Sunday cricket back with a bang.

Crawley Down Sunday XI v Sunday Select
04th June 2017
Played at Sandy Lane

The Select opened their 8 game season odyssey at the picturesque ground of Crawley Down; debuts were handed out to the brothers Hughes (Ben & Adam (a last minute call up) & Toby Wardrobe, there may’ve been more but they’re the ones this reporter is aware off. The team had a distinctly young feel to it as the only old codgers playing were myself & Rich Mamoaney. The weather was glorious when the sun appeared from behind the clouds but this happened far too infrequently & the wind chill was getting to our scorer Mr Keith Towler. The toss was done with me calling incorrectly & CD decided to ask us to bat.

So 40 overs to bat on a wicket which looked like it would carry some turn, first up was the wise & experienced Rich Mamoaney (7) ably assisted by Toby Wardrobe (15) (now christened The Lumberjack by scorer Keith for the his batting style of appearing to chop wood at the crease) the two guys looking untroubled early on until Rich offered a catch in the 8th over with the score at 25, this quickly became 28-2 as in the next over as Toby was bowled. Joe Hartley (3) came & went with the score at 32 bringing the mighty Dan Rapson (12) to the crease with the Man of Steel Ben Hughes (2), the batting was interesting but they hung around for 4.3 overs until Ben popped up a catch, the Select now reeling at 50-4 from only 13 overs. This bought Niall Murphy (39) to the crease & the score advanced to 68 before Raptor was tidied up missing a straight one, Dan Austin (50) freed from the shackles of wicket-keeping for the day strode out promising the skipper he wouldn’t do anything stupid for a while. Niall & Dan set about the bowling, keeping the fielders on their toes with some good running & lusty blows, Dan pushed on whilst Niall was happy to let him get on with it. A partnership of 68 ensued from 12 overs when Dan the very next ball after getting his maiden 50 holed out. This bought the skipper Pete Murphy (2) to the crease, I inspected the wicket then trudged back to the pavilion, Adam Hughes (0) followed quickly after being run out by a direct hit. Curtis Pummell (10) batting at 10 joined Niall who eventually holed out with the score on 167, this bought the clubs resident but inform No.11 Harvey Towler (8*) to the crease, some lusty blows by the tail got us to 176 before Curtis departed leaving Harvey with his 3rd consecutive not out. Hill finishing on 176 all out from 37.2 overs.

A magnificent tea was consumed (this is what Sunday’s are all about) nothing but murmurs of appreciation from the players, even Curtis was quiet as he filled his face & the cinema seat he was wedged into.

So we took to the field knowing what was required, HT opened up from one end whilst Curtis opened from the other, it was Curtis who proved to be the unluckiest as chance after chance was shelled from his pie chucking, Harvey was having a little trouble with his line but neither bowler could make the breakthrough after 10 overs the home side were 54 without loss, the skipper decided to change things up a little & introduced both Hughes brothers for a double change. Adam bowled some very good lines with his brother being the perfect foil with his floated deliveries offering some encouragement to the batsman but always keeping them on their toes, in the 15th over Adam made the breakthrough with Curtis taking the catch CD now 54-1, CD kept plugging away & with a mixture of patient batting & sloppy fielding worked their way up to 94 when the introduction of Niall produced the 2nd breakthrough again caught by Curtis. 12 more runs were added before Niall struck again this time with the Man of Steel holding the catch (the look of elation & celebration said it all) Ben being rightly mobbed by his teammates. Dan was introduced for Ben but had no joy with the ball & was replaced by the skipper, CD requiring 48 from the last 9 overs. Immediately a wicket went down but runs continued to flow. Adam came back on for Niall & removed the dangerous Hendison caught by Niall for a well played 56, a couple more wickets fell to the skipper with HT making amends for his horrendous drop the previous Saturday, Crawley Down finishing on 171-7 at the close. Hill running out winners by 5 runs.

A great game played in very good spirits by two inexperienced sides. Negatives: our fielding (need to get our catching hands on next time), Positives: Dan & Niall both getting good scores & occupying the crease for a long period of time, Adam certainly was the pick of the bowlers on show with his 2 debut wickets.

Many thanks to Keith for scoring & to Kev, Binsey, Martyn & Punts for turning up to offer some support.

Our next game is away to Poynings next Sunday 11th June.

Anyone interested in playing for the Sunday Select should get in touch with Pete Murphy.