Welcome to another edition of Wizzy News – our weekly roundup of news and events at Wisborough Green Cricket Club. If you missed last week’s edition please click here
Another great week of cricket with some fantastic pics and memorable moments.
Litter on the Green
There is an increasing amount of litter that is being left on the Green after training on a Friday evening. As a club we want to be good custodians of the Green when we use it and it’s important that the children understand that they need to take responsibility for their litter and place it in the numerous bins dotted around the green. We would be most grateful if parents could lead by example and have a word so we can leave the green in good order and not require others to clean up after us. Many thanks
ECB player and volunteer survey
The ECB ‘Have your say – 2024 ‘ survey has just gone live. They are interested in hearing the views of players and volunteers as cricket evolves so if have a few minutes please complete the survey and have your voice heard. The survey is open till Monday 12 August.
Please click on the following link to be directed to the survey : https://ecb.tell-us-what-you-think.com/s3/CPS24
Honours Boards
Congratulations to all the players who feature on our Honours Board this week
Date for your diary
Bank Holiday Monday 26th August is the annual village fete. If you are able to help with the BBQ on the day please get in touch
Upcoming Fixtures
A full house of games coming up again this next week
- First X1 are away to Crawley Eagles on Saturday at 1pm
- Second X1 are at home to Bosham at 1 pm
- Women’s Softball team are at home to West Chiltington on Sunday at 2:00 pm
- Under 16’s are away to Haywards Heath on Sunday morning
- Under 14’s are away to Edenbridge on Sunday morning
- Under 12’s have an away game against Horsham Trinity on Saturday morning
- Under 10’s have a friendly game against Rudgwick at 9:15 on Saturday morning
Please click here for all of our age group fixtures on the ECB’s Playcricket website. Fixtures are also listed in our official Fixture card, copies of which available in the Pavilion. You can also download an electronic copy of the fixture card by clicking here.
Team selections for this week
Two strong teams this week – apologies to those that miss out.
Those that have been selected – let’s bring home some wins as we look to drive up the table from now until the end of the season!!
BBQ at the pav after two big wins!!!
Dan Vickery – Club Captain
Match Reports
First X1 vs Horsham Trinity
- Another lost toss but in hindsight a good one to lose
- With a tricky week for availability thanks go out to those who stepped up and helped get us to 11 players
- Wisborough started very watchfully being 16 for 0 off 8 overs – Trinity bowled well at the start and Wisborough didn’t want to expose our long tail to the Trinity openers
- After Vickery feel to a good one from Turner, Hugo and DJ put on a great partnership to get us to over 100 before losing our second wicket – a great 90+ partnership
- The rest of the team pushed us on nice and quickly to secure maximum batting points and even get us over 200 – the highlight being a Kleino 50 from 18 balls (dismissed off his 19th!)
- 10 points in the bag and tea was taken
- Hugo started brightly with the ball – taking two wickets after some inspirational captaincy and a brilliant slip catch from the site/sight screen munched Dave G (who will be its next victim?)
- Dave G had a great LBW shout turned down against the other opener only for it to be turned down
- In came Turner and immediately took the attack to us – as he always does
- We turned to the returning Eddie Wells with his spin – knowing that Eddie would get his man, the key question was how long would it take? The answer was it took less than 28 balls to get him however the damaged had been largely done with Turner having already hit 68!
- At 91 for 3 (but plenty of overs left) a few more wickets would have turned the game in Wisborough’s favour
- Unfortunately we only managed one more wicket with Trinity getting home 4 down in the 24th over
- A full strength Wisborough would have made it a really good match but we take our 12 points and head to Crawley Eagles with strong line ups !
Please click here for the full scorecard
Dan Vickery – Captain
Second X1 vs Horsham Trinity
With many players unavailable the final XI was not confirmed until late on Friday when Tim Edwardes and James Braddock were presented with their shirts after a long stint at the pav bar. Even so the 2’s travelled to Horsham Trinity with really only 5 regulars, one of which was an U13, Peter Klein also had to step up to play due to a late withdrawal just 40 minutes from the start.
On paper it looked as if this was a better bowling team than a bat-first team. The toss was won and WG entered the field with purpose. Wolfie and Phil opened the bowling with decent but wicketless spells. Will Green (on debut) and George were next up, a really good spell by both, George with two wickets and Will caused the batters problems with an extra yard or two of pace. Harry bowled four overs for less than 4 an over and Chris Marshall induced some mistimed shots with his wily left armers. With 7 overs to go WG had just about kept the scoring rate in check, but the two set batters had their eyes in and in the final section they found the short boundary well, the last seven overs going at 10/over.
Their total of 217 was good and with a more accomplished batting line up this could have been an attainable target but in truth some of us were probably batting 4 or 5 places higher than we normally would.
