After losing the toss and being put in, Herriott and Warman started the innings scoring runs at ease. Herriott with his trademark style and his Newbery loan bat (which he now surely has to buy!) smashed the ball to all parts scoring his maiden 50. Very well played that man! Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got for Firle. Firle were 76-0 when Warman departed for 21 and then a cluster of wickets saw Firle collapse to 88-7. A couple of decent partnerships towards the end anchored by Watson and Cartwright saw Firle limp to 132 all out. 2 batting points on the board at least!

A fantastic tea followed by the Herriott Clan, producing a 100% homemade tea with different types of wraps, sausage rolls, salads, chocolate brownies, lemon cakes and more. It was very well received all round!

Firle started with the old ball, and after a few loose deliveries being acquainted with the boundary, wickets started to tumble. Gus Christie, making only his second appearance of the season, claiming three early wickets bowling with fantastic accuracy swinging the ball in and away. But all the early Gildredge batsman were the warm up act for the main event- the return of Pete Hind at Firle. After a few big shots, he went for one too many and was fantastically caught on the run by Parkinson. Good to see you again Pete! Gildredge skipper Varney then played a typical captains innings to see his team over the line with only 4 balls remaining, losing 8 wickets along the way.

So 2 wickets away from snatching a win, but ultimately we lost to the better team. We can't afford to have batting collapses like that at this level of cricket. Special mentions for Christie and Cartwright who got 4-15 and 3-23 respectively, Parkinson for his first run for Firle, and Herriott again for his first 50 and also taking a cracking catch on the boundary late on to give us a glimmer of hope of winning.

Only three league games left, let's be sure of staying up on Saturday so we can have a nice relaxing end to the season.

The first breakthrough finally came with Willingdon trying to increase the run rate, and a catch being sent to Karoki at Long On off Rumman’s bowling. Matt Watson bowled excellently when he came on to end up with fantastic figures of 4/31 off his 9 overs, and Andrew Bird became Firle’s highest ever wicket taker in the Play-Cricket Era with his 3/36. There was also a run out and Willingdon finished on 191/9 from their 50 overs.

Firle lost Ahmed to his work commitments so were only able to bat with 10, and were unfortunately (effectively) 3 for 3 at the end of the second over with Bird and Sarwary dismissed. Karoki looked like a man who had made 50s in his previous two matches when he came out to bat, driving especially beautifully. Staib joined him and matched him shot for shot until he tried maybe one too many and missed a straight full toss to depart for 24. Rumman made 33 on Thursday but made only a single today. Watson played positively, scoring a brisk 11, including a massive 6 down the hill, before he too departed. Run rate was definitely not an issue for Firle, but the number of batsman remaining was a concern.

Gravett joined Karoki but didn’t add to the thousands of runs he has made over the years for Firle today. Trott who kept admirably despite feeling unwell came in at 8, much lower than usual, with 70 still required. Lewis was still batting fluently and went past 50 and Trott also looked in excellent touch. They put on 40 together before Karoki was finally dismissed driving to short cover.

Yearsley joined Trott and played in his own way, hitting two fours and another that stopped just short to depart for a rapid 9. Gorton joined Trott for the last wicket with 24 still needed. Gorton was very generously dropped second ball, working too hard to get forward, but other than that looked untroubled by the bowling, picking up singles on both sides of the wicket while Trott scored in boundaries, with three excellent flicks too the leg. With the scores level, Gorton pushed through midwicket to see Firle home with one wicket, but 8 overs, to spare.

Both sides will feel they could have won the game, and both may well site catching as a key era for improvement. Firle’s batsmen demonstrated that scoring runs is not a problem, but the lesson may be that they don’t need to go after them quite so readily.

At 166-2 Firle could afford to play positively and Andrew Staib took on that challenge playing for the team rather than his average scoring quickly before departing. Sameer played his natural game, hitting his first ball for 4, before an out of character forward defensive second ball. Third was true to form and saw him caught on the boundary.

