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

Parking on Friday evenings – now also at Stable Field

Just a quick reminder that parking is somewhat limited around the Green and we would like to appeal to everyone to walk to the green if that is possible and where we have to park, that it is done considerately. 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. Parking is available at the Village Hall, Songhurst Meadow and also at Stable Field.

Everyone’s co-operation would be greatly appreciated

MVP Leaderboard

Every week Playcricket produces an ‘MVP’ leaderboard (MVP = Most valuable player) for each club. The stats are produced using a wide range of factors including batting, bowling, fielding and winning games. The leaderboard is closely followed by the seniors at the club every week and the competition for top spot is keenly contested.

Congratulations to all the players who have made the top 20 in the club. The Dixon family are of course well represented as are the Calder-Smiths, but there can only be one at the top of the table ..

Honours Boards

Congratulations to all the players who feature on our two Honours Boards this week

Upcoming Fixtures

A full house of games coming up again this next week

• First X1 are away to Rustington on Saturday at 1pm
• Second X1 are at home to Barns Green on Saturday at 1 pm
• Under 16’s are home to Horley on Sunday morning
• Under 14’s are away to Crawley Down on Sunday morning
• Under 12’s have an away game against Roffey on Saturday morning
• Under 10’s have a home game against Lindfield 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

Match Reports

First X1 vs Pagham

Wisborough Green hosted Pagham 2s, and it was a frantic build up. As the U10’s won its first test match, it was a race against time to get set up and warmed up ready for action.

Pagham won the toss, and the tardiness set about the first 10 overs, as Dave G and Hugo opened up but struggled to find their line and lengths and the ball started to fly around the Green. Tommy made an easy catch look magical as he winded himself in the process, but in the first 10 Pagham were around 70/2 and had laid a solid platform.

Vickery rang the changes. Young Will Dixon came down the hill and Hugo was swapped back to his natural habitat up that fine Wisborough incline. The key wicket fell to Hugo as the Pagham number 3 looked dangerous, and Matt Ritchie took a fine catch at square leg to remove Marshall for 34.

Will bowled a fiery spell, and it didn’t take long to remove the Pagham opener who had a few lives (Yes Hugo dropped off your bowling), a good catch this time by Vickery. Not afraid to dig the ball in, the onlooking batsmen were not really up for the challenge, and the next 10 overs belonged to the green, 96/7. Hugo got his second within this with a well disguised slower ball.

Will had to have a rest – something about a dinner party to announce his lovely other half joining the family, but it didn’t stop the Green pushing on as Matt Ritchie continued to mix his pace and bowled some wonderful deliveries, equally matched by a ‘Flying Salmon’ that was Dave Griffiths, and the Pagham Aussie was off, timed well with a local BBQ wafting through the air.

The final Pagham pairing were young, but actually batted well, blocking the straight ones and hitting the bad balls; they put on 30, not even falling to the Vickery Pie Trap. Will came back on and bowled a yorker to remove the number 11, 151 all out on a good batting wicket.

A lovely tea break was had, with one thing in mind: chase the runs, win the game, and deliver 30 points.

Vickery D and Will Crombie strode out, and they both started positively The opening bowler down the hill was the pick of the bowlers, but whoever came up the hill was put away. Will fell (34) to the 3 men on the boundary trap, 63/1 a great start.

Vickery has taken a few years, but is starting to look like a proper opener, playing with both aggression and solid defence. Tommy fell second ball to the leg spinner’s googly, but with 80/3 on the board, and plenty of overs in hand, Farmer and Dixon W just ticked the score over with minimum risk, much to Pagham’s chirp they couldn’t break the boys concentration, and a valuable 30 partnership put WisVIZ at 80% WIN for the Green.

Farmer fell to a googly too for a well built 20. The next few overs were then smashed around as Oscar joined Will, the latter just just showing off to his young love now, sending the ball all around the village. 152/4. 30 points in the bag.

Will Dixon won Man of the Match for his spell of bowling and 48 no

Dan Vickery DOD – Some questionable slip catching, calling people’s names under the high ball, and for getting out after questioning the squash to water ratio.

On to Rustington away, IT’S COMING HOME.

