Match Reports - 12th May
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Men's
Men's 1st XI
Result: Cuckfield CC - 1st XI Won by 1 wickets
Date: Sat 12th May 2007 @ 12:30
Ground: Horsham CC
Type: League : Sussex Cricket League - 1st XI Premier League
Toss: Cuckfield 1st XI won the toss and decided to bowl
Highlights: Robin Morris 89 and 4 for 45 for Horsham and 50's from Steffan Piolet and Billy Harris (MoM) for Cuckfield.
Cuckfield travelled to table toppers, Horsham in search of their first win of the season.
Patterson won the toss again and elected to bowl as the overnight rain had left plenty of moisture in a good looking batting track. Cuckfield got off to the perfect start to reduce Horsham to 25-3 in 15 overs. Miserly bowling from both Patterson and Candfield and faultless fielding made life very hard for the batsmen. Horsham desperately need runs and fast – cue the Indian overseas, Robin Morris. He went off like a firecracker dishing out six after six, but unless he hit a six he didn’t score which was quite bizarre. He played the dominant part of a valuable 4th wicket partnership worth 106 before Fairhall (2-59) dismissed Paul Gallagher (40). Horsham took the momentum from this partnership and continued to score at a good rate despite the gradual loss of wickets. Morris finally succumbed to Ajmal (3-62) a t 191-7 which put Cuckfield back in the driving seat, but lacklustre fielding and inspired batting from Nash (23) took Horsham to 226-8 and maximum batting points.
The key to Cuckfield’s run chase was going to be wickets-in-hand so 16-1 was not ideal. Steffan Piolet set about laying some foundations whilst Chris Mole carried on as he does, impossible to keep tied down. Horsham’s 17 year old skipper, Will Beer, deserves huge credit for introducing the spinners early as this a tactic not employed enough in Club cricket. It reaped its reward when Mole was out for 34. Youngsters, Harris and Piolet, picked up the baton and carried their team to 139-3 in a mature 3rd wicket partnership worth 85. Harris (57) was in total control when an unlucky moment, combined with sharp thinking from Horsham’s keeper, lead to his downfall. Piolet’s assured 56 followed soon after and some excitable batting from the Cuckfield middle order lead to some irresponsible dismissals. The upshot of their carelessness left Cuckfield in the unlikely position of needing 2 to win off the final over with 2 wickets in hand. They promptly lost Fairhall off the first ball to Morris (4-45) which put the game on a knife-edge. A sneaky tickle off Candfield’s thigh pad ensured the victory Cuckfield just about deserved with 3 balls to spare.
Men's 2nd XI
Result: Horsham CC - 2nd XI Won by 5 wickets
Date: Sat 12th May 2007 @ 13:00
Type: League : Sussex Cricket League - 2nd XI Division 1
Toss: Horsham CC - 2nd XI won the toss and decided to bowl
Highlights: Matt Barry: 19 overs 11 maidens 3 for 18. Mark Paine: 12 overs 1 maiden 4 for 40 Tim Mole: 9 overs 1 maiden 3 for 31
Cuckfield 2's suffered what was on paper a heavy defeat and in terms of points gained certainly a set back for the team. Cuckfield were all out for
98 and Horsham secured a 5 wicket win.
However the statistics do not tell the whole story as there were some real positives to come out of this defeat.
The undeniable disappointment of our performance was that we simply did not get enough runs. If this had been as a result of an inspired bowling display from Horsham then one might have to have held one's hands up and to have admitted there was little that could have been done. This was not the case though - we batted poorly and did not apply ourselves in the manner that a slightly damp Cuckfield wicket demanded.
Specifically the Cuckfield batsmen showed neither the determination nor the application to 'roll their sleeves up' and work hard on a wicket that required patience and a little humility. Unfortunately many of our batsmen played the wrong type of shot in the circumstances and allowed bowlers who were simply putting it there or there abouts to massively increase their chances of getting wickets. We should all expect more of each other in the future. Admittedly there were a few unfortunate decisions which went against us, but to blame this would be to detract from the real problem that we had on the day. Performances of any note in the Cuckfield innings were Thorpe and Hough who at least batted with some application, however even they would have been disappointed to have got out just as they were starting to command.
So the batting was poor. Could Cuckfield make amends? After all the wicket was not easy.
We all knew that we had to come out of the traps quickly and get on top of the Horsham batsmen if we were going to have any chance of defending this score. With Horsham having more than 50 overs to score 99 the job was clear:
we needed to bowl Horsham out; we could not just sit back let them get themselves out as they had the luxury of knowing their target and knowing that all they really had to do was just bat.
