Match Reports
Saturday 30th August - Storrington v Southwater
Southwater (162/8) beat Storrington (160 a/o) by 2 wickets (10 pts)
No match report available.
Congratulations go to Southwater for their Division 2 title success from all at Storrington CC.
Saturday 23rd August - Rustington v Storrington
SXICL 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington (215/5) drew with Rustington (110/4)(12 pts)
No match report available.
Saturday 16th August - Derby victory pushes Swans towards promotion
SXICL 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington (138/6) beat West Chiltington & Thakeham (134 a/o) by 4 wkts (30 pts)
Storrington moved into the promotion places with two matches remaining courtesy of a comfortable victory over local rivals West Chiltington and the fact that Felbridge could only manage a draw at Broadbridge Heath. The win set the record straight after the Swans had been beaten by Chilt with a half strength side on the weekend of Luke Talbot's wedding in May and left them requiring 36 points to guarantee promotion. Fewer points might be sufficient depending on Eastergate's points haul from their remaining matches whilst Paul Smith will have to wait until after next weekends results before knowing whether his team have a chance of overhauling Southwater in the last match of the season on 30th August.
Storrington were without Dan Pickard, Will Whitehead and initially Simon Furlonger for this match but were able to call on Ashley Swan for his first outing of the season. Dan Pitt was also called up and Rob Norris covered the wicket keeping responsibilities. In the end Furlonger rose from his sick bed to take over the gloves after the first 12 overs when Pitt failed to turn up for the match. Smith won the toss, as he has done so many times this season and invited the visitors from just a couple of miles down the road to have a bat.
Swan and James Peake were straight into the groove as neither opening batsmen looked comfortable against two of the sharper bowlers they will have faced this season. Mainly through a series of edges and extras the scoreboard showed a deceiving 28 for no loss from the first seven overs but then the wickets started to tumble. Peake removed Hardisty lbw for 17 with a full, swinging delivery and shortly after this he clean bowled the Chilt number 3. Swan then got in on the act and picked up the next three wickets to leave the visitors five down before they'd got to ninety. Opener Denton was in stubborn form and whilst he wasn't troubling the scorers a great deal he was solid in defence. In Hennings he found his first partner who looked liked sticking around and the left hander played a number of powerful straight drives as the pair took their side past 100. A change of bowling did the trick as Martin McKilligan came into the attack. With a bit less pace on the ball but great accuracy and control McKilligan removed both Dention and Hennings, and the writing was on the wall for West Chiltington. Smith and Gavin Clark picked up one wicket a piece as the innings was wrapped up for 134 with all but one wicket falling bowled or lbw.
The Swans reply started just as shakily as their last two outings with the bat against Scaynes Hill and Felbridge. Left armer James Chaloner had the ball swinging into Storringtons right handers and there were no runs from the bat in the first four overs. Dan Le Roux was bowled middle and leg by Chaloner as he stepped too far across his stumps and Russ Harding survived only three deliveres before falling lbw to the same bowler to leave the home side on 2 for 2. Clark finally got the scoreboard moving with two delightful on drives for four, one from each end of the ground and when Norris took 16 from one over from the teenage opening bowler the Swans were suddenly looking more comfortable. Clark and Norris put on fifty before Norris was caught on the foot by a full length ball from Cotteril and was lbw for 28 and when Chris Hurst went for a duck in the same over to a ball that kept low, Storrington were starting to make heavy weather of the chase. Matt Talbot came to the crease and played a vital innings in support of Clark. Talbot played a couple of his trademark slashed drives through the covers, and despite moving between the 1st and 2nd XI this season has now played a number of key cameos with the bat, whilst Clark made a half century including two maximums down to the car park end off the slow left armer. Although both were dismissed before Storrington crossed the finish line - Clark for 67 and Talbot for 17 it was the second key partnership of the innings and the one that made victory a formality as Swan and Peake picked off the runs required to see Storrington home, Peake finishing with a powerful on drive for four.
Storrington have seen smaller local clubs Pulborough and Billingshurst come from the West Sussex league and steam past them into the County League in the last decade. It would appear that any concerns that West Chiltington are about to do the same can be put away for the immediate future at least. With Felbridge and Sunnyside only picking up 13 points in a draw at Broadbridge Heath and only having one match left to play, Storrington moved into second place by one point but with a game in hand. Eastergate can still mathematically finish in second place but 36 points from the last two matches would guarantee promotion for the Swans and a win next Saturday at Rustington could set up a title deciding last day fixture at home to Southwater if the current leaders fail to win their penultimate match next Saturday.
Saturday 2nd August - Winning run ends with battling draw
SXICL Div 2 1st XI - Storrington (153/8) drew with Felbridge and Sunnyside (236/9) - 11 pts
The Swans marvellous run of four consecutive maximum points wins came to end as they entertained Felbridge on an initially damp afternoon at The Recreation Ground. An excellent July had propelled Paul Smith's side into the promotion race and going into August it was looking like two out of three from these two teams plus Southwater. With steady rain falling for much of the morning it was touch and go as to whether the match would go ahead but with neither team wanting to risk losing ground on leaders Southwater, both were happy to take a chance on the weather and this proved a wise decision as conditions improved as the afternoon wore on. It was almost inevitable that the captain who won the toss would field first and Smith got lucky with the coin, duly inviting his opposite number to return to the pavilion and ask his openers to pad up.
