Welcome to this week’s Wizzy News which includes reports from all our teams that were in action this last week including a closely fought Under 16 game which included a number of under 12 players. The match reports for both the under 16 and under 14 games were written by the players and are unedited – it’s always interesting to see the game from a junior player’s perspective.

Next Sunday is our Girls and Ladies festival on the Green from 9am. We will be welcoming 8 other under 11 girls teams to the Green and Three Senior ladies teams in the afternoon for a fun filled day of cricket – we do hope that you will be able to join us.

Honours Boards

Congratulations to all those who made it onto the Boards this week

Match reports

First X1 vs Horsham

Wisborough welcomed Horsham 2s to the green and were invited to bat by the visitors.

Another start from Scs, accompanied well by Dan vickery and a significant number of extras meant Wisborough got off to a flying start at one point going over 10 runs an over. Some good bowling, a couple wickets and a dubious umpiring decision pegged us back but good batting performances would continue throughout. Chris, performing well again holding the innings together. Will Dixon finding some form and playing beautifully and Oscar Warmington proving his quality with the bat. All three impressive 50s along with a small cameo from the skipper and the total reached a very good 309.

Horsham got off to a scratchy start with the bat, but wickets were slow to come by with the ball falling into gaps along with a drop catch.

Hugo March got the eventually breakthrough but this then brought their number 3, Barnett. A good bat without being impressive, he ticked along timing the ball well through the offside. Try as the home team may, to restrict his runs a bad ball would be dispatched over the fast outfield for four. He continued to accumulate runs after he was dropped later in the innings, just as they had started driving down the required run rate. As soon as the game looked like it was going one way a great run out from Ashley Clark dismissed Scott Stratton for 50.

But the glimmer of hope faded, as they had had gotten ahead of the rate. A couple of late wickets from pick of the bowlers Oscar with less than 10 required, proved too late as their would be no last minute victory for Wisboroughs 1st X1.

A lot to be positive about some promising performances with bat and ball. With some reinforcements in next week we welcome Goring- a tough challenge but there will be no excuses. We’re going to leave it all out the field!

Please click here for the full scorecard

James Rainford

Second X1 vs Roffey

WGCC 2s come second in a challenging contest against Roffey 4th XI

After some unfortunate late withdrawals from the team the 2s arrived in good time and in good spirits at the Roffey / Faygate ground with 10 players including a special guest appearance from Peter Klein who boldly swapped his white coat for some whites. It was a perfect sunny afternoon and the wicket looked patchy, green in places and generally hazardous.

Having won the toss WG elected to field – to bowl the opposition out cheaply and then knock them off quickly – that was the plan anyway. As with any plan it did not quite work out like that.

Our opening bowlers of Juan Vorster and Frank Vickery started well with Juan moving the ball both in the air and off the pitch to bamboozle their opening pair and he was very unlucky not to get wickets early on in a blinding opening spell. Frank with his first spell of the season soon found his line and length and bowled one of the openers and then suffered punishment from their aggressive No.3.

Joshua Dixon continued down the hill and bowled beautifully for his spell of 9 overs taking 4 wickets (all bowled) for a miserly 26 runs – well done Josh. Tommy Colbran trundled on up the hill with his alluring flighted off-spin and he bagged a wicket whilst also being on the receiving end of some hefty blows – balls went in the air and either bisected fielders or difficult chances were sadly spilt – Tommy was unlucky not to get more.

Peter Aspdin continued down the hill and after finding his length bowled economically whilst George Nicholls occupied the other end with subtle swing bowling which was rewarded with a plumb LBW decision. Harry Hunter persevered well behind the stumps in the heat. Juan on his return spell down the hill got his just deserts with 2 wickets and the final over up the hill was bowled by Joe Aspdin (U14) who pitched it up and put it on the stumps limiting the batsmen to a meagre 3 runs – well done Joe.

At the end of the 40 overs Roffey had amassed a total of 205 runs.

A robust tea was kindly provided by Roffey and the WG openers of Tarni Dixon and George Nicholls relished the opportunity to chase the total posted by the opposition with newfound strength. The partnership started steadily on a wicket which was unpredictable – both aware that they needed to build an innings and at 10 overs we were at 31 without loss. George (9 runs) was caught out at mid-off; Juan then came in to steady the ship and after a beautiful cover drive was caught out after scoring 6.

Tommy, who was not feeling his best, came in at No. 4 and was soon sent back to the shed after the ball hit is back foot low down in front. Tarni followed afterwards missing a straight one which barely left the ground whilst on 38. Harry Hunter (21 runs) and Peter A (4 runs) made a reasonable partnership and then were both caught out. Joshua and Peter K faced a total of 7 balls before they were sent packing (6 for Josh and 1 for Peter). This left Joe not out again (he has the best senior average in the Club) and WG finished on 98 all out somewhat short of the required total. Not a game to remember however played with good spirit and intent.

Please click here for the full scorecard

Tarnie Dixon

Under 16 vs Horsham

The Under 16s travelled to Horsham in an important match as both us and Horsham occupied 1st and 2nd place in the table.