The fielding performance from Cuckfield was a credit to the team. Of particular note was the outstanding bowling of Thorpe who in truth was probably a little too good! Bowling with unerring accuracy on a wicket with steep bounce if the ball was pitched in the right areas, he bowled with only a short-leg on the leg side. Such was the intensity of our fielding performance, we managed to restrict Horsham to two scoring shots in the first eight overs - Flower also bowling well into a gale that didn't help him at all. We created an atmosphere in which the Horsham batsmen started to play as if they thought 'it was only a matter of time' before they got out.
This in itself creates a scoring pressure as batsmen start to wonder if it is better to play out a 40 ball duck or to have a go and at least have a score when 'that ball' arrives. There was no doubt that Thorpe was producing deliveries capable of being 'that ball' 4 or 5 times at over!
Having made life very difficult for the Horsham batsmen it was then decided that taking the pace off the ball completely might take advantage of this manufactured pressure and draw out some ill advised strokes from the batsmen. Abraham brought Baker on to bowl into the wind. The next six balls certainly produced some strokes, but unfortunately for Cuckfield, all were executed perfectly! One of the Horsham openers decided to take the spinner on and unleashed what could be described in the context of the game as a match-winning cameo. He hit Goff for 20 off those six balls. Baker really had done little wrong! Next week the same over might well be a maiden, or might pick up a wicket or two were the same type of shots were attempted.
But the gamble had not paid off.
For Cuckfield the over was a body blow as the pressure that had mounted was massively reduced. Ordinarily this kind of set back is the point at which teams start to feel it is not their day, and perhaps start going through the motions and await defeat? But this was not the case at all! Cuckfield kept their spirit and their composure. The batsman who had done the damage in those 6 balls was soon well caught in the slips by Robinson off Thorpe (he got 'that ball') and we then proceeded to take 5 good wickets; were always applying pressure that allowed Horsham to take nothing for granted.
In the end two young batsmen came in and played well to see Horsham home, however we applied good pressure and as a result there were several lucky escapes for the batsmen which on another day might have gone to hand. Mole bowled well on the surface and cleverly encouraged batsmen to try and take liberties within the pressured atmosphere. However Horsham passed their target with 5 wickets in hand.
It speaks volumes for the intensity of our performance in the field that Horsham were genuinely cheering every run scored towards the end, even with
5 wickets in hand.
So we lost. Not many points, not many performances to write home about (although it must be said again that Thorpe was outstanding), but lessons can be learnt from the mistakes we made as they are blatant and eminently fixable. But the real plus is that during the Horsham innings we saw that we as a team can impose ourselves upon the other side with an intensity formed from a common aim and a togetherness. We allowed the spirit of our club to manifest itself in our fielding performance and that is something which bigger clubs can often never do, no matter how talented their personnel.
With better execution of the disciplines themselves, this feature can turn sides into a very good outfits indeed. Let's hope we can build on this and achieve our potential. Everyone has bad days - but the good teams learn from them.
Men's 3rd XI
Result: Drawn
Date: Sat 12th May 2007 @ 14:00
Ground: Cuckfield Cricket Club
Type: League : Stoner Mid Sussex League Div 2
Toss: Cuckfield 3rd XI won the toss and decided to bowl
Highlights: Webster and Willsher put on 119 for 4th wicket, Fallowell picks up 4 for 44.
The opening league game of the season ultimately ended in frustration for Cuckfield Thirds. Playing at home to newly promoted Lingfield Twos the home side, cogniscant of the forecast of showers, inserted the opposition. After a flurry of early wickets reduced the visitors to 31-3 a series of dropped catches led to a Lingfield revival and a highly respectable final total of 208-6 after 47 overs. Dereuck was the pick of the bowlers with 3-57 off 14 overs.
In reply the Cuckfield openers made a solid start and at 170-3 a home victory looked favourite. However, despite classy half centuries from Emery and Waghorn the last six wickets fell for just 31 runs leaving both sides tantalisingly short of victory with Cuckfeld on 201-9.
The fielding will need to sharpen up significantly if hopes of a swift return to the top flight are to materialise.
Men's 4th XI
Result: Cuckfield CC - 4th XI Won by 7 wickets
Date: Sat 12th May 2007 @ 14:00
Ground: Lingfield - Newchapel CC
Type: League : Stoner Mid Sussex League Div 3
Toss: 4th XI won the toss and decided to bowl
Highlights: Poor batting lets Lingfield down in their first league game.
Academy
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 12th 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.
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