Yearsley came and went for quickly continuing the aggressive theme and Lewis departed shortly after for an excellent 65. A quick 40 partnership between Alex Gorton and Neil Trott, who is looking in increasingly fabulous touch, pushed Firle up to 237/7 from 45 overs at which point tea was just a little too tempting.

Tunbridge Wells probably bowled better than many of their figures suggest, and credit to their opening bowler Freeman who bowled a 13 over spell first up.

Given the match took place at Firle, the tea was of course excellent. Thank you Karoki and family.

In a rare move, Firle practised their fielding before going out to bowl. Probably a good move after dropping 7 against Chid in the last home game. Using the old ball, leggy Gorton Jnr opened up with Staib and kept things pretty tight. Typical seam movement from Staib accounted for one of the opening bats early on, and Lewis perhaps didn’t spend enough time practising his catching as he put the other opener down off Gorton. He did however hold the same man off Staib.

Firle didn’t get it all their own way for a while after that with some very positive batting finding some gaps in the field to move the scoreboard on quickly. Bowling changes were being considered before Gorton bowled a dreadful long hop which was somehow missed and happened to be on target. Perhaps the ball didn’t deserve a wicket, but the spell as whole definitely did. After 20 overs Nick Smith and Lewis were thrown the ball and both performed very well. Smith bowled the threatening Woodmansee at which point Tunbridge’s attacking approached seemed to be shelved. Lewis was able to float it up and actually extracted significant turn from the pitch. Regardless of the flight, Tunbridge weren’t too bothered about playing attacking shots. Funky fields were deployed and short leg seemed to have an impact on shot selection. A shot aimed very much at short leg to get them further away failed when they instead picked out Dhruv at square leg. Lewis then took a much harder catch than the one he dropped, diving forwards off his own bowling. The adage about catching off your own bowling is definitely true!

At 80 for 6, and after 28 overs, Firle finally took the new ball and a run out soon followed. Dhruv then took another excellent catch diving away to his right at third slip to give Sameer his first wicket. He then cleared up the number 10 too and Gorton finally contributed by yorking the number 11 and sealing Firle’s first league win of the season.

Thanks to Tunbridge who were a really nice guys to play against and hopefully Firle can produce a similarly impressive team performance against East Dean next week.

Firle was put in, and new opener Zach made steady progress with Neil for 15 overs on a soft, slow track. Hopkins finally got one through his defences and Karoki followed soon after. Staib(uk), fresh from a brilliantly surreal pre-match interview, upped the pace and Neil picked off bad balls to reach a solid fifty before Andrew edged one to gully. Hibbs got a leading edge first up, but Boony settled in and at 120-4, the stage was set for an assault off the last 12 overs.

Then Boony tried to launch one into the tennis courts and lost his stumps, Neil was lbw after an excellent, battling 80 and with a terrible clatter of wickets, Firle were all out for 129. Delroy Read’s slow medium up the hill brought him six wickets. There was less than the usual appetite for the excellent Little Common tea (17/20 from the critics) as Firle contemplated their debacle.

But they took the field with intent, Nick “anger is an energy” Boon steaming down the hill and Gus “this is not a lovesong” Christie toiling up it. Gus struck early and often, the young LCR batsmen finding his subtle swing and changes of pace beyond them, and picked up five wickets as Boony huffed and puffed without luck from the top.

Finally CC was thrown the ball and unsportingly claimed two wickets in his first over, ruining Gus’s chance of a ten-fer. It was all over very soon after that, Trott taking the final catch and Gus finishing with an excellent 7 for 31.

Sub Saharan temperatures of 7 degrees were recorded as the captains took to the middle for the coin toss supporting ski jackets and balaclavas. Skipper Karoki Lewis showed that he isn’t as useless a tosser as we all think, and put Eastbourne in on a damp pitch with overcast conditions.

Gus Christie and Richard Gravett opened up, bowling in good areas and were suitably backed up by impressive fielding. The tight bowling induced errors from the Eastbourne batsman and wickets were picked up at regular intervals. A few overs of madness caused the run rate to pick up, but the Firle bowlers continued to be ruthless in their bowling, with Gus Christie picking up the first ‘Michelle’ of the season and everyones favourite caveman Nicholas Boon coming on at the end to shatter numbers 10 and 11’s furniture.

