Welcome to this week’s Wizzy News – our weekly roundup of news and events at Wisborough Green Cricket Club.

Lots to report on this week including some great pics from our Second X1 game against Southwater. If you missed last week’s edition of Wizzy News, please click here

The game of cricket

Following on from last week’s video on the ‘Wide ball’, we are covering the ‘Bye’ and ‘Leg Bye’ this week. There are some very subtle rules around the leg bye that many may not be aware of and may find interesting. Please click on the link below for Stephen Fry’s very informative video

Honours Boards

This week we are highlighting two particularly noteworthy events that deserve special mention.

The first is that our Under 15 Girls team played against Southwater on Sunday. What was particularly significant about this game is that it was the very first time that a Wisborough Green girls under 15 team took to the field for the club. Anyone watching the game could only but be filled with a great sense of pride at how the girls went about playing the game – how they supported and encouraged each other on the field and their overall team spirit which was inspirational. The girls were up against a seasoned Southwater side which consisted of a number of Sussex players and did not look out of place against such strong opposition.

Well done girls – you are not only trailblazers for the club , but you have set such a high standard for the other girls to follow. We are so incredibly proud of you !

The second significant event last week was that our First X1 Skipper Jonny Farmer has become the highest wicket taker in the history of the club according to the Playcricket stats, overtaking club legend Ben Thatcher.

What is particularly significant about Jonny’s performance is that his 257 wickets have come off only 1,381 overs compared to Ben’s 1434 overs. Ben would quite rightly point out that he has twelve 5 wicket hauls compared to Jonny’s six ,which is remarkable in itself, but it is of course the total number of wickets taken that is the key stat. It may well be that other players have exceeeded these figures pre Playcricket , but all we have are the Playcricket records. For a closer look at the top bowling stats please click here

Well done Jonny – a record to be proud of.

First X1 vs Chichester Priory

Wisborough headed to Goodwood with 3 wins from 3 to take on Chichester 2’s who had a mixed bag of results. The only negative news was that regular umpire Peter Mattock, had been stricken down by the mighty C19, speedy recovery Peter!

Captain Farmer won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that was seeing it’s third game in 2 weeks. The plan was to apply the pressure and put a score on the board. BTW what a backdrop for a game of Cricket!

Jimmer and SCS strode out to the middle to open the batting for the Green. The bowling was accurate and mixed in pace with the ball keeping low and not coming onto the bat. Steve was the first to go, with Chi’s opening bowler snicking him off for 3.

Ash and Jimmer then put in the hard yards, hitting the bad balls and keeping the straight ones out. They put on 113 Runs, before Jimmer tried to send one into the Goodwood Estate and was bowled – another good 52.

Tarnie sadly was in and out, but it seemed a very harsh LBW. Jnr (James Rainford) was promoted up the order and began to tick the strike over to Ash, who was driving the ball beautifully through the covers and running well with Jnr. The score got to 182/4 and just after a beast of a 6 down the ground Ash was adjudged LBW, but sadly with no DRS the thick inside edge was not seen (only heard by most players/workers and animals at Goodwood) and he departed for an excellent 84.

With around 8 overs to go the plan was to kick on and post 220, but sadly it was not the easiest place to get in, with the ball not coming on, and Farmer and Jack D fell cheaply. Sizzles (Jack Sizzey Carter) , Joey and Jnr managed to run very well between the stumps and got us to a competitive 204 – around 16 runs short of where we wanted to be.

Tea was taken and the Green new they had to be on it to make it the perfect start.

Jnr and Sizzles opened the bowling , and for the first time this year Jnr was not beating the bat off this slow pitch, with a few full tosses mixed in the Chi openers pushed on to a quick 19.

It was Jack who was causing more issues. He bowled a wide one which the batsmen middled through first slip… oh wait Captain Farmer at first slip reacted quicker than Neo in the Matrix and plucked it out of the air. Cue distress from the Green – what had just happened ?? But of course it was what Captain Farmer does – all style – not even a celebration.

Sadly the next pair frustrated the Green, and the score was on around 60 before Joey got his first – again another fantastic line and length display from him. He also got the Chi captain out bowled.

It was then two left handers that really frustrated the Green, who played and missed as many times as then managed to scamper singles. The game was getting away from the Green and at 180/4 Farmer managed to scalp back the prized wickets, and the Green were in the hunt agan.

It was the excellent fielding of Jack Dixon on the boundary with Joey that kept us in it. If we keep these standards we will be in the top half pushing teams all the way.

Farmer also got the next danger man an over later- his second wicket of the day, taking him to the promised land of GOAT status in WGCC Play Cricket bowling History, passed a certain B Thatcher. Sadly with overs running out Jimmer couldn’t keep things as tight, and the Chi middle order managed to finish the game off with 5 balls to go. Disappointment from the Green. But still a great start to the season.

Thanks Mr Dodd for scoring. With former club captain Ben Thatcher getting married this weekend, and not being #1 anymore we may see him return to the field and the Green go from strength to strength. Long may this continue.

