Cuckfield CC round-up: Raval and Mole star in Nomads win

Cuckfield beat Preston Nomads by 113 runs at Fulking as Jeet Raval and Chris Mole led with the bat and Sakande with bat and ball.
Jeet RavalJeet Raval
Jeet Raval

Cuckfield won the toss and elected to bat, a move which the captain may have temporarily regretted as South African pace-man Craig Alexander found the edge of James Mitchinson, Joe Ludlow and Harry Clark to leave Cuckfield 13 for 3. Jeet Raval was joined by Brad Gayler and the pair played watchfully, rotating the strike and punishing anything loose.

The pair put on 99 before Gayler was trapped lbw by Stephen Rigg for a well made 30. Cue the arrival of Chris Mole for his first game of the season. Mole adjusted quickly to the conditions, picking up where Brad left off and looking to increase the pace. Mole and Raval took the score to 169 in a stand of 57 before Raval skied one off the bowling of the returning Alexander which was comfortably taken by Jonny Jenner.

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James Thorpe and Billy Collinson quickly fell victim to Rigg, but some big hitting from Mole (53), Abi Sakande (26*) and Nick Patterson (9) helped Cuckfield to 241 for 8 from their 50 overs. Alexander took 4/40 and Rigg 3/39.

The Nomads reply was quickly blunted as Sakande and Patterson took two wickets each to reduce the hosts to 29 for 4. Cuckfield switched to the left arm spin of Collinson and picked up a fifth wicket. Olly Gatting then joined Nathan Poole and while the going was tough, the pair began to build a partnership which would end up the highest of the innings. Josh Hayward rattled Poole’s timbers dismissing him for 47 leaving Nomads 81 for 6. Collinson dismissed Gatting (20) and Hayward removed Faith (17) leaving Sakande to come back and fire out the remaining two batsmen in the 40th dismissing the hosts for 128. Sakande finished with 4/28.

Cuckfield 2nd XI added another win against a 1st XI at home to Glynde and remain the only 2nd XI to have beaten a 1st XI in the new SPCL structure.

Glynde won the toss and put Cuckfield into bat and took early wickets as Angus Bishop picked up both openers.

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This brought Darren Senadhira and Jack Bowman together and the pair forged a recovery partnership of 88 before both were dismissed for 51. At 138 for 4, the innings was in the balance and wickets fell regularly, but an unbeaten run-a-ball 25 from Jamie Hutchings saw Cuckfield set 194 for 8 from their 45 overs. Bishop, Will Burton-Durham, George Burton-Durham and Matthew Blunt all took two wickets for Glynde.

Edward Murray (37) Robert Mouland (25) and Archie Burrows (39) all got starts at the top of the Glynde order, but did not convert to a big score and from then on wickets fell regularly as Glynde were bowled out for 183 in the 43rd over. Matt Denyer took 3/48, Jamie Hutchings 3/21 and their were two wickets each for Nick Walters and Goff Baker.

Ashdown Forest narrowly beat Cuckfield 3rd XI by 2 wickets as they reached their target with one ball to spare.

The visitors won the toss and asked Cuckfield to bat first. The wet weather made batting hard, and David Vernon was rewarded with two early wickets as he dismissed both openers. This brought George Galbraith-Gibbons to the crease and he batted patiently, building partnerships with Ben Caidan (22), Piers Harrison (26) and Tom Williams (13) before he was eventually dismissed, also by Vernon, for a mature 70. Cuckfield ended their 47 overs with a competitive 161 for 9. Vernon took 5/65 and Alistair Smail 3/47.

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Batting was no easier for the visitors and wickets fell regularly to the reliable Chris Osborne, but Smail (23), Brent O’Hagan (48) and Stefan Gooch (29*) helped Ashdown to 162 for 8 with one remaining in the match. Osbourne bowled 21.5 overs, taking 6/75.

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