Storrington hadn't really faced a serious challenge from a batting side throughout the whole of July but it was no surprise in this second v third encounter that the visitors batting looked much stronger from the off. The openers looked purposeful from and the track didn't misbehave as badly as might have been expected in the damp conditions. There was controversy when Williams appeared to get a significant amount of inside edge on an Alex Barritt delivery and Simon Furlonger took a brilliant one handed catch diving away to his left. The fielders were celebrating more than appealing, assuming it was out but Williams stood his ground and the umpire declared not out. Smith, slightly fired up by this apparent injustice clearly raised his effort in the next over and bowled the young opener with a full length swinging delivery. Griffiths started well, driving strongly on the on side but got bogged down when Gavin Clarke came into the attack and eventually went for 27. At the half way stage of the innings, it was evenly poised with neither side in the ascendancy, a hundred on the board for the loss of three wickets. When Roshan came to the wicket, Felbridge started to up the pace. He cut powerfully, often making room to slash straight balls passed or over point and was ably support by wicket keeper Gee. Roshan eventually went for 79, caught by Matt Talbot running in from mid off but Gee continuted the assault, making 36 before he skied a drive to Rob Norris at extra cover. With 236 for 9 on the board, the Felbridge skipper allowed his last wicket pair to face the first ball of the final over before declaring. With an imposing 239 on the board in difficult batting conditions it was a bizarrely negative decision that implied the visitors were more concerned about denying their opponents an additional over to chase the target than they were with giving themselves the maximum number of overs to bowl Storrington out. Barritt finished with three wickets and there were two a piece for Smith and Dan Pickard.
After the failings of the top order at Scaynes Hill the previous week, Smith was looking for his top four to get the innings off to a solid start. It didn't happen. Norris got a good delivery from Taylor and Russ Harding got an equally unplayable ball from Roshan - although the latter was due more to the pitch than the bowler - and when Pickard shouldered arms to a straight one the Swans were in all kinds of trouble at 13 for 3. Chris Hurst had bailed the team out at Scaynes Hill with a century but on this occassion Hurst (7) and Clarke (19) couldn't stop the rot. Of the top five, only Dan Le Roux occupied the crease for any length of time. Le Roux has struggled for form since a half century at Aldwick back in May but looked like something close to his best as he made 48. Will Whitehead made a swift and entertaining 37 before skying a pull to mid on and Felbridge could sense a victory that would give them some breathing space in second place. Three of Storrington's more experience players had other ideas. Between them, Talbot, Smith and Furlonger battled through the last 10 overs for a draw. First the current captain and his predecessor dug in and when Taylor finally induced an edge from Talbot, Furlonger saw off the remaining 8 deliveries from the slightly temperamental left arm seamer whilst Smith snuffed out the spin of Richens at the other end.
The Swans finished with the thin end of this draw but it keeps them in the hunt for promotion. Their batting in this match was typical of most of the season so far. Four players got themselves settled and looking comfortable only to perish without going on to a bigger score. With three matches remaining Smith has to be looking for wins in the next two to take it to the final match at home against current leaders Southwater.
Saturday 26th July - Hero Hurst Hammers Hill
SXICL Div 2 1st XI - Storrington (270 a/o) beat Scaynes Hill (123 a/o) by 147 runs (30 pts)
The Scaynes Hill captain clearly hadn’t studied the form book. If he had done, he would have known that having been put into bat for the last two matches, Storrington had gone past 200 before blowing the opposition away cheaply. On a ground where high scoring matches are common place, a total of over 200 in no way guarantees that a team will avoid defeat and the home side appeared confident that they could chase down a target and make up some ground on the Swans who in third place were one above their hosts in the league. Paul Smith made a couple of enforced changes with Dan Le Roux and Martin McGilligan unavailable. Matt Talbot and Chris Watton came into the side, the latter for his 1st XI debut. With Rob Norris celebrating his birthday and Russ Harding having turned thirty two days before there was a buoyant feel about the Storrington team who were keen to give their two popular team mates further reason to celebrate.
