Weekend Round Up 17th and 18th June 2023
Three More 2023 League Wins under the Belt.
As we saw yesterday our Ones took out a stunning win at Horsham. That was followed up by our Twos and Threes for a brilliant day around the club. Our Fours faced a very tough examination at top of the league Turners Hill. They gave them a thorough test with yet another Nomad League ton in the books. It was Sunday afternoon SCMG heartbreak for our U15s in the ECB Cup semi. Sam Musto scored 25 up top in a score of 120 all out. However, the Middleton opening pair got the job done.
Let’s settle back and review and as always thanks for the contributions.
Twos Win Again in Div 3 Lindfield dispatched! Div 3
Zayn Khan was at his devasting best delivering three for 23 as their top order was ripped out for virtually nothing. Our batting skills were on show as Daniel, Skipper and Baalaaj dominated.
Ollie Takes up the Story.
The 2nds welcomed Lindfield to the SCMG. Having won the toss, we elected to have a field. Opening the bowling was Zayn and James Amor, who both bowled superbly and had the Lindfield batters in all sorts of trouble with their tight channels and continuously challenged the bat. At the end of their 9 over spells, Zayn finished with 3-23 and James 2-25 despite some very attaching fields being set. There was also a run out, before Jacques picked up a wicket in his first over reducing them to 51-7. Their lower order batted well, soaking up the pressure and playing the bigger release shots to the right balls. We eventually bowled them out for 149.
With the wicket taking a lot of spin and their spin heavy bowling attack, there was potential for this to be a difficult chase. With the skipper and Dan opening we got of to a very positive start and dominated the first session before drinks, reaching 90-0 in 15 overs. The skipper fell shortly after for 43, which then brought Baalaaj to the crease who continued the positive approach. We eventually knocked of the total 1 down after 26 overs, with Baalaaj finishing on 41* and Dan on 62*. Dan has now hit 265 runs in his 3 innings without getting out.
A separate shoutout to Sam Musto who stepped up in the last minute after Will Wright injured himself in the warm up (and a swift recovery for Will).
Our Twos cement their place in the Div 3 promotion slots and have an away fixture to mid table Bexhill on Saturday to look forward to.
Threes Suddenly Look Unbeatable Div 6
Our Threes under the effervescent Fas are motoring through the gears and on Saturday picked up a nice derby win against Poynings. The skipper turned into a hero with a nice five for 46 runs. Jamie Patrick showed all his experience with a match winning undefeated half century. The team are nicely tucked in div 6 currently occupying 3rd spot.
Fas explains. Div 5 I Have a Dream!
Won the toss against Poynings and as always didn’t hesitate to put the opposition into bat first. Raffi bowled excellently and dismissed their openers with pace, a lot of credit to Chris Baker behind the stumps with excellent catches. Jonah as professional as ever ended up with 2 for 9 after his spell of 8 and and economy of 1.13.
Apart from one 70 odd run partnership we kept on pitching wickets at regular intervals as your very owen picked up 5 for 46 of 8 overs. Raffi also finished up with 3 for 26 with economy of 3.39.
Poynings were bowled out for 177.
Chasing was simple just needed cool and calm heads and build partnerships. That’s exactly what we did with charis Baker and Charlie Davies opening up and setting a strong base of 50 run opening stand. Jamie Patrick was the hero with the bat with an excellently made unbeaten 58* and made sure we made it home safe. Not to forget contribution from tom Hutchinson and fireworks again from waqar Hussain.
The difference was made in the field and I believe we won the match on that too. Fielding was excellent and backed the bowlers who bowled exceptionally.
Gary Hector Nomads Hero after a 4s Ton. But Turners prevail. Div 9
Skipper sends word from Turners Hill
Turners Hill – 17 June 2023
A trip to Turners Hill is not easy. Apart from the traffic congestion that inevitably affects the village, the pitch slopes and the camber across the square is uneven. Big hitting batters, a former EG bowler (6 divisions below his level of last year) and friendly umpiring all mean that the opposition sit undefeated at the top of the league.
Winning the toss, I decided that we bat. My instructions to the team were to score 175 and secure maximum batting points. With 2 runs on the board and 3 wickets lost, this was looking a challenging target. However, it set the stage for Gary Hector to show some class and coolness on a hot day. He was patient and accumulated runs, working with his batting partners and saw the score up to 168 before he succumbed, having scored 102. It was an immense innings made all the sweeter to see the opposition resorting to having all 9 fielders on boundary or deliberately using fast short bowling. This is recreational cricket div 9 guys!
Credit to Aly, Luke, Luke and Danny who did good work in supporting at the other end during Gary’s century making. A brief flurry of boundary hitting from Taylor meant that we were 189 for 9 at tea. A score that seemed unfeasible a couple of hours earlier.
After tea we opened with Mal and Taylor. Both were very unlucky not to be rewarded for spells of wicket-to-wicket bowling. The big pitch, slope and opposition comfortable in their own surroundings, meant that we struggled to make any meaningful impact. The opposition reaching 114 before the first wicket fell to a Luke Griffiths straight ball. The other Luke then combined with some great catching from Gary and Mike to disrupt the inevitable. A c&b from Danny and a turning ball from Mike were the other wickets.
The highlights of the day were clearly superb batting from Gary, and a masterful piece of fielding from Mike that saw him diving over the boundary, palming the ball back into play and then throwing to the keeper. An almost certain 6 converted to a mere single.
Our fours are nicely on the boil in mid table.
U15s Bow out of 2023 ECB Cup 18th June
Our U15s run to the Blackstone finals nite were dealt a blow on Sunday afternoon at the SCMG. Sam Musto 25, Reece Dillion 23, Will Hutchinson 18 and Luca Christie 20 all did well but the Nomads couldn’t find that big score. Middleton openers Artie Price and Arthur Kenyon put on 90 runs for the 1st wicket. Despite some twists and turns Middleton chased down the 120 with 5 balls to spare.
Extras Watch (League Only)
1st Team week 1 19 week 2 18 week 3 26 week 4 30 week 5 14 week 6 7!
2nd Team week 1 23 week 2 18 week 3 15 week 4 32 week 5 19 week 6 25
3rd Team week 1 39 week 2 35 week 3 19 week 4 47!! week 5 32 week 6 26
4th Team week 1 12 week 2 26 week 3 34 week 4 24 week 5 25 week 6 29
Huge congrats to the 1st team who have ‘set the bar’ at an amazing 7 extras at Horsham. The club total being 87 this week. This figure is still way too high so there is work to be done. Please be proud of not giving any away as you go out to field on Saturday. I am looking for us to get down to 60!
Have a great week all and let’s keep those wheels turning on Saturday.
Cobo 20/6/2023