Academy Reports

Cuckfield Academy Make it Five - End of Season Report

Click here to read the end of season report for the Academy.

15th June - U15 / U16 -The Season So Far

We haven’t published a report yet on the older Academy teams, partly because there hasn’t been much cricket! The first league game against Burgess Hill was rained off in May, and since then there have been two out of two comfortable victories in the North & Mid Sussex league.

At Newick on 5^th June, Jack Denyer and Chris Taylor laid the foundations with a century opening stand in 12 overs, leaving time for Matt Wynn and Jonty Revell to hit a couple of fours and for young Harry Clark to show his batting credentials as we closed at 141-4. In reply everyone tried out their bowling, with Jonny Pickering and Harry Clark taking the two wickets to fall, and aspiring leg spinners Rob Prevett and Steve Meadows showing how much their bowling has improved. Newick finished on 83-3.

A fortnight later, the U15’s played Haywards Heath at home and again Taylor and Denyer got the innings off to a good start before Taylor was LBW for 11. Matt Wynn (28) then played a powerful knock putting on 80 with Denyer before he was bowled and Jack retired for his second successive 50. Joe Morrison hit some lusty blows as Cuckfield finished on 125 for3. Heath’s innings saw two firsts as Prevett held a good catch off Sam Page’s bowling, and Greg Wisdom then bowled with pace and accuracy to take a wicket. Cuckfield used 8 bowlers with shorter and shorter run-ups as thunder clouds gathered and visibility declined and Heath applied themselves well with Smith, Harris and Hannah Phelps all showing technique and application. They needed 36 off the last 6 overs before Chris Taylor bowled tightly at the end, and just missed out on a hat-trick in the 19^th over as Heath finished on 96-6.

In between these matches the U16’s had a friendly game against Lindfield in what might be their only match before the Festival. It might have been the GCSE’s but some of the older boys looked a bit rusty! Luke Sherborne made his debut and scored 9 good runs, as Denyer, Taylor and Wynn scored most of the runs to take Cuckfield up to 110-7. Lindfield batted well and consistently with their first three batters Newcombe, O’Brien and Wright all scoring in the 20’s. It was good to see Matt Godley and Alex Dickie bowling again but we were well beaten even before Ashley Hart bowled an extremely varied last over as Lindfield won in the 16^th over by 8 wickets.

Two more league wins for Cuckfield should see them through to the League Finals on 24^th July – can they go one better than two years ago?

2 June

Under 9's

Only four games have taken place over the last two weeks for Cuckfield junior colts due to bad weather and half term.

Firstly the under 9's travelled to Barns Green where skipper Joe White won the toss and elected to field.  Domonic Sear, Vincent Lawson and Stephen Moorton grasped two wickets a piece as Barns Green were restricted to 239.In reply Joe White hit 27 and Domonic Sear 20 as they won by 63 runs reaching a total of 302.

Under 10's

The under 10's played there first of two matches at home to visitors Crawley. Fielding first Joe Cambridge took three wickets from the first four balls finishing with figures of 4 for 10, well supported by Ben Meyerakken taking 4 for 16 opening at the other end.  Ben Candfield 2 for 2 and Hayden Baker 2 for 1 followed up to leave Crawley on 168.  Seven Cuckfield batters then hit double figures in there massive total of 430 with Joe Cambridge 30 and Rob Cope 29 leading the way to a victory by 262 runs.  In the next game Horsham put Cuckfield into bat and following the loss of early wickets they managed to set a target of 301.Joe Cambridge with 6 wickets and Ben Candfield with 7 left Horsham 168 runs short on a total of 133.

Under 12's

The under 12's also continued their winning start beating Ifield by 106 runs. Freddie Newmarch 29, Jack Bowman 26 and Joe Ludlow 20 saw them post a total of 149. Jamie Cowie then blasted out the Ifield top order taking 4 for 10 in his opening 3 overs.

19th May

Under 9's

Cuckfield under 9's entertained Ansty at home in the Identilam league winning by 42 runs. Angus Cowell (19), Joe White (20) and Robert Fitzgerald (11) scoring the bulk of the runs batting first.  With a total of 250 to defend, opening bowlers Domonic Sear 4 for 7 and Robert Fitzgerald 5 for 11 in their four overs bowled superbly and restricted Ansty to 208. 