Eastbourne were all out for 91 and 20 overs were scheduled before tea was to be taken.

Andrew ‘Birdy’ Bird and Neil Trott opened up starting well until Birdy saw his poles rearranged with 18 on the board. Lewis came and went quickly which brought Kiwi Zach Emett to the crease and with Trott brought the score to 60-2 at tea.

Tea scored a well deserved 8/10 with a lovely selection of pizzas, cakes and sandwiches, including the underused sausage and ketchup sandwich. A distinct lack of pork pie and battenburg meant top marks were not achieved.

Disaster struck first ball after tea after Emett was controversially given out amidst calls amongst the Eastbourne team that the ball may have bounced, however the laws of Gentleman meant that the catch stood and Emett was out for 14.

The less said about the loss of the remaining 7 wickets, the better, as a combination of good bowling, sloppy mistakes and potential complacency meant Firle lost the last 7 wickets for just 22 runs. David Shaw and Chris Cartwright tried their best for the last wicket to take Firle over the line until Cartwright was out LBW 6 runs short.

Gus Christie was awarded the Man of the Match accolade with bowling figures of 5-18, with Neil Trott in second place with his 31 and tidy keeping performance.

Next week sees the return to the home of cricket, where Firle will entertain newly promoted Forest Row. Let’s hope the team can get back on the horse and banish the demons of last week.

Playing against Heathfield Park 2nd XI at home we were confident of going better than last week. In fact it would have been hard to have done any worse. Early season confidence was dashed against Lewes St Michaels with our woefull batting display, could we turn it around.

Winning the toss was a positive change and Heathfield were put into bat on what looked like a sketchy wicket and with lots of cloud cover we hoped to exploit something from the conditions. We failed. Some woeful fielding mistakes and innacurate bowling gave Heathfield the chance to race away – and didnt they do just that. Every bad ball was punished without question crashing to the boundary on what was a very fast outfield. A wicket looked very hard to comeby and some good decisions went against us, including a very clear stumping which effectively changed the course of the game as the player in question went onto score 135 (and was just over 50 when stumped the first time – he was also bowled off a no ball!)

Heathfield were crusing and we looked in serious trouble. There seemed nothing we could do to stem the flow of runs. A breakthrough came with a LBW for Tol Christie which generated some colourfull riposte from the departing batsman.

The Heathfield captain was next in and things began looking up. Karoki’s part time spin tied him up at one end as he comically tried to work out which way the ball was going to turn. Sadly this inability to play spin did not result in a wicket and some lusty blows from him saw more fours added to the total. A score of 300 was well in reach. A second spell from Nick Boon resulted in some quick wickets and also restricted their scoring and with some good support from Jez Walters the flow was stemmed. Still they had an impressive score and a generous declaration of 260 for 6 after 40 overs presented Firle with a very achievable target off 53 overs.

Firle's innings could not have started with less misfortune with a golden duck first ball for Matt Stroud who had had a good day behind the stumps. Was this going to be the repeat of last week?

Fortunately the dependable Karoki Lewis and Neill Trott dug deep and got their heads down and soon made the bowling look pretty ordinary. Both survived very fortunate drops (hey was about time we had some luck!) The rate of 5 an over was being met and suddenly we were 118-1 off 22 overs….we had 30 overs to go only 140 or so to get…very doable. However right on cue our luck ran out and Karoki swept a full toss right into the hands of Mr Lucky the escapologist with a century from the first innings. This was quickly followed pretty much next ball when Neil was bowled by a man with a very large stomach. From 118-1 to 118-3…..time to dig deep again. Two new bastsman at the crease required them both to build their innings which they did well and the score ticking over. After doing their calculations to win the game (the opposition had gone very quiet as they realised we could do it) Shaun and Zach realised that now was the time to hit out. Zach opened his arms and boundaries were taken. Sadly Zach holed out going for another drive fairly soon into the chase, however it was the right call. Immediate double disaster as we recorded our second golden duck of the day with Nick Boon being adjudged LBW first up. Our hopes seemed dashed. Tol was in next and was filled with urgency and positive shots….and maybe a little too much confidence in the pace of teammates as a suicidal single was taken with Shaun unable to use his slender tones to shield the stumps from the incredibly lucky direct hit from the bowlers end…..(note to suicide runners..get in the way of the ball – accidentally of course)