The visitors innings didn’t get off to quite the start they had in mind as it appeared that a degree of complacency might have crept in after recent weeks. In Le Roux’s absence, Smith opened the batting with Norris and faced the first three balls of the second over of the day, each delivery pitching in the bowlers half of the pitch. Smith let the first one bounce harmlessly of his huge biceps as it ballooned up off the pitch. He smashed the second one along the ground to mid on and then pulled the third straight into square legs hands before departing, clearly disgusted with himself. When the same bowler finally managed to bowl a ball of decent length it got through Dan Pickard's defence and Storrington had two men back in the pavilion without scoring and only four byes on the board. Gavin Clarke embarked on a counter attack that saw him despatch a six and two fours in one over and with Rob Norris combining solid defence with a number of exquisite cover drives the Swans quickly recovered to a more comfortable position as fifty came up off eight overs. Clarke looked set for a big score until he skied another long hop and was well taken on the run at backward square leg. When Will Whitehead went for 5 and Russ Harding for 0 the scorecard had a strange look to it with a run rate of almost six an over but half the team already dismissed. Enter Chris Hurst. Hurst is never one to hang around and certainly wasn’t in any mood to let the position his team found themselves in put him off his normal attacking approach. Early in his innings he hit a couple of boundaries and a six over long off. The host’s captain's assertion that the ball could have gone anywhere was made to look daft as Hurst continue to drive straight and on the on side with great power. When Norris was judged lbw for 41 having seen five partners come and go, Hurst was already on 39 despite having come in at number seven. Matt Talbot and James Peake went cheaply to leave the Swans struggling on 160 for 8. Hurst then found an ally in Chris Watton who was solid in defence and largely happy to leave the fireworks to Hurst .
The Scaynes Hill skipper spilt the only chance that Hurst offered, a regulation chance at slip and by the time Watton was out for an important 21 the pair had put on 67 and turned the momentum right back in Storringtons favour. Simon Furlonger came out at number 11 and struck two fours and a six to give the innings a final flourish but the real star of the innings was Hurst who finished on a magnificent 121 not out including six sixes as the Swans posted a total of 270 all out, made even more remarkable by the fact that three of the top 6 had registered ducks. This was the highest total the Swans had posted in recent memory but if there is one ground in the league where a big run chase is possible it’s Scaynes Hill with short straight boundaries and a lightening fast outfield. Sure enough, the Scaynes Hill openers dispatched a few boundaries as the bowlers tried to get into their rhythm. Smith opened the bowling (as well as the batting – greedy skipper!) and as has become almost guaranteed he picked up one of the openers, bowling Wright for 12. This brought the Hill captain to the wicket, a man under pressure to lead the run chase given that he had asked the visitors to bat first and then dropped a straight forward chance to give centurion Hurst an extra life. For the next seven or eight overs the run rate rattled along at just shy of the 6 an over required. James Peake who had been the chief destroyer in recent weeks struggled slightly, his extra pace, combined with the rock hard outfield leaving very little margin for error in his line. Smith changed things at both ends, introducing Pickard and Clarke to the attack with almost immediate effect. Pickard bowled Parker who appeared to be the danger man for the home side, and then Clarke got in on the act ripping through the middle order including two wickets in two balls to swing the match right back in the Swans favour. Clarke finished with outstanding figures of 6 for 18 from 9 overs whilst Peake came back into the attack, changing ends to take the final two wickets, both caught by birthday boy Norris at extra cover.
Clarkes quickfire 30 and six wickets would have made him man of the match in most matches but there was no doubt that Hurst was the star of the show on this occassion. It's an impressive four maximum point wins out of the last four matches now. Next weekend the Swans entertain 2nd place Felbridge at The Recreation Ground in what could be a crucial match come the end of the season.
Saturday 19th July - Swans heavyweights land knock out blow on Heath
SXICL 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington (201/9) beat Broadbridge Heath (93 a/o) by 108 runs (30 pts)
Paul Smith had the rare luxury of naming an unchanged XI as The Swans sought to maintain the momentum built up by last weeks emphatic victory over Barns Green. Smith also lost successive tosses for the first time this season as the Broadbridge Heath skipper guessed correctly and put the hosts into bat. The decision appeared to be the right one as early as the first over as Dan Le Roux got a ball from Ovington that misbehaved from just short of a length and could only fend it off to gully. That brought the in form Dan Pickard to the crease as he looked to close in on 800 runs for the season. He drove well from the outset off Ovington’s bowling but Schulz’s angle across the left hander and slightly quicker pace down the hill proved harder to get on top of. Rob Norris who had moved to 15 tried to hook a rare head high bouncer from Ovington but mistimed it and was caught at fine leg and shortly after this Schulz got one through Pickard to make it evenly poised after 20 overs. Gavin Clarke was looking in good touch and Russell Harding occupied the crease for sufficient time to take the sting out of the attack after the mini collapse. When Harding and Clarke went, the latter for an attractive 48, and Will Whitehead misjudged the length of a Schulz delivery that he tried to pull and was bowled, the home side were in a spot of bother with 6 wickets down and still some work to do to get up towards 200. With numbers 7, 8 and 9 in the batting order being Christ Hurst, James Peake and Paul Smith there was no need for panic though. Hurst and Peake put on fifty to swing things back in Storringtons favour. Hurst made 27 including one six and although Smith and Furlonger went cheaply as they looked for quick runs at the death, Peake was on strike for the final over and smashed the boundary required to bring up maximum batting points. He finished on 36 not out as Storrington posted 201 for 9. The big man’s work was far from over for the afternoon though.