The Horsham Trinity opening bowlers were top class and had us at 18/3. At this point a capitulation could have been on the cards but there was enough resolve amongst the group to try and at least see out the 40 overs to see if we could earn some batting points. Great contributions from U13’s Buddy and Harry, understanding the match situation had changed from optimistic to resilient, staying at the crease for as long as possible. Wolfie and Will found the middle of their bats striking some lusty blows putting the opposition on the defensive. We reached 118/8 off the 40 overs.
A 99-run loss in a league game is certainly nothing to celebrate but this makeshift team can be proud of their commitment in this match, particularly those playing their first game, bodies were most definitely put on the line in the field. Nick Reed, our talented U15 keeper, arrived at the ground having just got off an overnight flight, stopping at home only to collect his cricket bag.
This wasn’t a match that slipped away, we just were not good enough or experienced enough on the day. But we found a way to bring the best out of each other and I would be happy to take the field with any of these players again in the future.
Thank you as always to Dan and Tim for all their considerable efforts in getting a team together. And also to Suzana for scoring, Katie for umpiring and Chris Marshall for the excellent photos.
Please click here for the full scorecard
Phil Maggs – Captain
Many thanks to Chris Marshall for some great pics
Under 16 vs Steyning
The Wiz hosted Steyning who previously had been a side we usually beat, but this season they have been doing well in the league. We were up against it as we had limited availability for both players and coaches on holiday. A big thank you to Nick Reed who brought in a couple of his mates from school to play for us including his younger brother to make 10. Also thank you to Peter Klein who umpired and coached. With overcast conditions and a bit of grass on the wicket it was certainly a bowl first day, we lost the toss and were unsurprisingly put into bat.
Nick Reed and Ollie Godfrey opened up and Nick was unfortunately dismissed third ball of the innings by arguably their best bowler. In at 3 was Dexter who was desperate to get off the mark and having hit one straight to extra cover, called through a quick single and a direct hit meant Ollie was back in the hutch without facing a ball. Dexter top scored with 10 including a huge six over cow corner and onto the road. Alex played some nice shots and was finding the middle of the bat until Dexter called a very late single and Alex was run out courtesy of some good fielding. Dexter was out next leaving William Green, George, Ed, Jonny, Henry and Seb to take the total up to 52.
William Green opened up the bowling and bowled very neatly and was unfortunate not to get a wicket. Dexter opened up 2nd over and was also very tidy and was rewarded with 3 wickets thanks to good catches from William and Nick Reed and ended with figures 3 for 3 off his 4 overs. Ollie Godfrey was also tidy with his leg spin and was also unfortunate to not get a wicket. Wizzy fielded really well throughout and there were no dropped catches or misfields and we made 52 look hard to defend. Alex Greaves came onto bowl and recovered well after going for 10 runs off his first over and took two wickets in two balls in his second over but did not get his hat-trick. Seb Scrase also had two good overs with no reward. With runs still ticking over Steyning chased down 52 in 14 overs having lost 5 wickets.
A tough loss for the Wiz but we kept up hope until the end and on another day we could have comfortably beat Steyning. On to Haywards Heath this week.
Please click here for the full scorecard
Dexter McCullen – joint Captain
Under 14 vs Barns Green
21st July 2024 – U14’s Semi Final away at Barns Green
This was a much-anticipated match, however a number of our regular players were unavailable for the fixture. This meant going into the game with only one u14 with the rest of the team made up of u13’s, u12’s and even an u11. We were probably giving away about 18 months a player; a chasm at this age.
Winning the toss WG elected to bat. They applied themselves well but Barns Green bowled with great accuracy throughout the 20 overs. Hats off to Freddie, Eden and Buddy for making good scores as runs were hard to come by. At the end of the innings WG had made 100, with a fast outfield this was about 30-40 short of a competitive total.
The only real chance to win this game was to bowl Barns Green out whilst remaining tight in the field. Although the bowlers pushed hard to make something happen with a sub-par total to defend the Barns Green batters were able to take some risks. They knocked off the runs with seven overs to spare. From a WG perspective the highlight of the day was our U11 player being brought onto bowl and taking a wicket – well done Archie.
The players should not be discouraged, there is very little they could have done differently, and they did well to make the semi-final, sometimes there is not a lot you can do with such a large age differential, we are a young squad.
Please click here for the full scorecard
Phil Maggs
Under 12 vs Horsham
Horsham away this week for the under 12’s. Josh stepped in to captain, won the toss and elected to bat first
Freddie and Henry Bruce opened with a boundary hitting partnership of 67 with Freddie retiring not out on 26 and Henry only one run off the same. Josh up next for what would be a long stint at the wicket with Buddy, Henry, Bobby, William and Archie all adding to the Wizzy total. A shout out this week for Henry Nicholls with an impressive strike rate of 100% A learning point for us this week though is that calling needs to be more decisive and louder! We lost a number of runs because of this and caused a few heart aches for the supporting spectators with near run outs 😂 The Innings closed on 117/5.