Still on the attack Andre was sent in next to boost our score and set off well with a huge six over the square leg boundary. Sadly that was all he could do today with the bat. Tol pushed the score along very well with some cracking attacking drives and two overs at over 12 an over gave us yet more painfull hope as we crossed the 200 mark with six overs to go. Tol was next out going for a drive. Sadly it was now time to shut up shop, however the Heathfield players had the bit between their teeth and their bowlers were charding in on a bood length and line. Andre was out with his traditional defensive stroke and was quickly follwed by Jez who had forgotten we were going for the draw. Three overs to go and the increasingly injured and pale captain hoped to block the last few balls out. Sadly with 17 balls to go he was unable to keep out a great ball and the game was won by Heathfield.

Firle walked away with 16 points which given our earlier match circumstances we would have happily settled for. Our much improved batting display was encouraging however and we certainly caused the oppostion to question their delcaration. We didnt get much of the luck on offer during the game sadly but hey i guess that is just cricket…..

So of course we wanted to bat first - we had 11 batsmen and about 39 bowlers so why not! The Captain tried his best and even the addition of his boot to the coin to ensure a correct call failed to sway the opposition captain and he sadly chose to bat on a lovely sunny day on a hard wicket with what he must have felt was a very strong batting line up.....oh dear, oh deary deary me.

We bowled well. We bowled in fact very well. Hats off to newman Nick Boon who bowled eight impressive overs for 5 runs and one wicket. Hats off to Ned who was simply too good for them. Hats off to Chris Cartwright for his double wicket maiden. To Andre for ripping stumps out of the ground. To Jez and George for persevering. I think there was some spin but im not sure. Some flukey chap took a wicket with the last ball of the innings. But gosh and wow. 40 overs and 67 runs off the bat. Mr Extra put in a fine performance for the opposition and was the highest scorer with i think 29 off his 40 overs. Oh and hats off to Shaun for stepping up at the last minute to keep and two excellent catches he took too. 94 off 40 overs.

So we then batted. Well two of us did. One of us didnt. Yours truly. Seems to think you can go back on a Firle wicket. Oh deary me. Seems i still have a lot to learn. Seems Shaun has mastered the slog sweep six to the biggest boundary.

Also a rather lovely BBQ afters - thanks to Andre and Mikey for that although i dont want to look at a chicken for a while.....whilst we are on the subject of food can we all make an effort please to thank all of our volunteers - especially those that feed us after a long 40 overs in the heat of the day! And Albert - even if he hasnt given you an LBW or in my case given me out when i was clearly OUT!

Opening up the attack Birdy tied the Ringmer batsmen down at one end whilst Andre kept a good line so early in the season. Ringmer chanced their arm a few times and begun to score a few boundaries. It seemed running was not in their game plan on such a hot day for these atheletes. However it was for the Firle fielders who throughout the day fielded exceptionally well. Birdy was first with the breathrough but it was a long time before the second wicket came with Ringmer posting over a 100 for one wicket down….

At one stage it looked as if 250 might be their final target. But we were not thinking of the modern marvels of medicine coupled with technology for upon the arrival of the "£16.99 man" Tol Christie and his mechanical leg soon turned the game with two quick and cheap wickets. This was follwed by another from Birdy and suddenly the mighty first division team were four down with 140 on the board. Some lusty blows from Ringmer accelerated the score but the enthusiastic and skilled fielding kept the score down and away from the 250 that was being threatened earlier in the innings.