Heath had somehow taken until 16:45 to complete 49 overs so as the players returned to the field it looked like they could have been in for a late finish. The Swans had other ideas as they looked to match the intensity and pressure in the field that had swamped Barns Green the week before. The visitor’s openers survived the first two overs from Storrington’s heavyweight opening attack – Smith and Peake both tip the scales at 18 stone – before Smith put the team's young pup Will Whitehead under the helmet at square leg. Tyson duly obliged by popping the ball straight into Whiteheads hands as he tentatively prodded forward to Peake. With the pressure mounting, Heaths young number’s two and three got themselves in a muddle as Norris swooped from extra cover to run out Skilton at the non-strikers end. Smith was getting the ball to swing and deceived the Heath number three with one that swung back from outside leg and bowled him round his legs as he tried to sweep it. When Peake uprooted the off stump with a full toss that was just too quick for the batsman the scoreboard read 10 for 4. Smith bagged himself another wicket before Peake really revved things up. Steaming in from the top end he was too hot to handle as he knocked a stump out of the ground on three separate occasions and induced an edge to Furlonger from Schulz, the Kiwi who appeared to hold Heaths best chance of a counter attack.
It took two of Heaths senior men to get the score up to somewhere near respectability. With Skipper Dawe at 9 and Baker at 10, Heath’s tail showed the experience that the top order lacked although they were aided for several overs by some attacking fields that meant putting bat to ball almost guaranteed runs. At one point, Peake was bowling with just one man in front of the wicket which enabled the batsmen to take a chance on just hitting through the line which they did to good effect before the ultra aggressive field was adjusted slightly. Peake finished with 6 for 50 from 14 overs to go with his unbeaten 36 but missed out on the perfect day when he split a chance at backward square leg off his captains bowling. Clarke came into the attack from the car park end and finished the job when he trapped the Heath number 11 lbw. It was another emphatic victory and an excellent team performance. Next weeks trip to Scaynes Hill is a third v fourth clash and The Swans can expect a tougher test than they have faced in the last couple of weeks.
Saturday 12th July - Smashing!
SXICL 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington (239/6) beat Barns Green (69 a/o) by 170 runs (30 pts)
Storrington recorded their most emphatic league win in recent history as Barns Green were demolished at The Recreation Ground by an incredible margin of 170 runs. Green have shown a few shoots of recovery in recent weeks after a period of decline in which they have fallen from the heights that saw them enjoy a good run in the national village cup in the nineties. Their win over West Chiltington in June was in fact their first league win for almost two years and they followed it up with another to show that they had really turned the corner. So it was with increased confidence that Green won the toss and asked Storrington to have first use of a track that had taken a lot of rain in the week leading up to the match. Paul Smith’s formula this season has been to field first at every opportunity and then chase down runs so this was a first opportunity for the batsmen to set the tone for the match. They didn’t disappoint. Rob Norris and Dan Le Roux opened the batting and put on fifty for the first wicket at over four an over. Le Roux perished when he flicked a short ball straight to square leg but Norris was in the groove. After moving to seven his next ten scoring shots were boundaries, primarily driven through or over the off-side field but on forty-seven and looking set for a first half century of the season, he was dismissed lbw in bizarre circumstances with only the wicket keeper offering any sort of appeal and that being more of a polite enquiry than a convincing shout.
Gavin Clarke joined Dan Pickard at the wicket and it was this partnership that really took the match away from the visitors. The decision to deploy their young spinner from the Duck Pond end with its short straight boundary was brave to say the least and Clarke and Pickard both dispatched sixes out of the ground as the run rate escalated. Clarke was caught and bowled for 22 to end a partnership of 60 but Pickard was flying, carrying his recent Sunday form into the league scene. He smashed 8 maximums in total including one huge shot into the car park which in a cruel twist of fate shattered the windscreen of the bowler who had delivered the ball. Pickard was finally dismissed for 87 when Swetman returned to the attack and Whitehead and Harding went cheaply, the latter in similar circumstances to Norris, but the platform that the top order had created enabled James Peake and Chris Hurst to enjoy a final flurry of lusty blows that allowed Smith to declare on 239 for 6 from 41 overs, Peake finishing unbeaten on 29.
Tea was taken early before the Swans were back out on the field hungry to make the most of the momentum they had built up whilst batting. The first over from Peake was played out by the Green batsmen before the carnage commenced. Skipper Smith opened up with himself up the hill and was generating some swing. He forced two outside edges, the first gathered by Furlonger and the second caught well, low down by Chris Hurst at second slip. Then Peake got in on the act, clean bowling two Barns Green left handers in one over as his extra pace proved telling. Smith and Peake took one further scalp each and at one point there was the rare site at this level of cricket of Peake thundering in to bowl to a field of four slips and two gullies. The home side were pumped, two massive lbw shouts were turned down but every chance that came their way was taken. Le Roux pouched a catch at fourth slip and when two tail enders looked to turn one into two, Harding returned an inch perfect, one bounce throw to the non strikers end for a jubilant Norris to remove the bails for a run out. At 36 for 8, the visitors still required four more runs to deny the Swans an unbelievable 200 run victory but the tail enders showed a bit more dogged determination than those that had gone before and also chanced their arm once or twice with the field up to move the score along to 69 before Martin McGilligan and Clarke picked up one wicket a piece to finish the job, the final wicket falling when Peake propelled his massive frame up and to his right to cling onto an excellent catch just behind square leg.