Player of the Match – Ash Clark. Superb with the bat, in the field and called upon with the ball when having about 20% left in the tank!
Joey, Jack D and Sizzles superb in the field.
‘WHAT A CATCH’ – The whole of Goodwood Estate 21st May 2022 – J .Farmer

Jonny Farmer

Click here for the full scorecard

Second X1 vs Southwater

Wisborough Green Second X1 welcomed Southwater to the hallowed Wisborough Green turf

• Skipper Frank Vickery won the toss and elected to field
• Juan Vorster claimed 2 early wickets as Green got off to a good start
• Skipper Frank kept the heat on Southwater by rotating bowlers regularly
• Rafferty Finn took the catch of the season as he majestically plucked the ball from the sky
• Frank Vickery unlucky to miss out on two catches by a few millimeters- players urge him to wear his stilettos the next time he fields
• Green had Southwater on the ropes at 145 for 8 after 28 overs
• Stubborn resistance from tailenders took Southwater to 206 all out in the 39th over
• After refueling Green looked ready and energised to take on the Southwater attack.
• Green got off to a disasterous start as opener George Andrews was clean bowled by Sussex under 14 bowler James Gray
• Gray continued to wreck havoc with the Green batters with his low and straight deliveries.
• Matt Watts held his nerve and rode his luck with a couple of dropped catches as wickets tumbled around him.
• Matt ended his fine knock on 77 – his top score for the club
• Arthur Andrews offered some resistance at the tail end of the innings to notch up second highest score of 15
• Green innings ended on 119 in the 20th over with Gray claiming 6 scalps for 19 runs
• Disappointing day for the Green as players lick their wounds after a ‘Gray’ day

Click here for the full scorecard

Big thank you to club photographer Chris Marshall for these great pics

Under 14’s vs Steyning

This week’s match report was written by two of the Under 14 players – George Redgrove and Rafferty Finn.

The Wisborough Green U14s, once more without any U14s, were playing Steyning on a slightly overcast Sunday morning.

Captain Archie Gray went out to the square with the Steyning Captain, we lost the toss and we were put in to have a bowl which we were happy with.

Archie opened the bowling taking a wicket on the second ball with Rafferty Finn taking the catch. We were off to a flyer with our second bowler Ben Gwilliam only going for 2 in his first over.

It was time for a change of bowling and on came Lukas Graham-Cloete bowling two very tidy overs. Xander Boyce then broke the partnership with a terrific leg spinner. Spin was working well so the skipper throught it was time to bring on Lachlan Rae to try and find another break through, but the batter had strong defence.

Rafferty Finn came on for his first over of the day and went on to take three wickets for 16 after 5 overs.

Harry Richardson and Seb Scrase bowled well taking wickets in their overs.

With some excellent fielding from Jack Laing and Edward Crowther the Steyning batters set a total of 158 for us to chase down.

Now under clear skies Xander Boyce and Lachlan Rae walked to the crease to open the batting looking for a strong opening partnership but Lachlan Rae fell for 6 after usefully soaking up the opening bowlers.

George strode to the crease at number three as he and Xander started to score more runs. Xander was looking in very good touch scoring an excellent 40 retired. Taking his place was Lukas who with George scored some quick runs but both were unfortunately out in quick succession.

Rafferty Finn batting at five and Archie Gray batting at six built a much needed partnership of around 30 but with only a few overs left Archie was struck on the inside of his ankle with a fierce Yorker and had to retire hurt. With one over left Wisborough Green needed 38.. The match finished with a Steyning win and Rafferty Finn scoring 25 not out and Ben Gwilliam on 2 not out.

George Redgrove and Rafferty Finn

Click here for the full scorecard

Under 12’s vs Horsham Trinity

The morning of Saturday 21st saw the U12’s at the beautiful Horsham Trinity ground for a league fixture.

Winning the toss Captain Joe opted to bat second.

Some early lapses in concentration led to a few misfields getting Horsham Trinity off to a bit of a flyer as their top three started to accumulate a decent score. Overall, the bowling was more accurate in this game than in any of the earlier matches. Bella produced a controlled spell and Arden took a wicket with his first delivery for the club. Sam also contributed well and bowled a testing length. Wisborough bowled Horsham out in the last over leaving a total of 130 to chase.

Alas this proved to be too much with Wisborough left on a total of 97 at the end of the 20 overs. The Wisborough batters played with sound technique and all look organised at the crease but could not find the boundary as often as their (slightly older looking) opposition. The running between wickets was greatly improved. Much to build on as the coaches try to hone their attacking stroke play.

Phil Maggs

Click here for the full scorecard

Under 10’s vs Rudgwick

The Under 10’s welcomed Rudgwick to the Green on a bright and early Saturday morning

Rudgwick only had 8 players so we agreed that two of our players would take it in turn to field for them.

Skipper Joanna won the toss and elected to bowl.

Rudgwick had some good batters and got off to a good start. Our bowlers kept to their task and our fielding looked really sharp throughout the game.

Rudgwick ended their innings on a creditable 330.

It was a valiant effort by all of our batters but we fell a little short of the target and ended up with 275

Special mention for Eva Sloan who played her first game of cricket, and bowled and batted extremely well.

