 and Nick a fine 73, while Jnr did well to give Nick as much of the strike as possible. Off for Tea and Billy were flat, while Kleiny was floating on cloud nine.

Wisborough knew it was still a good wicket and the bowlers set about there work, Jnr yet again beating the bat at regular intervals while Hugo was accurate and rewarded with the first scalp. The openers didn’t offer too much in the attacking sense and it was more survival and The Green remained on top throughout the game.

It was Willbo Dixon yet again who decided to get stuck into the wickets. 4 of them in total, and if it wasn’t for the ECB it would have been 5,6 or even 7. Jamie Self, fresh for his second game in a row was also back to his best, with 3 overs for 18 off his 6, a fine stumping from DJ in that mix. Klein was warming up to clean up the tail for his grandparents while captain Farmer had other plans and took the final two wickets (genuine allrounder) Boos from the crowd is what he lives for. Billingshurst were 85 all out and it was The Greens best win of the season. Safe in the league and moving up the table they travel to Barns Green for one final time.

Click here for the full scorecard

Second X1 vs Portslade

The 2nd XI travelled to Portslade, and once the correct ground was located, won the toss and elected to bat. Tom and Ran Dawson were sat at traffic lights one minute, and taking guard in the middle the next. A solid start was made by the father and son duo, against a very decent opening bowling attack.

Most batsmen got in, with the bowling tricky to get away. Ran, Tarni Dixon, and Harry Hunter all made mid 20’s. Jack Dixon top scored with a fine 38. A flurry of runs in the last few overs from Eddie Ragg (30no) and Oscar Warmington (15no) set what we thought was a competitive 217.

A very fast outfield and short boundaries meant there was little room for error. Had we been allowed 13 or 14 fielders, things would have been a bit easier. Joey Calder Smith and Oscar took early wickets and at 50-3 things looking in control. It was another 104 runs before a 4th wicket was taken and by that stage the balance of power had shifted. Joey’s 3 wickets, Oscar’s 2 and Chris Marshall’s 1, weren’t enough to halt the run chase and Portslade made their target with 5 overs to spare. If we’re honest, we probably all bowled a bit short, and with the ball finding every gap and landing in space, it wasn’t quite our day. West Wittering this Saturday is therefore make or break for our chances of staying up.

Click here for the full scorecard

Under 11 Festival games

Congratulations again to our under 11 mixed team who competed in the Under 11 Sussex Festival matches. There was a massive improvement in the quality of cricket played and we look forward to seeing everyone back next season for some more competitive cricket.

Team selection for next week

Click here for the senior team selections for this week.