Another win for the 9's in the NMSL against Fletching where they batted first again scoring 281, mainly due to extras.  Two wickets each for Domonic Sear, Angus Cowell and Harry Collins and general all round good fielding left Fletching 36 runs short of the total.

Under 10's

Cuckfield under 10's finally started their league campaign away to Horsham. An outstanding all round performance resulted in them winning by 162 runs.  Batsmen all chipped in with runs to help them reach a total of 317.  In reply Horsham wickets fell repeatedly with two Cuckfield hat-tricks.  The first for Joe Ludlow and the second for Ben Candfield who finished with 5 wickets for 6 runs of his four overs.

Under 12's

Cuckfield under 12's also had their first league match against a weakened Cranleigh side due to a local football tournament. Marcus Campopiano, Harry Clarke, Jack Bowman and Freddie Newmarch all retiring after their 25's with Jeremy Lancaster adding 21 not out in a total of 186.  In reply Cranleigh could only muster 27 all out.  A double wicket maiden for Josh Hayward and two wicket maidens for Harry Clarke helped rush out the opposition in 11 overs.  A good weekend for last years junior colt of the season Harry Clarke as he had also played a leading innings for Cuckfield's adult fourth team victory the day before.

Click on the team photo below to enlarge...

Back row left to right:  Josh Heywood, Marcus Campopiano, Finbar Tilford, Oscar Williams, Harry Clark, Jack Bowman

Front row:  James Massey, Freddie Newmarch, Jamie Cowie, Jeremy Lancaster, Charlie Miller

12th May

Under 9's

The under 9's travelled to West Chiltington on a very wet evening. Batting first they reached a respectable total of 286 with Will Smith 22, Domonic Sear 18 and Angus Cowell 16 all amoungst the runs. Good bowling by Sear and an outstanding catch by Andrew Cowie saw the opponents fall short by 43 runs.

Under 11's

Cuckfield under 11's played Ansty away and were put into bat. Josh Hayward 23 and Finbar Tilford 21 top scored in an excellent all round batting performance of 298. In reply Ansty fell 80 runs short, with Ben Gibbs, Finbar and Josh all bowling wicket maidens after a superb opening spell by Adam Willis.

Under 12's

Under 12's were looking good having scored 57 quickly when the rain came and halted proceedings away to Horsham.

Under 15s / 13s

The U15’s and U13’s both played Ansty in the first round of the Portman cup. The 15’s batted first on a bouncy wicket and Jack Denyer and Billy Collinson got them off to a good start. After Billy was caught, Jack and Chris Taylor did well for a while, but accurate bowling pinned them back, and the pressure eventually brought wickets. Joe Morrison hit a couple of fours, but runs were hard to get and Cuckfield managed only 55 in their 16 overs. Good bowling restricted Ansty to 25 off the first 8 overs for the loss of 3 wickets, but they were able to press on and win in the 12^th over.

The U13’s also batted first and scored 106 in their 20 overs.  Ansty in reply were 60-4, going well, when Greg Wisdom took two wickets in an over. This brought a complaint from the Ansty coach that the light was too bad for “fast bowling”. Greg was taken off in the spirit of fair play and Ansty managed to scrape home against our occasional bowlers – a frustrating loss.

5th May

Under 9's win their second league match at home against Lindfield by 14 runs. Cuckfield batting first scored 269 with Domonic Sear and Joe White both reaching double figures. In reply Lindfield came close scoring 255, Joe White, Domonic Sear and Connor Dawson taking 2 wickets each.

At the same time on the north field Cuckfield under 12's opened their season with a friendly also against Lindfield. Cuckfield winning by 3 runs. Marcus Campopiano top scoring with 21, well supported by under 10 Joe Ludlow scoring 19, in a total of 101. Wickets for James Massey, Josh Hayward and Marcus restricted Lindfield to 98 in reply.

28th April

Cuckfield under 9's beat Ansty by 117 runs. Cuckfield captain, Joe White (20), topped the runs ably supported by Robert Fitzgerald (14) and Domonic Sear (10) as Cuckfield batted first and scored a total of 306. The wickets were shared three a piece between Joe White, Stephen Moorton and Harry Collins as Ansty were restricted to 189 in reply.

Cuckfield's older colts teams all begin their league campaigns next week.

3Return