Some exceptional bowling from Matt Watson kept the batsmen penned in and he picked up two good wickets. Finishing off their alloted 8 overs Birdy and Andre kept it tidy and Ringmer were restricted to a gettable 216 off their 40 overs.

Firle's innings begun solidly with a new pairing of Shaun and Matt and was looking very comfortable against some pretty standard bowling. So far the gulf between the first divison and fourth was not really evident. Matt was first out with a bizarre dismissal – which is always good to get out of the way early in a season. Stumped or bowled off his pads..no one is still sure….

The score kept ticking over and Karoki in his customary number three slot survived an early chance but made most of his luck and soon was nonchalantly lofting sixes over the boundary to make up for the three he gave away on his othewise excellent bowling. It certainly was game on. Shaun was next out owing to the curse of Birdy being excercised on the boundary. Zach came in at four and patiently played himself in waiting for the right time to accelerate and also break his bat which he did with some aplomb straight driving a mighty six.

Trying a new tactic this brave and foolish captian sent in potential danger man Andre who seemed to have left his other pad and contact lenses in Islington…one shot one ball one result. Goldie. Ooops. Sensing they were back in it Ringmer regrouped but Birdy soon was knocking boundaries hitting his first two balls for four.

With the run rate now steadily keeping up to 6 then 7 an over it begun to get more anxious on the pitch..would Firle cuase an upset and beat the team three divisions above them… could be! Zach sadly was next out after he didnt quite middle one and was caught on the boudary. This brought in our bowling supremo and his wonderful contraption Tol who ran like a demon (if only we had run the last five overs like that throughout the match!) Birdy and Tol nearly guided us home before Birdy was out caught behind tryin got guide the ball to the third man boundary. Vic Chapman put in some lusty blows and showed some solid technique before he reverted to his Canadian baseball roots and turned himself inside out….

Two overs to go and 16 or so to get..would we do it. The tension! A bizarre fielding mishap saw 5 wides be given and then it was down to single figures….Max Longely hit one of the shots of the day to get a four….we were down to just 10 runs…then attempting a second run Tol was sadly run out by a yard….8 to get with one over to go…it could all be over in two balls and it certainly was when Max was sadly bowled second ball of the over to end an exeptionally good match that we werent expected to win but came darn close too.

All round an excellent performance by the Firle team which bodes well for the league season ahead!

A wonderfully hot July day saw Firle 1st XI head over to Lewes St Michaels for the return match. Having been beaten twice already by Lewes in the season and following on from the lacklustre performance the week before, the prospect of facing the second place team in the division was ominous for seventh placed Firle.

Losing the toss Firle were put into bat on a very green wicket but with perfect batting conditions overhead. A new opening combination consisting of new recruit Matt Stroud and Captain Birdseye saw a solid opening stand of 65 broken by ex-Firle skipper Tony Wakely. Karoki Lewis followed fairly quickly misjudging one of Tony’s leg cutters and padded one away to be trapped leg before. Some say it was a rare beast not often spotted in East Sussex – a googly.

Matt Stroud continued to keep a good run rate going but was next out, caught for 52 off an impressive 66 balls. He became victim no 3 of ‘Terrible Tony’.

A mini collapse saw the normally Goweresque Tol Christie out second ball to Tony and what had seemed a very solid start began to look a bit shaky. Zach Emett was batting with confidence and had blasted a huge six before he became Tony’s fifth wicket, victim to the well rolled pea greenness of the wicket. Jim Gravett, Matt Watson, Alex Yearsley and Ollie Dook did their bit to push the score along with all but one falling to Tony Wakely, who was in danger of taking all ten wickets against his old club.

The target score of 240 was looking far off and Firle had to get close to that to have something to bowl at and also were in danger of not using their full 50 overs. However cometh the hour, cometh the man. Yet again Andre Samuel strode with his shades on as if heading to the beach in Barbados. It didn’t take long for him to make a mockery of previous batting against Tony. 39 of 18 balls says it all. With Andre’s cameo performance at the end Firle posted a very defendable 241 – 9, with Tony taking 8 wickets for 91. Game on.

