After a frustrating rain affected late July match day its with certainty that Nomads members will be chomping at the bit come Saturday 7th August all looking to A finish a cricket match and B get 30 points on the board. You get the feeling its an important date for the club. Four exciting Senior games are coming your way!

1st Team at Three Bridges Sussex Prem 110 over match 11.30 start

Dan Phillips will have the proud honour of leading out our 1st team at Three Bridges safe in the knowledge that last weeks rain didn’t really affect their apparent charge to the Sussex Premier League. With most of the Prem games called off Nomads still have a commanding 35 (281) point margin at the summit. However that fact will probably be further-est from Dan’s mind as we look to see off a very dangerous opponent in their own back yard.

Bridges are currently 3rd in the table with an impressive 6 wins on the board and 241 points. However even more important the club are flying the flag for Sussex in the ECB cup. They have made their way through to the Quarter Final and play Brentwood on 15th August. Its turning into a brilliant season where they are marrying good league form with a great cup run. And Their form seems to be peaking at the right time. On 10th July they bowled Middleton for 68 and then scored 232 against Hastings on 24th July in a comfortable victory. In the last round of the ECB they bowled Reigate for 153 and then chased that with ease.

All round sensation Will O’Donnell has scored 840 runs in 18 games with a highest score of 145 just recently and has picked up 28 wickets for the club. Conner Golding 525 and Joe Walker 349 are also contributing well. Oliver Blandford 24 and Arran Brown 19 look very threatening with the ball.

Nomads 1st team have built their season around an excellent team spirit, working hard and all members of the squad playing vital contributions at key moments. Even when the chips have been down Dan has been able to lift his team to gain victories. You feel all these qualities will be needed once more as we tackle what could be a very difficult assignment up north.

I am backing our boys to yet another away win!

Twos looking to Bounce Back on Home Soil v Billingshurst 12.30 start Sussex Div 2 100 Over Match

After tough trip to Bognor our 2nd team will be looking to secure maximum points against a team that are equally in the wrong section of the league table. We have 160 points and 9th of 10 while our visitors have 167 points 7th of 10.

Billingshurst have three wins to their name but the last one was some while ago. During July it was a frustrating time for the team with two 10 point cancellations, a losing draw and stinging loss. The draw came against Burgess Hill in a high scoring game on St Johns Park. BH scored 306 for 2 and then Hurst clung on 8 down. On 24th July Bognor scored an average 187 all out at Jubilee Field but the hosts couldn’t make them pay as they fell 58 runs short.

Mike Burroughs 245 and Josh Wood 242 are the highest run scorers while Thomas Alexander 21 and Shakeem Clarke 20 are the danger men with the ball.

As we have eluded to in this column it would be a huge achievement for our Two’s to remain in Division Two. However we do have the personal, athleticism and cricket skills to accomplish this. Beating Billingshurst on Saturday on home soil would be a massive step forward.

I am backing James and his team all the way !!!

David Symes and 3rd Team in Make or Break Game on the South Square. V Ifield 2s Sussex Div 6 1pm start 40 overs each.

The words ‘six pointer’ was invented for occasions which face Ifield and our 3rd team on Saturday. Nomads have have 141 points and bottom while Ifield have 154 points and 2nd to bottom. A win for either team would propel not only a shot in the arm but also a real hope for avoiding relegation.

During July Ifield took the scalp of Rottingdean on 10th when bowling them for 135 after scoring just 140 themselves. Wickets were shared around. However on 17th July Ditchling rolled them 108 and then last week BH scored 220 which was enough to take a 35 run win. Charlie Constable 216 runs and Mohammed Qazi 156 are the top run scorers while Matthew Barnard 27 and Qazi 16 are the leading wicket takers.

Our Third team narrowly missed out against Poynings last time out at home but hopefully they can get over the line on Saturday.

4th Team are in great form ahead of trip to Forrest Row. Sussex Div 8 1pm start 40 overs each.

After a tough start to the campaign 4th team skipper Stephen Oliver is getting a fine tune out of his 4th team squad and are handily placed in Sussex Div 8 on 221 points and 5th place of 10.

The team travel to The Memorial Pavilion to take on Forrest Row 1st team who are just one place above them in the table. On 17th July they trundled Palmers for just 87 and on 24th July bowled Cowden for 145 and then chased it down with ease just 5 down. It seems that Row have a real magician in their ranks. Kuganesh Karuippiah has no less than 692 1st team runs and 26 poles not withstanding 5 catches as well!

There is no reason to suggest that this wont be a hugely entertaining game and if we can keep Kuganesh quiet then its well possible that Oliver and his team can gain yet another fine win. Do that and Nomads 4s will be on the fringes of promotion discussion.

Well, there you have it. Nothing will be decided come 7pm on Saturday but you just get the feeling that as things are shaping up it’s Movement Day for all our teams.

It would be the perfect time for our 1st 2021 Clean Sweep!

Lets Go Nomads!

Cobo