Now to defend the score. Bowling opened well with a wicket in the first over from Josh LBW! Although a good start… again we were subjected to a downpour, (sigh!), which unusually meant we had to move pitches to protect the current one for a Horsham 1sts game. On reflection, this was somewhat advantageous to the Horsham team in comparisons to Wizzys pitch for batting as this pitch had shorter boundaries and sloped away at one end 😬 However a number of us committed to our men’s 2nd team in the afternoon, and time lost to rain, we ploughed on with best endeavours in the true spirit of cricket.
Buddy was brilliant with an amazing 2 wickets from his spin bowling with a catch from Henry B and a final wicket from Josh with a brilliant catch by Freddie 🙌 Tight fielding from all which is a classic signature now of this team !
In the previous game against Horsham earlier in the season the team lost by a considerable margin – a much closer match this time. Had there not been a pitch change the result may well have been different but the players can hold their heads up high for a fantastic performance in difficult conditions. We’re closing in on you Horsham!
Please click here for the full scorecard
Darren Hunter and Suzanna Braddock
Under 10 vs Steyning
Match report by Will Newell (age 10) – Captain
On Saturday we had a great game. We were at home against a team we have never played and in my opinion, they were pretty good. We played against Steyning and we won for the second time! We won 287 to 254 and to me that’s amazing seeing as our first match we were somewhere around 210 (we start at 200). I personally think it’s because when you lose you know how to do better. you learn things step by step for everything!
We were lucky the weather was sunny because otherwise it would have been slippier than ever.
The other team won the coin toss – not that we were bothered because they chose to bat first. And we always like to bowl first because we think that it is better with a goal than aimlessly getting runs.
We bowled and fielded great, but I did have to move around a lot because the ball kept hitting the edge of their bat! We fielded great and shoutout to Leo- he caught 2 balls, and luckily we had one very fast bowler, Edward!
Once we finished the first half we had snacks, my personal favourite as well! Biscuits and squash (my favourite was the Jaffa cakes). Thank you to the parents who were the ones to arrange all the mid-game treats!
When we got back out we were batting. We had to have people fielding for the other team as well as they were a few players short. We batted great even though we didn’t get any 6’s but the other team didn’t either. Shoutout to Archie for being named man of the match, and especially to Charlie, he has helped us win every match that he has been to! He hit 3 brilliant 4’s!
In the end it came to a grand total of 287(us) to 254 (Steyning) so we won. But Steyning did great and I hope that they win their future games. But for this summer we will keep pushing to the end and try to win every match.
Thank you to everyone in our team who have worked so hard and pushed through the times we lost because it is always worth it in the end.
William Newell (age 10) captain
Under 9 vs West Chiltington
Match report by captain Charlie Brown (age 9)
Everyone played well in their first match against West Chiltington. We got 6 wickets and 298 runs. We deserved to win but were narrowly defeated by West Chiltington. Big thank you to the scorers, umpires, parents and most importantly the Wisborough Green cricketers. Coach Dan had a very tight decision and went with Jack H as man of the match – well done Jack! Look forward to playing in the next match and a repeat strong performance.
Written by Charlie Brown (Captain)
Match report – Dan Vickery – coach
Wisborough Green U9s had their first game of the season – taking on a West Chilt development side in what turned out to be a really fun match. Unfortunately West Chilt won by a few runs but it was a great experience for all our players.
• Charlie – the fact he was available already makes him better than his dad, Charlie gave us a really strong start with the bat as he dispatched the WC opening bowlers to all parts including one big 6! Also grabbed his first wicket – well bowled Charlie.
• Eddie – great partnership with Charlie opening up and coming off his long run bowled very well
• George H – faced some of the best WC bowling and came out unscathed, a very useful bowler too
• Leo – I think Leo will get the most benefit out of this match across the whole team, might have been trying too hard early on but finished with a really powerful shot over the covers, picked up two wickets and got a great catch
• Finlay – some really good hitting, very vocal in the field and chucked in a few great balls too
• George CR – some great seam positions on show (cross seam, seam up) George is our magician with the ball!
• Seth – excellent batting and bowling, more catching practice required as he snatched at a tricky chance!
• Gus – great all round showing with bat, ball and field. The ball seemed to follow Gus around the field and he did a great job!
• Jack H – our player of the match for some excellent hitting also picked up a wicket – well done Jack
• Jack B – the most celebrated wicket of the night and also a few good shots Jack – well played
• Thomas – knows the game well – really good calling and excellent in the field. The most consistent bowler of the evening – well bowled Thomas
• Alexander – really good all-round performance – stops everything in the field (using his own, effective, variant of the long barrier)
• Alice – picked up two wickets in two balls and scored a great run!
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 🏏😊
Cheers
Wizzy