Match Reports 2007
Sat 11th August - Swans edge thriller but change of league format will deny them promotion
SXICL - Storrington beat Rustington by 5 wickets
Gavin Clarke was the hero again as The Swans kept up their pursuit of second place with a thrilling win at Rustington. There were useful contributions throughout the batting order as a competitive total of 233 was successfully chased down for the loss of five wickets but it was Clarke who top scored with 64 to follow his 6 wickets for 62 in the home sides innings. Clarke has three centuries this season, giving him positions 4, 5 and 7 in the Division 4 top batting performances. His efforts and those of his team mates appear to have been slightly in vain though as the Sussex Invitation League has just announced a change to the leagues format that will deny promotion to the team finishing runners up in Division 4. Changing the constituation of the league half way through the season when teams have been playing towards certain objectives seems ridiculous to say the least but with Worthing Chippingdale needing just 7 points to secure first place, The Swans look set for a place in Division 2 of the new set up which will see two divisions of 11 teams with teams playing certain opponents once and others twice.
Sat 2nd June - Thats more like it
SXICL - Storrington beat Broadbridge Heath by 147 runs
Matt Talbots men bounced back from last weeks first defeat of the season in the best possible way with a 147 run victory at Broadbridge Heath. However, it was not plain sailing from the off as the batting jitters that had been The Swans' downfall against Chippingdale threatened to further undermine their early season push for top spot. Having been asked to bat first by their hosts, Storrington lost their openers early on as Dan Le Roux and Gavin Clarke both lost their leg stump to Ovingtons big in swingers. Rob Norris and Russell Harding were faced with the task of steadying the ship and after initially struggling, they began to look more settled. As ever, Harding looked immaculate at the crease, performing an entire range of text book strokes at the non-strikers end. In fairness, when he got to the strikers end, his clip through mid wicket for four was one of the shots of the day. The pair had moved the visitors into the fourties before Norris inside edged to the keeper and when Paul Smith follow in the same over for a duck, Storrington were right back in trouble. However, Talbot has constructed a side which really does bat all the way down and even when Harding was out for 15, there was still a feeling that Mike Duddy and Chris Hurst could turn things back in The Swans favour. Hurst was aggressive as usual whilst Duddy continued to live up to his "right handed Gower" billing with some delightful strokes. Hurst fell for 19 but Duddy was looking good and even at six wickets down, there were still competent batsmen lining up to come to the crease. The innings that followed from Liam Le Roux was probably the real turning point of the innings. Initially in partnership with Duddy - who fell two short of a second half century of the season - and then with skipper Talbot, Le Roux for once outshone his older brother with the bat and played a dazzling innings to shift the balance in Storringtons favour and although he fell just before the end of the innings for an excellent 46, he had helped Storrington to 193 for 9.
The momentum had clearly swung in The Swans favour as they recovered from 42 for four to post a total of 193 and that momentum carried over into the Heath innings. Talbot opened up with Gavin Clarke and Paul Smith and Smith was outstanding, finding real consistency with his line and length and causing no end of problems. He turned in excellent figures of 4 for 18 from his 10 overs as the first 14 overs of the innings went at a rate of 1 run an over for the home side. As the fifth wicket pair started to look a little more stubborn, Talbot changed things by introducing Jamie Webber to the attack. Sure enough, straight after the drinks break it did the trick as Webber deceived two batsmen in one over with his form of the flipper that he uses as variation to his off spin. The door was well and truly ajar and with Le Roux replacing Smith, Webber bowling beautifully for his 3 for 12 from 7 overs, and 9 hungry fielders around the bat, Talbots men smashed it open as they ripped through the tail. The last wicket to fall was the 15 year old Heath opening batsmen. He emerged with a lot of credit as his team crumbled around him and it was only as he tried to play a few last defiant shots that he looked troubled. Le Roux took a sharp return catch to finish with 3 for 5 and confirm himself as man of the match.
Sat 26th May
Apologies - No match report available
Sat 19th May - Swans flying high
SXICL - Storrington beat Felbridge & Sunnyside by 3 wickets
Storrington made it a perfect start to the season with a third consecutive maximum points win. This was a cricket match as they should be played, runs and wickets a plenty and a tight finish with Matt Talbots men getting home in the penultimate over. Talbot went into the match with one of the strongest line ups a Storrington captain has had at his disposal for a number of years. Dan and Liam Le Roux and Ashley Clarke all came in for their first matches of the season whilst Alex Barritt, Adam Smith and Jamie Webber all had to settle for bolstering the struggling 2nd XI - and they did exactly that as the 2nds won for the first time this season with Smith taking five wickets and scoring 58. Talbot won the toss and invited the hosts to have first use of a decent looking track, backing his strong looking bowling attack to keep Felbridge down to a total that an equally strong looking batting line up could chase. The Swans opened up with Liam Le Roux up the hill and Smith down the slope. Smith made the early break through, picking up Yogi leg before wicket and with both bowlers and the fielders keeping it tight, Felbridge struggled to get above two an over for the opening ten. They should have been two down when Simon Furlonger couldn't gather the ball as it was thrown into him with the batsmen struggling to turn back half way down the track. That slip up threatened to haunt The Swans as the batsman in question started to play his strokes, despatching anything short to the midwicket boundary. Wickets were falling regularly at the other end though as Smith earned another lbw and Ashley Clarke turned in an impressive 2 for 19 from 9 overs and Mike Duddy picked up two more wickets up the slope. With 30 overs gone and five wickets down for just over a hundred the home side were in trouble
It was Will Champness who brought Felbridge back into contention. He rode his luck a little with some lofted shots but also hit some crisp shots and edged the total towards 200. Gavin Clarke bore the brunt of the assault but came back well to send Champness packing and finish with two wickets whilst Le Roux and Smith both came back for second spells up the slope and took one more wicket apiece, Smith ending with 3 for 57.
