Burgess Hill can't back up first weekend win as they fall to Bognor

Burgess Hill couldn’t back up there performance last week and fell well short against a strong Bognor Regis 1st X1.
Junaid Nadir bowls for Burgess HillJunaid Nadir bowls for Burgess Hill
Junaid Nadir bowls for Burgess Hill

Winning the toss was about the best thing that happened on Saturday for Hill and they elected to bat in the sunshine. It was just the second over before the first wicket fell, a mix up between Luke Vick and Trowbridge meant the latter was short of his ground.

Vick was next to fall LBW for just 4. Ian Simpson and Kevin Ramsay re-built the innings and put on a healthy 60 run partnership before the 2nd run out of the game left Simpson short of his ground for 18. Jack Simpson playing in his first game of season consolidated with Ramsay before the first rain interval came. 10 minutes later we were back on, but J Simpson was adjudged LBW for 10, before Junaid Nadir was bowled for 0.

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SEE ALSO Cuckfield 1st XI suffer defeat but 2nd XI claim victory over Nomads | Ansty CC 1st XI victorious in battle with Roffey 2nd XI | Three Bridges v Cuckfield video highlights now onlineRamsay was still at the crease and was holding most of the hope for Hill to get up to 200. He was joined by Ben Hopkins and both were watchful. Ramsay fell LBW again to Joe Ashmore for this 3rd wicket for 36. Hopkins and Joe Maskell were again to together heading towards the end of the innings.

However it was very different to last week as some good bowling from Bognor really tied them down. Hopkins eventually fell for 21 from 60 balls to the returning Josh Sargeant, before Karl Boffey became Ashmore 4th victim (4-46) being bowled for 5. Heading into the last over Hill were on 161 and only managed 4 runs in that over, which including another two run outs as Hill were all out for 165 from their 45 overs.

After being disappointed in the first innings, Hill needed to start quickly and get some early wickets. That never happened as some ordinary bowling and good batting from Bognor captain Ryan Maskell started quickly.

The was another rain break which mean Bognor run chase had gone from 166 down to 130 from 35 overs. Jack Simpson got the first wicket as Taylor Jaycocks was bowled for 11, before R Maskell reached his 50. Maskell eventually was bowled for 60 but the run chase was pretty much over with the score on 95 after 17 overs. Karl Boffey picked up the third wicket having Mikey Harris LBW but Joe Ashmore and Louis Paul finished the game with a quickfire 20 run partnership.

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Not a great day for Hill, but credit must go to Bognor who bowled exceptional well in difficult conditions. Hill travel to Haywards Heath next week for the local derby at Clair Hall. 12,30 start.

After a big win in week 1, Burgess Hill 2nd XI were looking for a repeat performance against neighbours Cuckfield 3’s. A strong looking 2nd XI made their way over and having won the toss, elected to insert the opposition with favourable bowling conditions around.

Hill started well with a wicket to Rapson early on. With tight lines coming from both ends, Cuckfield struggled to gain any foothold into the game. Tom McCreadie struck next inducing an edge to be caught by a flying Tom Penfold in the gully. 34-2 after 12 overs quickly became 38-3 as skipper Phil Marshall brought himself into the attack and immediately produced a false shot, well caught by Dan Maskell (the second of two catches for the afternoon). A strong partnership of 41 formed between Harrison and Forster for Cuckfield, only to be broken at the back end of the skipper’s spell that was top-edged and well caught by Dan Rapson; much to the disbelief of his teammates. From there, Hill took regular wickets as the batsman had little answer to the spin of Mamoany (8-1-19-1) and Maskell (6-0-15-3) as Cuckfield ended 118-9 from their allotted 40 overs. A strong bowling and fielding performance from the Hill.

Hill elected that the same opening partnership as last week was the way to proceed only to have this broken in the first over with Penfold playing down Piccadilly instead of Bakerloo. Marshall and Austin guided Hill to 46-1 before a flurry of wickets (most of them soft dismissals of Hill batsmen) left Hill in trouble at 65-6. Hill were fortunate to have the experienced Phil Wickwar and Dan Maskell to eventually take us over the line 8 down. Phil ‘The Barbarian’ Wickwar finishing 30 not out including a huge 6 over fine-leg off a free hit, Jos Buttler-esque.

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The 28 points take Burgess Hill 2nd in Division 6 albeit after only 2 games. Hill face neighbours Haywards Heath next week and know that an improved batting performance is a must in order to get something from the game.