An early finish meant a few leisurely drinks were consumed before most of the team headed off to a barbeque hosted by Chris Hurst and girlfriend Vicki. They laid on a lovely evening with a garden perfect for tennis ball cricket where Smith, Harding, McGilligan and Clarke were able to relive the achievements of the afternoon. Harding was later left bitterly disappointed when he could only manage fourth place in a dips contest. Hurst was a convincing winner with 27 although Harding's dips were technically perfect, naturally. It’s been a while since a team spirit this strong was evident in the Swans camp. It will be important to maintain that when the going gets tougher in the run in but the signs are good that the Swans are ready to take flight.
Saturday 28th June - Third time lucky
SXICL 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington (190/5) beat Eastergate (187 a/o)(30 pts)
The Swans got back to winning ways with a comfortable 5 wicket defeat of second placed Eastergate away from home. The match gave Storrington the chance to lay to rest the ghost of two run chases in the last two matches that had gone off track from good positions. Having failed with pursuits of 188 and 193 on those two occasions, the Eastergate total of 187 might have caused a few jitters in the Storrington dressing room but this time they got it right.
One of the failings against Southwater and St Andrews was that nobody stayed with Russell Harding to construct the match winning partnership, despite several making good starts. This time though there were half centuries for Will Whitehead (57) – his first for the 1st XI – and Gavin Clarke (62) as maximum points were secured.
Earlier, the Swans had done a good job of restricting the home side to 187 with Liam Le Roux making a rare appearance whilst on a break from his current residence in Hong Kong. Le Roux showed no signs of rustiness as he picked up three wickets and Paul Smith would have been wishing that he could call upon him every week.
Will Whitehead took over from Simon Furlonger behind the stumps which enabled Smith to deploy the clubs self proclaimed finest gully fieldsman. Furlonger backed up his claim by holding onto two diving chances as the standard of the fielding improved on recent weeks.
Having blown the chance to move to the top of the table in the last two weeks, Smith will be delighted with this win against promotion rivals Eastergate. His team have a week off league action next Saturday and will come back with two consecutive home matches in mid July in which they will look to kick on with their push for promotion.
Saturday 21st June - Deja vu
SXICL 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington (188/6) drew with St Andrews (192/7)(8 pts)
For the second Saturday running, Storrington came away with a draw feeling like they had thrown away a good chance of winning. Although a draw was probably just about a fair result at Southwater the week before as the Swans ended 6 runs short of victory but with 9 wickets down, this time Storrington really should have got across the finish line and have only themselves to blame for not doing so. There were similarities between the two matches in as much as the failure to hold onto key chances in the field cost Paul Smith’s side the runs that would have made all the difference to both results. Last week it was run machine Johann Brouwer who was given a life and went on to make the additional 20 or 30 runs that put the match just beyond the Swans. This week it was Stuart Murray. He seemed to offer little threat early in his innings but after he was dropped twice off Gavin Clarke, once at mid on and once at the wicket, he decided to really make the fielding side pay. An Alex Barritt over disappeared for 21 and Clarkes next over also got the treatment. Murray was dropped a third time at long off, again off Clarkes bowling, before he was finally run out but the additional lives he was given ultimately cost the home side victory.
Things had started well for the Swans in the field once Barritt had found his rhythm. His first two deliveries went for four but he then removed the St Andrews number 2 for a duck, caught by Dan Pickard, before Chris Hurst took an excellent catch high to his right at square leg to remove the other opener from a Paul Smith delivery. Aussie Ben Carruthers then carried the fight for the visitors with some lusty straight hitting before he fell one short of a half century. Neither side really got right on top until Murray cut loose but having dismissed him Storrington finished the stronger and restricted St Andrews to 192 for 7 when it had appeared that they would race past 200. So the Swans set off in pursuit of a total five runs fewer than at Southwater but in trickier conditions with thick cloud overhead and a slow outfield. With Dan Le Roux unavailable, young wicketkeeper batsman Will Whitehead came into the side as a specialist batsmen and opened with Rob Norris. The pair were untroubled until the umpires took the players from the field with persistent drizzle falling. They were back in the middle within twenty minutes and the break appeared to have damaged Whitehead’s concentration as he was bowled for four. Pickard came to the crease on the back of his unbeaten century last Sunday and started well, playing his trademark cut past backward point on a couple of occasions. Meanwhile Norris clipped a six over mid wicket and another crunching on drive up the ground as Storrington started to take control. Having gone past seventy and with the door closing on St Andrews , the Swans let the opposition back in. Pickard was run out for the second week running, setting off on a run before waiting to see if the ball had beaten the mid wicket fielder – it hadn’t – and Norris played an on drive at thin air and was bowled.