A target of 208 to win was more than Storrington would have hoped to have been chasing half way through the Felbridge innings but with batting all the way down the order, they were confident of chasing it down. They started well, Dan Le Roux picking up where he'd left off last season as he and Gavin Clarke put on fifty for the first wicket. Le Roux was then bowled for a brisk 29 and when Clarke was run out trying to steal a quick single, there were two new batsmen at the crease in Rob Norris and Russell Harding. When both went cheaply, Storrington were in trouble at 57 for four. Enter Duddy and Ashley Clarke. The pair initially set about a rebuilding job and once settled they started to pick the run rate up. The home skipper will probably still be regretting the five overs of slow left armers that he shared with young Richens around the thirty over mark. Between them they went for over fifty runs as both batsmen despatched them all around the wicket. By the time they were finished, the match had taken on a very different look but the hosts still weren't out of it. The impressive Harrison came back for a second spell and managed to stem the flow of runs. He also picked up the wicket of Clarke to leave The Swans five down and still fifty runs from victory. Still no need to panic though as Malcolm Carter and Paul Smith were still to come at seven and eight. Carter drove one four before perishing but Smith and Duddy steadied the ship again before charging towards the finish line, Smith taking them to within twenty runs of victory with a flat bat swat back down the ground for six. It was Smiths edge over the wicket keeper for four that secured victory in the penultimate over but Duddy deserved a lot of the credit for his perfectly paced 64 not out as Storrington set up an early season top of the table clash with Worthing Chippingdale next weekend.
Sat 12th May -
SXICL - Storrington beat Eastergate by 6 wickets
Matt Talbots men moved to within two points of the top of the league, with a game in hand as they recorded a comprehensive win over Eastergate at a damp Recreation Ground. If Storrington could have been accused of looking like a one man team as they beat Southwater last week, it was quite the opposite this time out as the plaudits were shared around. Last weeks hero Gavin Clarke remained wicketless and contributed 12 to the pursuit of Eastergate's disappointing 87. Paul Smith picked up 3 for 17 from 12 overs and struck as early as the second ball of the match as the Eastergate opener spooned a leading edge to Graham Humphries at mid on. Smith had Malcolm Carter to thank for his second wicket as the veteran took a stunning one handed catch at short extra cover with the batsman trying to smash a short ball over the in field. Smith might have had his first "five for" of the season if his brother Adam had held onto two chances that came his way. As it was, it was left to Mike Duddy to pick up a five wicket haul. His 5 for 26 from 11.2 demonstrated the value of consistently putting the ball in the right place. With no great pace, Duddy has nagging accuracy and used the conditions to move the ball both ways. Two run outs completed the rout, Simon Furlonger showing good glovework to pull in a slightly wide throw from Russell Harding on the half volley and whip the bails off.
A total of 87 didn't look too much of an ask for a Storrington line up that despite only having 10 men in it, had batting strength in depth. Carter and Clarke went away at a reasonable pace. Carter handled the soggy pitch better than any other batsman on the day and launch one delightful straight six having picked and waited for the slower ball. He lost his off stump for 22 though and Clarke followed shortly after, pulling the ball straight to mid wicket having seemingly waited an eternity for the tennis ball bounce to reach him. The pursuit became a little bogged down as Rob Norris and Graham Humphries struggled to get the ball away. Both men went the same way as Carter without ever really looking comfortable. Any excuses they might have offered back in the pavilion about the conditions or the sticky pitch wouldn't have held much water as skipper Talbot and Mike Duddy picked off the 30 more runs required at a canter.
Talbot couldn't have asked for any more of the first two matches and maximum points is probably more than anyone expected with five first choice players unavailable for the first match and only 10 players for the second match. It bodes well for the rest of the season. With Dan Le Roux, prolific with the bat over the last two seasons, still to return and his brother Liam and Alex Barritt not yet having made their first appearances of 2007, the line up will only get stronger.
Sat 5th May - New boy Gav gets weakened Swans off to a flier
SXICL - Storrington beat Southwater by 35 runs
It was all about new boy Gavin Clarke as Matt Talbot's men got off to the ideal start with a maximum points win away from home. This was possibly more than Talbot would have hoped for with half almost half of what he would consider his first choice XI unavailable. The captain and his deputy Russell Harding were both unavailable as was brother Luke, all at a wedding. Dan Le Roux was on holiday and Rob Norris was wrapping up the football season. Fortunately there was fresh blood to call on. New signing Gavin Clarke was probably the most significant new face but Simon Furlonger was making his return to league cricket as wicketkeeper and Paul Smith was keen to impress as captain.
Batting first having lost the toss, Storrington lost Malcolm Carter early but Clarkes 101 helped them overcome the setback and a score in excess of two hundred started to look a very real prospect. Steve Watkins pushed the total even higher with a characteristic cameo at the end of the innings, taking 17 runs off the final over including four perfectly timed boundaries to take Storrington to 233 for 5.
In the field, Clarke was the main man again. He took an impressive 6 for 42 to back up his century in an outstanding man of the match performance. Although it was Clarke who took the plaudits, Smith deserves credit for using Jamie Webbers tempting off spin to break up the key partnership in the hosts innings, a breakthrough that was crucial to winning the match. Southwater were eventually dismissed for 198 with 14 balls to spare to secure an impressive fist win for Storrington.
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