Please click here for the full scorecard

Jonny Farmer

Second X1 vs Pagham

A rejuvenated Second X1 travelled to Arundel for their game against Pagham with one thing on their minds – ensuring that the slippages of the previous few weeks did not occur again, and land the 30 points that we all knew we were good for. In short, a good afternoon as we demolished a team that had actually crept above us in the league after our disappointing weekends previous.

Batting first on a sunny day, in front of vociferous travelling support (thanks to families Maggs, Price, Dawson) it wasn’t all plain sailing. Runs were in short supply early on and we lost a few. Skipper Tim and Jack Dixon managed to get a partnership going and small boundaries kept the rate pretty high. Jack fell for a powerful 45, Tim managed 79 before Juan and season debutant Callum Price made hitting 6 look easy as they piled on the runs in the later stages. A very competitive 310, with Juan out just before the end on 87 and Cal unbeaten in 65. First half, job done.

Never too sure if we had a good total on such a small ground, we needed to be brilliant in the field. SCS (Steve Calder Smith) was magnificent all afternoon, scampering about in the covers, Harry Maggs wore a full blooded drive and didn’t even flinch and we caught our catches. Ran weasled a few out with some lovely thighs stuff, new club MVP Josh performed his usual magic tricks for 4 wickets and Juan continued his day out with another 4 wickets. Pagham trickled to 107 all out, never really looking like they could, or wanted to, really take on the total.

What a difference to the mood as we headed back to the Pav for a few well earned schooners. Now to take this momentum and win the games we might normally lose and go for that promotion.

Please click here for the full scorecard

Tim Palmer

T20 vs Loxwood

Wisborough win in comfortable fashion at local neighbours Loxwood.

• Joshy Dixon continues his fine form with 2 wickets
• Steve Calder-Smith forgets he is in Turkey, as Tarnie comes in as a late sub, and even grabs a wicket himself.
• Loxwood end on 135.
• Will Dixon, completes the family haul with a devastating 50 off 21 balls, Oscar on the other hand bats for his average and ends on a run a ball 43. Wis chase it down with lots of overs in the bag and only 2 down.

This game was sponsored by Colbrans Removals, showing that you can mix business with pleasure. Tommy will offer his bowling services that get dispatched readily around Loxwood and offers up rubbish which the batsmen remove from the scene. Oh I will let him sell his actual business too you…

Please click here for the full scorecard

Jonny Farmer  

Women’s team vs Chiddingfold and Fernhurst

Match reports to follow next week

Please click here for the scorecard for the game against Chiddingfold played on Sunday.

Please click here for the scorecard for the game against Fernhurst played on Wednesday evening.

Under 16 vs Roffey

We arrived down at Roffey after a nice 2 week break with the weather being hot all week but turning overcast and dreary for the game. Our first stroke of luck hit when I lost the toss and the oppo decided to bat first on a relatively green wicket.

Raff once again was tight whilst opening up, and was unlucky when one was dropped in the slips. This didn’t matter as later on he got the breakthrough with a full ball which was driven to Will at extra cover. Good overs in the middle from both of the Sebs and Monty, who got a wicket with his first ball restricted the runs well before me and Dexter bowled at the end to restrict the oppo to a very below par total of 121, which was easily chaseable, especially with the quick outfield. Nick Reed kept very well once again behind the stumps, and even took to stopping the ball with his head rather his hands off our spinner.

We started off with a new opening batting partnership which started off shaky as Will was dropped first ball by the slip. Nevertheless Will recovered and batted well and reached a solid 33, which set a nice base for the rest of the chase. The other opener, Dexter, hit some lovely shots which saw him get a good 19 before getting caught on the off side.

Raff came in at 3 and also had a bit of luck getting dropped first ball. He hit a good cut for 4 but soon after got bowled trying to smack the ball. Archie Gray came in at 4 and batted well before getting caught. Alex came in and took to their middle order which allowed him to retire at a high strike rate of 214. A career high!

Johnny Messer followed and hit a good flick off his legs for 4 before being bowled trying to end the game off in style. Nick strode to the crease and hit the winning runs with a 2 onto the leg side, which resulted in a convincing win for Wizzy with a much improved team performance than our first game against West Chilt.