This brought Clarke and Russ Harding together. Harding was so nearly the hero last week as his unbeaten 52 steered his side to within touching distance of victory. The pair initially brought some stability after the two quick wickets and then took the score past 100 as Clarke started to pick off the runs but just when they were taking the match away from St Andrews , wickets fell again. Clarke survived a huge shout for caught behind and then endured some unnecessary verbals from the fielding side. Clarke can look after himself in the middle, will often give as good as he gets and has played cricket in more intense environments that this but what was less tolerable and entirely unforgiveable was a level of dissent towards umpire Sam Talbot that was sufficently prolonged and demonstrative to be apparent from as far away as the pavilion and to delay the commencement of the following over. Clarke was adjudged lbw shortly after the incident but even with him gone, with 6 wickets in hand, Harding looking comfortable and five an over required there appeared to be only one winner. Somehow the Swans got their approach wrong, seemingly looking for the boundary shots rather than picking off the ones and twos that would have seen them home without taking any risks. Chris Hurst was bowled looking to pull one over midwicket and Smith was caught at cover in what turned out to be the crucial over, a wicket maiden that left Storrington needing 9 off the last over. Harding bizarrely declined a single off the first ball before taking one two balls later. Matt Talbot surrendered his wicket in an attempt to swing things back in the Swans favour which left Simon Furlonger needing to hit two boundaries from two balls to win it. If he’d achieved it, his team mates would have been hearing about it forever more but as it happened, he scampered a leg by before Harding took a further single from the final ball of the day to finish unbeaten on 48. Harding is in good nick at the moment with an unbeaten aggregate of 100 in his last two innings but that will do little to alleviate the frustration of his team coming up just short of victories in the last two weeks that would have taken them clear at the top of the table.
Sunday 15th June - Bat or bike, endurance Dan is the man
Friendly - Storrington (189/5) beat Angmering (125 a/o) by 64 runs
Dan Pickard was the star of the day as he completed an action packed weekend with an unbeaten century as the Sunday XI bagged a comprehensive victory over Angmering. Having made a brisk 48 in the previous days league fixture, Pickard completed the annual London to Brighton cycle in under four hours on Sunday morning but still had enough energy to compile 101 not out in the afternoon. Having lost a couple of early wickets, the left hander was ably supported by Matt Talbot as the hosts posted 189 for 5. Matt Pickard then picked up 4 for 43 and Matt Talbot a slightly more surprising 3 for 22 as Angmering were dismissed for 125. So a good win for the Sunday Swans and a great day for people whose first name was Matt or surname was Pickard.
Saturday 14th June - James is at the Peake of his powers but batsmen come up six short in nail biting draw
SXICL 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington (182/9) drew with Southwater (188 a/o)(14 pts)
The Swans came up just short of victory in a thrilling match at Southwater. With Russ Harding going well and on strike at the start of the final over, an assault on the 10 runs required would have been on the cards if Storrington had left themselves with more than one wicket to play with. Captain Paul Smith sent a signal out to Harding not to take any chances and having seen off the first five balls of the over, he flicked the final ball of the day to the square leg boundary to bring up an excellent half century. Harding had earlier run out Dan Pickard with a suicidal single when Pickard was going well but this error seemed to focus Harding's mind on redeeming himself. Initially he dug in as his team mates, with the exception of Pickard, struggled to turn starts into anything more but as the wickets fell at one end, Harding swapped his trade mark shoulder arms to just about everything for an array of drives and slashes to the cover boundary that kept the visitors in the hunt. In the end, Simon Furlongers dismissal three overs from the end proved crucial as it left the Swans with no margin for error. Given that there were just two points between the two sides going into the match, the risk of going for broke and throwing the match away was deemed to great. Unfortunately for Storrington, Furlonger appeared unlucky with the umpires adjudication, the ball taking an inside edge before hitting him above the pad.
Earlier in the afternoon, an outstanding bowling performance from James Peake had given Smith's men the upper hand. Having just missed out on a five for the previous week, the big man used the slope and one of the faster tracks in the league to full advantage as he picked up 7 wickets. Such was his dominance of the Southwater batsmen that Smith asked him to bowl all but four of the overs from the pavilion end as he returned figures of 18.1 overs, four maidens, 7 for 48. Southwater's South African import Johann Brouwer provided further evidence, as if any were needed, that he is an outstanding batsmen, probably too good to be challenged at this level and that Southwater rely on him almost exclusively to provide the runs to keep them at the top end of the table. For the past three seasons, Brouwer has been the top scoring 1st XI batsmen in all divisions of the Invitation league. Peake had him dropped by Pickard, taking the ball over his shoulder running back from point but eventually got his man as the burden of almost total responsibility for posting a target saw him perish at long off, caught by Harding.