Fresh from his batting cameo Andre opened up with Ollie Dook and both soon had the openers frustrated and looking for scoring shots. Andre had Ian Welch first down cleanly bowled. He followed this up by taking fellow opener Jon Brown scattering his stumps as he looked to force a shot. Sustained pressure by tight bowling and excellent fielding had Lewes on 49 – 2.

It appeared Andre had eaten his spinach Friday night and after 13 straight overs he took a break ending with figures of 2-41. Not bad.

Some big hitting by Sid and Ash Oliver saw Lewes push the score along however they were living dangerously playing big shots and were 108 -4. After some persuasion the captain brought himself on and took some initial heavy punishment. He persisted despite the flurry of sixes and then provided two turning points. With the game in the balance two remarkable reflex catches of his own bowling swung it back in Firle’s direction. It seems having time to think is a bad thing with this catching lark. (just ask Andre).

Despite the game now being in Firle’s grasp and with ten overs to go Lewes could have shut up shop for the draw but gamely they carried on chasing the win. Ultimately it proved too much for Lewes and it was left to the ultimate Barbadian showman to pull off one of the catches of the season. A full blooded drive going for four, a jump in the air, a nonchalant raise of the right hand and the ball sticking in his hand like glue. Some days it just goes your way. Definitely worth the ice cream.

A great win for Firle who were 7th in the table against opponents who were 2nd and a great day for our captain who finished with figures of 6-52.

Following midweek agreement that more of an effort needed to be made by the first eleven to lift the burden of preparation for the wicket and pitch from the long suffering regulars Firle found two new groundsmen on Saturday morning from the firm of Christie and Yearsley and what a difference their many years of experience made to the wicket.

The day could not have been more idyllic and Firle was looking its best with an expertly and calmly mown outfield with regulation stripes required by many a cricketing professional. Sadly these stripes were not part of the ensemble of Messrs Christie and Yearsley but we look forward to their continued presence on the field – the stripes that is. The wicket itself was immaculately rolled and clipped short to provide as ever a variable and bounce ensuring that batsmen weren’t complacent. The white lines of the popping crease were unnervingly straight.

With Firle’s intent set with the professionalism and dedication shown in the pitch preparation and with the glorious June day bearing heat down on us how could we improve? Simple - fielding practice. And practice we did - to such an extent that three excellent catches were taken at various stages of the game that on a normal day we would have put down.

Winning the toss and putting Ringmer 2nds into bat proved a good decision. Some very tight bowling by Olly and Richard had Ringmer pinned down and it took them quite a while for their first boundary to arrive. Richard was first into the wickets with some fine turn and one spectacular ball that was Warnesque or rather Gattingesque in the leave by the batsman that saw the ball crash into his stumps. Chris Cartwright, back from a career threatening injury, toiled without success but kept the scoring to a minimum, further increasing the pressure on Ringmer to score runs on a wonderful day to bat.

Some inspired field positions put pressure on the Ringmer batsmen and forced them to play unnecessary shots and wickets were bought. A fine running catch by Karoki at long off ensured that Ringmers main run threat was snaffled before he could get going. Andre, bowling off a run up of about a foot, produced a wickedly tight spell of bowling and had the Ringmer batsmen in all sorts of trouble ending up with figures of 4 – 32. His excellent caught and bowled being one of the highlights of the match and showed to himself that it is good to use his hands to collect the ball occasionally.

Keen to keep Ringmers score below 110 Firle maintained the pressure and Birdy picked up some cheap wickets with some entertaining shot selection ably assisting his typically miserly bowling. No runs equals pressure.

And then the sublime finale. Barely out of his conversation with his fellow groundsmen Tol, a lightning catch at first slip rarely seen on the playing fields of East Sussex by Alex. Generations will pass before……(sorry I got a bit carried away there…)

Ringmer - 100 all out – a fantastic all round team effort, a massively improved fielding performance by Firle from previous weeks and the game played in the spirit it was born in.