Wizzy won the toss and elected to bat on a flat deck. 

Ran Dawson and Will Dixon got us off to a good start by scoring at around 7 an over with a total partnership of 69 for the first wicket before Ran fell for a respectable 22. Will carried on his good work by smashing the Horsham bowlers all over the park until he eventually retired with a score of 58. Oscar Warmington and Matthew Ritchie put on a good partnership until both those wickets tumbled in quick succession. Will and Joe Reed then chipped in at the end to leave Wisborough at 172-5 at the end of the 25 overs. 

With a good total to defend, we were confident of winning the match. Oscar and Will opened up and struggled to find a way through the Horsham openers, however Matthew Ritchie did by bowling an excellent bouncer to dismiss their number 1.

Will Reed and Ran Dawson bowled nicely during the middle overs, they limited the Horsham run rate very well, and Ran picked up a wicket in the process. Then came the Horsham number 5 who batted very nicely and gave Horsham hope of clawing their way back into the match. However, the superstar under 12’s, Hector Dawson 🔥, Harry Maggs 🔥 and Buddy Edwardes 🔥, stood in his way. Hector bowled brilliantly in his 3 overs by picking up 2 wickets with the help of some great catching by Buddy. Harry Maggs restricted the runs very well in his over. Alex Greaves bowled very nicely in his 2 overs as well. This left Oscar and Matthew to bowl at the death, however both of them bowled some loose stuff to let Horsham have a shout of winning the match. This led to a tense final over as Horsham only needed 12 to win it, the final over was bowled by Oscar. Thankfully, Oscar bowled his yorkers to good effect and Wizzy won the game by 4 runs. 

A great match between Horsham and Wisborough Green and a big win for us as we hunt to win the league.

Our next game is next Sunday as we take on Steyning away from home

Oscar Warmington

Please click here for the full scorecard

Under 14 vs Horsham

On Sunday the 2nd of July Wisborough green CC hosted  Slinfold CC in a game at The Green.

Wisborough Green loss the toss, and Slinfold decided to bowl first so Wisborough green got padded up and ready to bat. George Redgrove opened with Monty Palmer who was on his debut for Wisborough Green. 

Solid bowling from Slinfold kept the run out down but the boys looked steady. However, with a great ball and a good catch at mid-on, George Redgrove was out. With Monty looking great with bat, Lucas came in but he was unfortunately ducked to a fast well-pitched ball. Sebb Garbit came in next and had a super innings scoring 14 quickly for Wisborough. Unfortunately he was later run out by a close decision from the umpire. The star batter of the season Rafferty Finn was unfortunately out for 3, which boosted the morale of Slinfold and left WG with a lot to do. However a hope came to WG as Archie on his first game back for WG scored 17 of only 12 balls. With the partnership looking good for Monty and Archie WG were hopeful we would finish on a strong total to beat. However with an excellent catch from deep mid they managed to get Archie out. Sebb.S the captain of the team came in and looked strong on the crease scoring a quick 4 to up the morale for WG, but not long after, Monty the star batter of the day got out to another catch from the star mid-on. So with Jackson McCullagh coming in to bat, him and Sebb helped the team finish on a respectable  total of 127.

With Slinfold chasing a small total, Wisborough Green knew we had to keep the wides and No balls to a minimum. With Rafferty Finn opening the bowling WG were hopeful. An excellent first wicket from Raff meant the morale of the team was boosted, and Slinfold were nervous. Then after a couple of great overs from Wisborough,  star player Archie came in to bowl an excellent wicket to one of the best batsman on there team. However their best player came in to bat. Simon Dodd was a big hitter going for big shots whenever he got the chance. But with some more great bowling and a wicket from Monty, WG still had hope of winning the game. However, the new batsman and Simon had an excellent partnership scoring runs quickly, and unfortunately the fielding had lost a bit of its force, and WG started to let silly runs slip. With a couple more great hits from Slinfold they only needed 10 runs to win off 9 overs which they quickly managed to get.

An unlucky loss from WG with a special mention to Monty for his excellent debut and Archie for coming back for a star game.

Please click here for the full scorecard

Jackson McCullagh (Under 14 player)

Under 12 vs Three Bridges

A warm but cloudy day welcomed top of the table Three Bridges to the hallowed turf

Skipper Olivia Boyce won the toss and elected to bowl.

Olivia and Freddie opened the bowling with some fast and accurate bowling and managed to pin the batters back early on. Freddie struck early after Buddy bagged a great catch.

Bowlers stuck to their task admirably with some tight bowling by Harry, Josh and Buddy. Henry Nicolls, Olivia Finn and Lucas also bowled with good rythmn and accuracy only conceeding a few boundaries

The team were particularly focussed on protecting the boundaries and trying to keep the weaker batters on strike to minimise the impact of their big hitters – a task they all stuck to admirably. There were however a few instances where there was some rather ordinary fielding – an area we will need to keep working on.

