Its Half Time! We reverse 8th May on Sat 10th July. Season is flying past.
Wow, not sure about you guys but season 2021 seems to be passing by in a heartbeat. It doesn’t seem 5 mins ago I was sharing a brilliant game with the 2s in the murk at Mayfield on 8th May. Since then its been cricket cricket cricket as two very exciting months have quickly slipped away. We now come to the point where we start playing familiar teams and try in some cases to rescue the bragging rights or get quick doubles in. To be fair 8th May was a poor League opening day for the club and its one we want to put right on Saturday.
Lets get into it!
Dan and his team travel to the Saffrons Eastbourne 11.30 start Sussex Prem 110 overs.
Its always a huge pleasure and a highlight to play and watch cricket unfold at this Sussex CCC out-ground. With Nomads looking for back to back wins and increase their Sussex Prem lead its an occasion I am sure the squad is very much looking forward to. Especially as the 1st encounter at the SCMG was washed out.
Eastbourne have an impressive 5 victories on the board and 158 points. In the past two weeks their season has seen a real up change in direction as they took out Middleton and Hastings securing 48 points in the process. At Middleton they choose to bat and put on 215 runs with Jacob Smith and Malcolm Johnson both getting 50s. Joe Pocklington (Sussex CCC player) scored 39 not out at 7. Joe went on to secure 4 for 39 as Middleton lost their way.
Aiden Plumley took out the dangerous Finch for 6 as Hastings went to 142 in a rain effected match. Scott Lenham (part of the dynasty) scored 52 as Eastbourne chased it down in 19.4 overs.
Their squad boasts a lot of very talented young players who are vying for Sussex CCC places including Archie Lenham who is a T20 Blast sensation. Sussex play Kent at Canterbury in the Championship and like us with Danny I several of their starlets could be on County duty. While a lot of talk will surround the these youngsters we all know that Eastbourne have real strength in depth and will be very competitive who ever they field.
Dan and his team will have to impress yet again and perhaps go further to win this one. Tough encounter coming up.
Mayfield on the North Square. Sussex Div 2 12.30 start 100 overs.
Mayfield will travel to Fulking perhaps slightly annoyed not to be further up Sussex Div 2 than their current 4th on 168 points. They have been beaten twice and have had three rain outs. The pre season favs will be looking to continue their current form in a bid to make a dash for the title.
Last Saturday Robert Sharma scored 69 as the team declared on 201 for 9 off 52 overs against the surprise package Bognor. The evergreen all-rounder James Hockley demolished the middle order as he took 5 for just 9 runs off 5 overs. That would of earned him MOM and caused celebrations on their wonderful clubhouse decking.
On 8th May we shared a lovely game with these guys at Wellbrook but eventually came unstuck in the end.
Our Twos under the guidance of James M are doing the Nomads proud in the tough environment of Sussex Div 2. Last week and I know James wouldn’t agree the team battled and worked their socks off for that draw against Chichester. It might of only produced two points on the board but for me hanging in their like that shows fight and pride for the badge.
I take that excellent team spirit to shine through again. Nomads to dent Mayfields charge.
Threes Travel to St John’s Burgess Hill 1 pm start 40 overs a side Div 6
Its time for our 3rd team to come to the Nomads party and start producing cricket that we know they are capable of. For David and his squad its been a tail of narrow losses and victories spurned. The positive news is that even with just one win on the board the team are out of the drop zone by currently 1 point.
Our hosts are going to prove a huge test of character for the Nomads boasting 8 wins already this season and 2nd in the league. They are scoring runs for fun getting over 200 in their last 4 matches. Luke Morris was at it last week scoring 82 against Ditchling. On 19th June Andrew Davis scored 52 in a demolition of Dormansland. With the ball Dan Maskell took 5 for 12 that day. Toby Munt has 13 wickets to his name and Matt Charman 11.
Its gonna be tough for our Threes but they have got to start turning it around. Lets not give anything away shall we !
Palmers on the South Square Sussex div 8 40 overs a side 1pm start
Our 4th team under the guidance of Stephen Oliver have done really well to clamber up the table and are currently in a Mid Table position. However a win against Palmers on Saturday at home will propel them to real safety and with a chance to have a late season promotion tilt perhaps.
Palmers are going to be tough cookies to break after 6 wins and 2nd place in the table. They are currently three wins on the trot with 88 points in the bag. Last week Chris Green scored 78 in a total of 205 against Plumpton and then opener Nugent Brown took 4 for 13 as Plumpton crashed out of sight for just 74 runs. On 19th June Chandra Gourisetty took 4 for 19 as Copthorne made 153. Jeremy Blick made light of that with 68 helped by his opening partner Toby Andersson 42 Palmers chased in 29 overs.
Hopefully the pain of Palmers giving our 4s the run around on 8th May will spur Stephen and his squad into a winning performance.
U13s ECB Cup adventure continues at Esher Dragons. Sunday 11th Not sure of the time to be honest.
The current sensations of Nomads Youth Cricket are back on the ECB Cup trail on Sunday afternoon when making the trip to face Surrey Champs Esher Dragons. After 5 wins here in Sussex they triumphed over Bromley in a rain affected encounter last week.
It will be a proud moment for Manager Tom and his squad as they pull on that Nomads jersey not just to represent the club but also Sussex cricket.
We there you have it. Five very important games coming up and some scores to settle. The main medie feed will be coming from my home town St Johns Park where I hope a bit of Media magic can do the business for our 3rd team. Plus news from around the grounds stay tuned to the Wattsapp and Twitter accounts. On Sunday I will be at the St Lawarence Ground Canterbury and then watching England pick up that Euro Trophy in a town center bar. So that means I call upon an U13s representative to keep us up to date with that one.
Halfway through and no clean sweep yet ! Come on Nomads the Press Officer Challenges you to produce one this weekend!