Firle to bat – a great looking batting line up on paper would surely make light work of this score and with over 60 overs to get them in we were not rushing. A very steady start was undone by a good catch on the long off boundary as Chris Hibbert attempted to hit his first one out of the ground – which it certainly looked like doing. This brought in Karoki who was looking to follow up on his return game 50 of the previous week. He partnered up with Shaun who was in powerful form cutting with abandon and getting some excellent long boundaries.

And then a moment of madness that clearly denotes some calling practice…an unnecessary run out with Shaun making a near miraculous return to his crease but ending just short. Tol came to the crease with seventy to get and was soon driving forcibly and knocking the runs off. A great partnership between Tol and Karoki followed with some quality shots and very stylish batting reminiscent of the laid backness of Gower and the precession of Tendulkar…..again a joy to behold as the sun started to dip. Is there a better ground in East Sussex?

With Firle’s official portrait painter in residence in the pavilion it was important that Birdy and Richard were not allowed to bat as their portraits would take a considerable amount of time to prepare so it was left to Matt to finish up the innings with Karoki after Tol spooned one off a full toss for a well steered 29 during some resurgent and youthful bowling by Ringmer. A fine win by 7 wickets on a glorious summers day and with an excellent tea to boot. Better than sex? Well……?

Whilst fielding it appeared that Firle had caught the national disease of ‘dispassionopia’ off the English football squad and some very indifferent fielding ensured that Little Common Ramblers amassed a seemingly formidable total of 265 for 9….a total probably 30 runs over what the pitch should have delivered. The bowling highlights were limited, however, Richard Gravett grabbed 3 wickets by expertly bowled to opponents less accustomed to a turning ball….some dignity in the field was rescued with two fine run outs at the close, however we were denied taking all ten wickets with LCR declaring 9 down.

A rallying talk during tea by our splinted captain gave us confidence that we could achieve the target and it was interesting to note that the previous match had yielded over 500 runs so we were not too disconsolate at their seemingly huge total. Some uncharacteristic fielding shockers by Firle had added to their total with a total of four catches going down.

With the target set at over 8 an over Zach Emmett and Richard Gravett set to work. The small boundary was seemingly enticing and the score was moving on reasonably well when Zach was first out trapped LBW. Making a welcome return after an absence of over a month Karoki applied himself to the task and the score moved along well and a fine partnership emerged. Boundaries were flying all over the place and calculations were being made as to the run rate…hold on we were on target….the hundred partnership came as did the 150 before Karoki hit the worst ball he faced all day, a full toss on leg stump straight into the hands of the fielder for a superb 50.

However Karoki must be forgiven for this rash error and also we mustn’t forget that as were repeatedly told, as was he in the middle, that this was his second innings, so maybe it wasn’t that special. A batting line change saw Matt Watson come in at 4 to keep the fast scoring going with Richard. It genuinely looked as if we might pull off a shocker and reach the target. Richard was in fine form smashing sixes out of the ground with abandon, however on 80 he succumbed to fatigue and LCR finally caught one.

Now the danger man Andre…if anyone was going to ensure we won he would and his first two balls showed his intent as they sailed out of the ground for towering sixes. Momentum was lost with Matt attempting the right course of action and being caught. The score stood at 180 for 5 with just about 10 overs to go. Andre was on fire and then he did his one pad thing. This caused some confusion amongst the fielding side that had never seen anything so special. What was this man up too…he was smashing sixes out of the ground and now he had taken one of his protective pads off whilst a 6ft 4 inch Kiwi was bowling relatively fast at him. He managed to take the score up to 203 before he finally fell to a catch behind for an explosive 35 of very few and we realized the game was up and it was closed down with seven overs to go.

All we had to do was ensure we didn’t lose. And then came the hatrick. It looked shaky…suddenly we had a real chance of losing. We needed to get maximum batting points as well. However Alex and Mark hung on for the next six overs and reached the 210 mark and draw the match.