Smith demanded more from his team before last weeks match and they duly delivered by destroying Rustington. This week he challenged his team to start getting on the leagues "Best Performances" board and Peake's 7 for 48 put him into second place. The team are responding to their skipper. Next week it St Andrews at home, what will the captains orders be for this one?
SXICL 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington (67/1) beat Rustington (65 a/o) by 9 wickets (30 pts)
After the frustrations of last weeks defeat at West Chiltington and problems with player availability throughout May, captain Paul Smith had called upon his players in the run up to this match to demonstrate their commitment to getting the club into the promotion chase this season. He couldn’t have asked for a better response as Storrington fielded arguably the strongest XI currently available at the club.
With a bowling attack of Peake, Barritt, Clarke, McGilligan, Hurst and himself at his disposal it was no surprise that Smith had the confidence to insert the opposition when he won the toss for the fourth time out of five this season. As it happened, all of the bowlers except Barritt and Peake were able to have a week off as the pair ripped through Rustington’s batting order. The two bowlers went neck and neck throughout with Barritt continuously edging one wicket ahead only for Peake to pull level. In the end, the big left armer was denied his chance of five when the batsmen went for a suicidal single and the final wicket fell as a run out with just 65 on the board. It was a great effort with Barritt finishing with 5 for 28 and Peake 4 for 35 but in all honesty, 65 was more than Rustington should have scored. Russell Harding spilt a sharp chance at mid off – although he later redeemed himself with two catches – and a run out chance was fluffed at the wicket after sharp work from Dan Pickard. In addition to these two let offs, the visitors got away with innumerable edges through or over the slip cordon.
Storrington haven’t always made easy work of chasing low targets but the sandwiches and cakes were put on hold with a quick turnaround between innings as the home side pushed for an early finish. Pickard and Dan Le Roux set off with purpose, punishing the abundance of wayward deliveries that were sent down. Pickard made 24 before he got caught back in the crease and was adjudged lbw but the result was never in doubt and Gav Clarke joined Le Roux as he took his average for the season over the 100 mark with another not out, 32 this time. Smith and his team will be aware that much tougher tasks lay ahead this season but the team could not have done much more in response to their skippers rallying call. The comprehensive win took the Swans to third in the league with a big match away to second place Southwater up next.
Saturday 24th May - Storringtons nine men have more than enough
SXICL 1st XI Div 2 - Aldwick (131 a/o) lost to Storrington 133-5) by 7 wickets.
A worrying lack of availability threatened to derail Storrington's attempts to get into the early running at the top of the table with a visit to one of the sides who have struggled in the first month of the season. As it was, the nine men who did make the trip to Aldwick did an excellent job with two stand out individual performances making for a comfortable win to secure 30 points and push the Swans into third place. The hosts had taken a hammering at the hands of Eastergate the previous week, dismissed for just 47 runs as the match was completed in less than 33 overs. So they would have been encouraged to be batting against just nine fielders. They managed to drag their innings out for 45 overs but Paul Smith and his 8 team mates deserve credit for restricting their opponents to just 131 and taking all 10 wickets. Gavin Clarke was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 34. Aldwick would still have been encouraged that they only needed to take 8 wickets for victory but an unbeaten 65 from Dan Le Roux at the top of the order ensured that they never had a sniff of victory.
It could be argued that Storrington were fortunate to be facing one of the weaker sides on a weekend where so many players were unavailable but that perhaps does a disservice to the nine that were playing. One thing that is for sure is that if the Swans are to maintain their aspirations of promotion, this widespread player unavailability will need to be a one off.
Sunday 18th May - Crouching Tigers, victorious Swans
Sunday Friendly - Storrington (139-5) beat Zambuca Tigers (136 a/o) by 5 wickets
In his first outing as Sunday captain, Steve Wheatley won the toss and invited the thespians from Brighton to bat first. Tidy bowling from opening pair, Paul Smith and Matt Pickard restricted the visitors to 36 for 3 until a middle order recovery saw them reach 136 all out with Saturday skipper Paul Smith reverting to a variation of leg and off spin netting him 4 wickets and Dan Pickard weighing in with 3 late wickets.
The home side started off like a snail instead of a gazelle in their quest for a first victory of the season, their slow progress mostly due to some very tight bowling from the Tigers Australian overseas import, Ned Kelly (Ed. Note not his real name!!). However after getting his eye in for 15 overs, opener Dan Pickard suddenly decided to show a little interest in proceedings and after a salvo of sixes saw Storrington home with an unbeaten 79 not out. The other features of a fairly uneventful game included a brief cameo from the aforementioned Smith with his own version of six and out and an encouraging debut from former colt Dan Boardman as the Swans brought up 139 for 5 to see them home.
Saturday 17th May - 2nds make it two out of three
SXICL - 1st XI Div 2 - Felbridge and Sunnyside v Storrington, match abandoned.