Three Bridges were restricted to 128 runs in their 20 overs which we thought was a fair target to chase under the circumstances.

Olivia and Bella opened our batting and got off to good start before Bella was bowled in the second over. Freddie joined Olivia at the crease and the two of them kept the scoreboard ticking along nicely before Freddie was bowled with 35 on the board. Harry Maggs came in and was unfortunately caught scooping the ball back to the bowler without scoring.

Olivia was hit in the arm by a ferrocious delivery by one of Three Bridges fast bowlers and had to go off for a few overs to receive some medical attention.

Wickets fell left right and centre as our batters struggled against some fast and spin bowling and it became increasingly clear why Three Bridges were top of the table.

Olivia bravely returned to the crease and played some cracking shots before being bowled for 15. Three Bridges sensed that this was a big wicket to get – it certainly was ! Olivia was quite rightly applauded by both teams and their supporters as she walked off the field for a courageous performance.

With little resistance remaining it was left to Henry Nichols to restore some respectibility to the innings with a cameo performance. It was so good to watch him grow in stature and confidence during his innings as he effortlessly hit his first boundary for the team. He has developed into a very competent cricketer with both bat and ball and his performance in the game will no doubt spur him on to greater heights.

The Wisborough innings finished on 85 – with one of the Three Bridges bowlers bagging 5 wickets – well short of the target. We were well beaten by a much stronger team on the day. Congratulations must go to the Three Bridges team who have won all their games this season

It’s always important to reflect on performances after a game (even if your name is Jonny Bairstow and you play for England ! ) and there are a few things that we need to work on :

• Running between the wickets : There were a few close runout calls that would not have been that close had batters run the first run harder and slid their bats in.
• Batting – we need to practice more against spin bowling as some of our batters struggled against slower spin bowling.
• Bowling – bowlers bowled well in the game but we need to ensure that we bowl a bit fuller – particularly when bowling up the hill
• Team spirit – it was good to see the team staying together and supporting the batters while they were batting but the same positive energy wasnt there when we were fielding. Enouragment and chat in the field puts presure on the oppo batters and we need to ensure that they know that they are up againt a spirited team.

Next game is against Horsham Lions. We narrowly lost to the Horsham Sharks a couple of weeks ago so we have some unfinished business …

Please click here for the full scorecard

Peter Klein

Under 11 girls vs Rudgwick

Well done to our under 11 girls for a spirited performance against Rudgwick.

It was great to see how our overall match awareness has improved –  our batters  looked very comfortable and composed in front of the stumps leaving the wides and going after the hittable balls – some quick running between the wickets and good calling. Jo and Lucy in particular played some great shots. 

The fielding was good – we looked sharp with good stops to save the boundaries and a fantastic catch by Lucy. 

Our bowling was also improved a lot – Phillippa and Aoife proving that you don’t need a long runup to bowl well. We just need to keep practicing our bowling to try and minimise the number of wides and to try and get the ball to bounce just once in front of the batters. 

Well done to Aoife who was nominated by Rudgwick as the Wisborough Green player of the match for a very determined batting and bowling performance. 

There was a lot of team spirit in the team which was so good to see – the girls played with smiles on their faces and really enjoyed themselves which is what it’s all about. Best of all were of course the jelly babies at the end which were well deserved. 

We are all looking forward to welcoming the 8 other teams to the Girls cricket festival next Sunday 16 at 9pm – we hope that everyone will come along and support the team.

Under 10 vs West Chiltington

The U10’s faced the best team in the league, whilst the result was against us, our performance with bat and ball was immense and kept the standards of what we have been working on this season.

Bobby P captained and elected to bowl first, our bowling was immense with very few extras, ensuring that West Chilt had to earn their runs on what was a small boundary. Whilst we did not get any wickets every bowler beat the bat and on another day we deserved better…

Our fielding again was switched on, dynamic and put pressure on the West Chilt batters.

This was an amazing experience for our team against a very good bowling attack out batters performed brilliantly and confidently looking to play shots and getting on the front foot.

Pick of the batters was Bobby P with 25 runs including two 6’s and three 4’s.

Look forward to Southwater at home this weekend…

Darren Hunter

Upcoming Fixtures this week

All of our age group fixtures are available on the ECB’s Placycricket website – please click here for list of all of our fixtures. A hard copy of the fixture card is available at the Pavilion – please do grab a copy. Please click here for an electronic copy

A busy week of cricket ahead :

• Our First X1 are at home to Goring at 12:30 on Saturday and our Second X1 are away to Chichester. Please click here for the team selections.
• The Under 10’s are at home to Southwater at 9:00 am on Saturday and our under 12’s are away to Horsham at 9:00 am
• Our under 14’s are at home to West Chiltington on Sunday at 9am and the Under 16’s are away to Steyning
• The Sunday team are playing against Nuthurst at home at 2pm.

Spotted on the Green

Spotted out and about

That’s it for this week.

Have a great cricketing week 🏏😊

Cheers

Wizzy