Starting miraculously only an hour late after what looked like heavy set rain would force the abandonment of the game the File players stoically remained in the freezing conditions at the club house as opposed to the public house. Firle knew that the well drained outfield and hard wicket would take all the punishment the sky could offer and that any let up in the rain would lead to a match commencing.

Various requests were answered and the rain subsided. Firle won the toss and decided to put Rottingdean in on what can be described as a wicket with some variable bounce whilst also being quite sticky. The Firle attack started brilliantly with Andre Samuels opening at the pavilion end dismissing Rottingdean’s opener to an athletic catch to a man with a wooden leg in the first over.

Opening up the other end Ollie Dook bowled a good line outside off stump and soon had Rottingdeans no. 3 in all sorts of trouble as a late in-swinger bowled him off his pads and onto the stumps.

Rottingdean’s captain was next up and he was Ollie’s second victim with a fine piece of in-swing to have him trapped LBW. This brought in the powerful stroke player Fielding, who survived a delightful first ball edge as it whistled between the brothers trimm, Richard and Jim Gravett. He soon began to get his eye in and hit some well timed boundaries, pushing the score along at a fast pace so that Rottingdean were approaching the 100 mark off only 20-odd overs for the loss of only 3 wickets.

A change of bowling saw Chris Cartwright replace Andre and the game dramatically turn. The hard hitting Fielding was deceived by a slower ball and was clean bowled to the relief of the Gravett brothers. This brought in their no. 7 who coupled with some tight fielding proceeded to slow the game down to such a degree that over the next 14 overs an incredible 10 runs were scored.

This placed huge pressure on the batting side. Finding the joint bowling attack of former Rottingdean players Chris Cartwright and Andy Bird too tight to handle, Rottingdean were now 108 for 5 off 34 overs. The pressure had mounted to such a degree that they had to hit out and the stalwart Rottingdean opener Gray played one too many and a swirling catch was taken by Birdy off his own bowling. As the captain had prophesied, the floodgates were now open. Rottingdean lost their last 5 wickets for 2 runs. No. 7s misery was finally curtailed by Chris Cartwright with an LBW and he nearly bagged a hat-trick in the ensuing chaos with Shaun Trelaor taking the catch of the match with an extraordinary reflex attempt close in for the incoming bat.

It was left to Firle captain Andy Bird to polish off the tail taking two identical wickets with two identically flighted balls taken by the man with wooden leg at slip. Rottingdean 111 all out. Not bad. Not even Firle could mess this up…or could we……

The Rottingdean captain clearly knew a thing or two about the Firle players and clearly the psychological ploy of making the Firle openers delay their much needed tea worked and Zach Emmett was LBW looking for a four off a full toss on leg stump to be first down. Opening the bowling attack and getting some lively lift and with a commendably highly attacking field, having no less than five slips, ensured that Firle would be in for a tough time. A win was by no means a guarantee even for such a low total. Firle could have taken 57 overs if they liked at just over 2 an over.

The tea break was taken and soon Firle were reeling at 17 for 3, 22 for 4, then 34 for 5. Rottingdean sensed a genuine upset and pressed on the attack. The top five batsmen all fell for low scores and Firle were contemplating yet another defeat. But then came strength and optimism in the shape of birthday boy Chris Taylor and the hammer of Jim Gravett who cautiously took the score up….nerves were fraying in the pavilion…some hostile and tight bowling was being well played in a combination of styles (“you hit it and I’ll run” being one of them).

Soon it looked as if Firle might just do it…..in one emphatic over Jim smashed 14 to knock the wind out of Rottingdean attack and a bowling changed was forced….Firle were steadily working off the score and headed into the 60s, 70s, the 80s. This was tense stuff. By the time Jim had scored his 50 the Firle total was 75 – which gives an indication of his crucial contribution. The excellent partnership of 63 between Taylor and Gravett was finally brought to an end when a mighty heave failed to connect and CT was bowled for a vitally important 14. Andy Bird came to the wicket with the final 17 runs needed, and it was fittingly left for Jim to smash two fours to end on 68 not out and ensure a first win for Firle in 2010.

New shirts indeed – just wait to the caps arrive.