An abandonment after 21 overs left Paul Smith's side having completed only one out of three matches so far this season after the rain came down at Felbridge. The home side had started well, moving to 89 for 0 when the weather turned. The optimists will say it is three matches unbeaten for Storrington but with Smith targeting promotion this season, a cancellation and an abandonment either side of the win against Scaynes Hill will be a source of frustration.
No such problems for the 2nd XI who moved into second place in 2nd XI Division 1 with a win against the same opponents. Having dismissed Felbridge for 149, Matt Pickard's side got home with one over to spare, thanks mainly to 47 from Sunday XI skipper Steve Wheatley.
Saturday 10th May - Swans make hard work of getting over the Hill
SXICL - 1st XI Div 2 - Storrington beat Scaynes Hill by 3 wickets
After last weeks aborted lift off, Paul Smith was able to make his debut as Storringtons new 1st XI captain and did so with a maximum points win that left his team in fourth place after the opening two rounds of matches. Smith signalled his confidence in the ability of his batting line up to chase a target by giving Scaynes Hill first use of the pitch on a glorious afternoon. Indeed the Storrington batting line up did look powerful with Simon Furlonger at 10 and Alex Barritt at 11 both more than capable with the willow.
From the outset the match went in phases. The visitors started reasonably without ever fully imposing themselves. They moved towards thirty without any real scares before Barritt found the outside edge to give Furlonger his first victim of the season. Barritt followed up with another quick wicket, this time lbw as the Swans took the upper hand. Smith then showed that he might have that invaluable captaincy quality of good luck in his locker. With Gavin Clarke struggling for rhythm from the duck pond end, Smith threw the ball to Chris Hurst whose first baller was a tame long hop that asked to be dispatched over mid wicket. Instead the Scaynes Hill skipper shovelled it behind square into the hands of Rob Norris. Hurst forced another batsmen to play on and Storrington were well in control with four wickets down by the time sixty runs were on the board.
Scaynes Hill then had their first spell of control in the match as opener Ricky Wright finally found someone to stay with him. Hoadley and Wright took advantage of some slightly wayward legside bowling to take the total past 140 before Smith took responsibility for the situation himself and bowled Hoadley with a beauty. There followed another burst from Storrington to wrap up the innings for 173, Barritt and Hurst both finishing with three wickets from tidy spells.
In reply, Dan Le Roux and Dan Pickard set off rapidy, taking the score to forty without any alarms. Pickard then skied a catch to square leg from a full toss that appeared marginal as to whether it was a no ball. Le Roux chipped straight to square leg shortly afterwards to leave Gav Clarke and Rob Norris to pick up the baton after the bright start. Clarke looked in control from the outset and was supported by Norris as the pair built a half century partnership to ease their side past 100. Clarke went past fifty but then with the run rate having stayed at five an over throughout, the Swans were guily of trying to finish the job too quickly. Clarke walked straight past a delivery from the off spinner and was stumped for 57, Norris drove expansively at a ball that wasn't quite there and lost his off stump for 25 and then panic set in as Duddy, Harding and Smith all fell cheaply. In the end Hurst and ex-captain Matt Talbot saw Storrington over the line to secure victory.
Smith will be delighted with maximum points in his first match as skipper but would have been alarmed at the fact that the match ended up looking like it had been a closely contested encounter. In reality the home side dominated for all but two passages of play and would have only had themselves to play if their carelessness had cost them.
Sun 27th April - There's no substitute for experience
Sunday 27th April - 25 overs a side Club Match - Over 30s beat Under 30s (comprehensively)
The rain stopped just about in time and then held off for the afternoon to allow the completion of this 10 a side curtain raiser for the 2008 season. The club match was billed as over 30’s against under 30’s but the two oldest players in the match – Steve Watkins and Ian Massbury - switched sides to balance the numbers up. Twenty five overs a side were agreed and the over 30’s had first use of a very soggy track that would probably have been unplayable had the heavy rain persisted for just another 10 minutes. After a slow start, the cobwebs were blown away and a total of 142 was posted with Graham Humphries making 51. The total would undoubtedly have been higher on a shorter, drier outfield although Humphries, Rob Norris and Paul Smith did their best to take this out of the equation by taking the aerial route.
The youngsters appeared to have a strong enough batting line up to pursue less than 6 an over but Steve Watkins, Dominic Anderson and Dan Pickard were all back in the pavilion without making much impression on the score as Martin McGilligan and Alex Barritt bowled well from the off. It fell on Gav Clarke to go after the target. Jamie Watkins provided some support but his innings was more about crease occupation than strike rate and the game started to slip away from the under 30s. Clarke ran out two partners in consecutive balls as his efforts to farm the strike became more desperate and when he was caught and bowled by Simon Haggart, the writing was on the wall. Youngsters Tom Good and Guy McGilligan provided a glimpse into the future towards the end of the innings, the latter looking solid and resolute and ending unbeaten.
It was a comprehensive result in the end as the over 30’s proved the old adage that there is no substitute for experience. A barbeque and a few beers followed before thoughts turned to next weekends opening league fixtures.
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