Joe Reed (Player)

Please click here for the full scorecard

Under 14 vs Horsham Trinity

VALIANT EFFORT SEES WISBOROUGH FALL SHORT IN TOP OF THE TABLE CLASH

WG won the toss and elected to bowl, however the late withdrawal of a player meant they had to go into the field with 10. Overall, a fairly tidy performance with the ball with just a couple of loose overs giving the Horsham Trinity innings some strong momentum. The fielding was very good with all of the players working hard to cover ground. Horsham Trinity scored 144 which is above par.

In reply, the Trinity opening bowlers bowled a good line of full balls outside the off stump which our batters found hard to score off. The innings was given some impetus by Buddy, and this was followed by a classy innings from Freddie who scored all round the ground and retired on 30. In the end WG hit 124 falling 20 runs short. The players were disappointed as they knew a victory in this game would put them top of the league. The Trinity coach was full of praise for Wisborough’s performance and character, particularly in the field, scant consolation but good feedback.

Well done to the players.

Please click here for the full scorecard

Phil Maggs

Under 12 vs Balcombe

At last we were blessed with a warm and sunny morning at Balcombe’s clubhouse! With sun cream and water at the ready, it was time to seek a comeback to the defeat in May.

Wizzy won the toss and elected to field. A challenging outfield which sloped away to the boundary at all angles. Fielding would have to be top notch. Bowling duo Dawson and Braddock held the runs tight at 21-0 in the 1st 4 overs. The first 2 batters settled in quickly though in their home wicket and started to find the boundaries. The fast outfield accelerated runs to 74 – 0 by the 10th over. The team adjusted positions accordingly under the watchful eye of captain Hector Dawson. A wicket was required to break this partnership and it was successfully delivered by Tristian Whiteside in over 11. A chink in the armour found, Buddy Edwardes followed with 2 more wickets, one a wicket maiden. Archie Kain’s over was to be eventful also with an awesome run out by Max Vasadi and Archie bowling a wicket on his last ball. Balcombes innings closed 128 – 5. A good fielding performance but a batting hill climb ahead.

Freddie and Josh opened Wizzy’s innings determined to build a strong base from the start but the skilled Balcombe bowlers had other designs and took their first wicket on the 3rd ball of the 2nd over. Hector joined Josh. The pair pushed past the half century mark but another wicket fell. The 10th was harsh with back to back wickets in the 1st 2 balls making the score 63-4. In came Henry Nicholls to face the 3rd ball from this bowler but undeterred, was to make a significant impact and with Josh, he really pushed the score on including finding 3 super shots to the boundary increasing the score to 92 before departing. Nice job Henry!

After 14 overs and in excess of an hour batting, Josh took a well deserved water break and returned still adamant that Wizzy would win. Max Vasadi in next and the pair passed the century mark together, Josh retiring not out to a deserved team cheer. Olivia Church took up the partnership with Max and they carried on the charge, knowing full well they had to make the win happen. With precision they delivered! A partnership of 21 runs, some cleverly left extras and a precise finishing ball hit for 4 from Miss Church secured the victory 129 – 5 in 17.2 overs!

A moment of reflection. Balcombe beat our U12s 8 weeks ago. Wizzy’s score in that match was 88 all out and Balcombe have been a consistent 2nd in the league. The difference over 8 weeks is testament to the team’s commitment, hard work and comradery. Total respect to that achievement ….

Please click here for the full scorecard

Darren Hunter and Suzanna Braddock

Under 10 vs Barns Green

On the 29th of June the Under10’s had a brilliant win in a home game against Barns Green. We played them before and they are the same ability as us.

The weather was beautiful like we have had these last few weeks. We won the toss and decided to bowl first so we could chase their score.

We were more determined and bowled and fielded amazingly and took many wickets especially Freddie.

After our fielding break there was a drinks break and the biscuits were amazing. Thank you to all the mums and dads for that.

Our batting was outstanding hitting loads of fours, mostly Arnau who always calling very loud.

We won this game with our beautiful skills and teamwork. Our player of the match was Anaya but special mention to Arnau for his amazing batting.

I loved being captain, the team is amazing and the respect I got was amazing. I am so ready for our next game.

Well done everyone , what an amazing win, it was definitely deserved .

Thank You

Anaya Thakkar – Captain

Please click here for the full scorecard

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