Cricket, as in life it, seems the harder you work to more successful you become! Speaking to the team post match 1st Team skipper Dan Phillips was naturally very proud of his squad. One thing that struck a cord was when he said ‘we have all put in an amazing shift on those practice nets this week. As a squad we worked extremely hard both on Tuesday and Thursday which really paid off this afternoon’. Then just before the 11.30 kick off the slip cauldron were efficiently practicing catches (a very slick operation) and more on that in a moment.

East Grinstead won the toss and decided to have a bat leaving the Nomads to have to field in the blazing mid day sun which was in complete charge through the day. Not that anyone gave a jot about that. For the first time this season we felt some blistering heat on our faces and a pure blue sky. Total bliss!!

Our opening strike partnership of Navin and Dan have bowled extremely well this season. However, the pair formed that perfect storm against EG which set the tone. Both completed nine overs for just 49 runs but the damage caused was both decisive and a pleasure to watch. Nav was first to ponce when Leo C, EG’s top batsman, snicked to the waiting skipper, who like in those practice drills, calmly picked up a stunning low catch in the slips. The aggression of pace continued to cause problems as the big hitting Tom Hinley impatiently swiped at a Birrell barrage which the brilliant Jake (keeper) made the 1st of three great catches. The same combination got involved to take out the EG weapon and legend in the shape of William Adkin. After 18 overs of imperious pace the guys took a short water break with EG three down.

Phillips then turned to spin with Bertie and Will who both managed to turn the screw. Bertie, perhaps the most influential new comer of the season, found a nagging length straight away. He went on to secure figures of 3 for 20 off 13 overs. Tom Haynes, the EG top scorer on 36, was clean bowled by Will C who also took out Sam Rattle later in the inns. Perhaps the Champagne moment of the afternoon was when inform Owen Kernan took Rebbetts with the 1st ball of his spell. (Your Press officer was in the kitchen at the time but I was proud to still capture the moment on film, please watch out for that again soon)

In the end Andy Barr batting at 9 did an amazing job for his team after getting his head down to score 26 runs. A knock which in other weeks could of proved pivotal but not yesterday not against the Nomads. EG ended on 132 all out with only 19 extra’s.

Jake Hutson is fast becoming a real contender for the Press Officer’s Player of the season and his stock rose significantly again on Saturday. Not only with three catches but also with yet another fantastic knock as our opener. Facing the wroth of Hatchett and Sturmer he calmly steered and defended his way through the early stages of the inns. Then later he wowed the massive crowed with eight 4 fours and then a huge sweeping 6 into the field and lost ball. It turned into a wonderful 63 from our opener. For me, our very own Liam O’Brien stepped up to a challenge set. He has been batting very well this season scoring a lot of 20s. I challenged him to get greedy and stay there for the duration. Yesterday, despite a huge and sustained appeal for a snick behind on 20 Liam calmly got his head down to steer us to victory carrying his bat for 68 balls and 41 not out. Please see his post match interview on the channels.

Bowman said ‘we have said before that there is still a lot more to come from this squad of players, yesterday was approaching near perfection. Huge congratulations to Dan and his team for not only winning a cricket match but also curtailing EG’s march up the table. Our 30 point haul will send a huge message out to the Sussex Cricket family that Nomads mean business. Hopefully progress will be maintained as we venture to Middleton on Saturday. For an important knock and rising to a challenge my Man of the Match award goes to Liam O’Brien (see interview on wattsapp and twitter)’

Cobo