Eva Thornhill is also starting to look more comfortable with the bat and held off a strong bowling attack.

Lola Cato had her first game of the season and it looked like she’d been practicing all winter with the bat.

Olivia Finn and Joanna both batted well and managed to find the gaps in the field to make some important runs for the team.

Both Neve and Coco showed their experience with bat and ball and looked comfortable and composed in the middle.

Joshua and Wilf were our top scoring pair who teamed up well together with some great calling and running between the wickets with Joshua making some Ben Stokes’ess style shots towards the end of the innings to make some all important runs.

Tommy always brings a great deal of energy to every part of his game , especially wanting to make runs at any opportunity.

It is so pleasing to see the team growing with confidence every game and really enjoying their cricket.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday again.

George Nicholls

Under 9’s vs Crawley Eagles

A lovely sunny Sunday morning saw us take on our second game of the season away to Crawley Eagles.

Crawley Eagles won the toss and chose to field, the guys showed great composure and concentration with the bat against accurate Eagles bowling, running lots of good singles as well as a sprinkling of boundaries to finish up with 254.

Pick of the batting was Harry building on his good run with 17 runs, William also played well for his 8 and a boundary.

Wisborough Green took to the field starting well with 2 early wickets in the first pair for both Harry and Bobby, and whilst we tried to contain the Eagles they managed to find the gaps and hit the boundaries exceeding our score. Pick of the bowlers went to Matilda with 2 wickets for 1 run (well done Matilda).

The fielders did their best learning to back up and throw accurately back to the stumps, Isla on her first game did brilliantly behind the wickets to stop the ball.

Really proud of the team on their first away game against a strong Eagles team.

Darren Hunter

Under 9’s vs Horsham

The weather held its nerve and a bright evening met our match at home against Horsham.

Three times unlucky on the toss and Horsham put us into bat. Opening pair of Harry and Bobby are developing a good partnership opening the batting and ran some great singles and two’s. The middle order of Edward, Brianna, Freddie F and Zach ensured we kept the scoreboard ticking over with a great boundary from Zach. Final pair of Hugo and Sam did brilliantly against a good Horsham attack but with 17 runs and 3 boundaries the top batter of the day went to Hugo ! (great knock Hugo !) Wisborough green finished on 245.

Horsham went into bat and WG made an immediate impact with the first ball wicket to Harry, a beautiful in-swinger taking the top of off stump.

Wickets fell steadily through the innings with Edward, Hugo and Sam all chipping in. But Zach claimed top bowler with 2 wickets for 8 runs (well done Zach!)

WG fielders had to put up with a setting sun in the second innings and were unfortunate with catches, however Bobby made one stick and claimed a great catch at mid off.

Horsham went onto get the victory, but this team is growing in confidence and ability with every week that passes.

Well done all.

See you Friday

Darren Hunter

Senior Team selection for Saturday

Please click here to view the senior team selections for this Saturday

No junior cricket on the Green on Friday 2 June 2022

Due to the Jubilee festivities on the Green next Friday , there won’t be any junior cricket training . We hope to see everyone back on Friday 10 June.

Girls cricket Academy for under 11-15 girls

Please see details below about our girls cricket academy next week,

There are still a few places open, so please contact Sarah Meurer if your daughters are interested in taking part

Parking on a Friday evening

It is great to see so many Juniors enjoying cricket on the Green on a Friday night. With this comes a pressure on parking around the Green. We therefore ask you to walk to the Green if possible and be considerate when parking avoiding the verges around the playground area and Butts Meadow. Please also be mindful of the implication of your parking on the flow of traffic around the green – we obviously want to avoid any unnecessary risks caused by the build up of traffic.

This Friday the Village Hall has a function on however normally there is additonal parking to be found in the Village Hall car park.

Many thanks in advance for your help with this which will be much appreciated by the wider village community.

Used club kit

Do you have any used club kit lying about that your children have grown out of including whites, pads, cricket bats, golves , etc etc ? If so please do drop it off at the Pav. Children grow out of their kit so quickly and it would be great to pass on used kit to other children who could make good use of it.

Interested in learning how to score ?

Do you know of anyone who is interested in learning how to score ? Scoring is such an important part of the game and learning how to score gives a real depth of understanding of the game itself . We are in the process of creating a Whatsapp group aimed at suporting scorers, so please do get in touch if you would like to learn how to score, or know someone who may be interested in learing how to score.

Platinum Jubilee celebrations on the Green

Please do join in the festivities on Green for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations from Thursday 2 June to Sunday 5th June.

WizFest – Friday 3 June

With the Race night very nearly sold out, come and join the fun to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at Wizfest. The countdown has begun with just one week to go….

Wizfest brings together all ages of the village from 13 upwards for an exciting evening of entertainment, food and drink. We welcome Pizza Trullo and Ox Burger for you to enjoy while listening to local bands. Brook Saunders has been busy brewing with a Jubilee special of Royal Blood Pale Ale from Wisborough Green’s very own Brolly Brewing.

….and finally – spotted out and about

That’s it for this week

If there is anything we need to know – you know where to find us !

Have a great cricketing week

#UptheGreen

Cheers

Wizzy