Defeat for Horley 1st XI at Egham, but 2nds and 3rds both win

Regan Derham was going well when Dave Dyer (10) was caught at mid-off and Ant Puttick had only faced two balls when he was caught in the slips, a very good one-handed diving catch, low to the ground. When Regan Derham (35) was out off the last ball of the 13th over, in came Jon Barnett, only to be out lbw for a duck, then captain for the day Ben Davies was the third player who failed to trouble the scorers, as he was caught behind.

Two overs of relative calm followed, with teenagers Luke Smith and Aryan Patel defending but then Patel (2) and Smith (5) trudged back to the pavilion in the 19th and 20th overs with the score on 65-7.

Richard Waddington and Will Taylor managed to stabilise the innings and almost doubled the score with their eighth-wicket partnership, although their necessary caution meant the run-rate slowed. The score had advanced to 122 when there was another clatter of wickets with Taylor (30) caught at cover followed by Guy Derham caught behind for a duck and Waddington (22) also caught behind, to end the Horley Innings.

A total of 122 was never going to be enough. There were hopes of a miracle when Guy Derham took two wickets in two balls, first Nigel Hepponstall bowled all ends up and then Lewis Abbott plum lbw with the score on 28.

Neither the strong winds nor the rain causing interruptions could save Horley and the impressive 16-year-old Zak Pooley was 73 not out at the close whilst Will Brown (36 not out) hit the winning runs of a 97-run partnership.

Horley underperformed, but anyone can beat anyone in this league, as proved by bottom of the table Churt and Hindhead beating third-placed Cobham Avorians on the same day. Horley are fifth in Division Five and will hope to pick up their first win of July when they play eighth-placed Haslemere at home next Saturday.

Terrific work from opening bowlers Rob Woodward and Chris Cosham, backed up later by spinners Trevor Stevens and Will Hofmann, helped Horley 2nd XI to a five-wicket win over Kenley.

Horley won the toss and elected to bowl on a very windy day at home. Woodward and Cosham didn’t concede a run until the fifth over. Woodward’s six overs featured one wicket and four maidens, going for just three runs, while Cosham bowled his nine overs with three maidens and two wickets and just 11 runs conceded.

Kenley's number four, Frankie Filmer-Court was the only batsman to get going before he tried to take on Stevens with Woodward at mid-off, which was a mistake as Woodward took the catch of the season – leaping for a one-handed grab over his head, where any other fielder in the league would have watched it sail over for four.

Kenley were bowled out for 96 and Stevens finished with figures of nine overs, three wickets for 24. Hofmann got two wickets for 11 from 5.5 overs and Dan Sired took a wicket, while a runout by Ben Stewart claimed the other wicket.

Horley’s chase got off to a great start as openers Harry Grimwood and Toby Davie dispatched Kenley's bowlers around the park on their way to 68, before a bit of a wobble saw Horley lose five wickets on the way to 96. Stewart and Woodward then got them across the line in 25 overs. Horley are second in Surrey County League 2nd XI Division One, just three points behind leaders Roehampton and 12 ahead of third-placed Staines and Laleham. Next Saturday they are away at Byfleet.

Horley 3rd XI remain top of Sussex Division 11 West (North) thanks to a 110-run win over ten-man Steyning, featuring 66 from skipper Kieran Childs.

Having been put in, Childs and Ryan Bunn built a good opening partnership of 85 before Bunn was bowled for 29.

Nick Chadwick was sportingly called back by Steyning when he was incorrectly given out lbw after getting some bat on ball, but after Childs survived a runout chance on 49, Chadwick fell for seven.

Dirk Douglas helped Childs take the score on to 132 before the skipper was caught on 66 from 72 balls, including five fours. Douglas continued with no less than five middle and lower order partners before being run out for 46 from a direct hit with two balls to go.

Horley’s total of 204-9 was always likely to be too much for Steyning, who are in the bottom half of the table and were one player short.

Ryan Smith, on his Horley 3rd XI debut, took a good catch off Tom Clargo for the first wicket and Clargo claimed the next two wickets, one bowled and one a catch by Danny Patel.

Ollie Millard then bowled a wicket-maiden – the catch taken by Alex Field – to reduce Steyning to 38-4 from 15 overs. Field had a hand in the next two wickets, sending in an accurate throw to Millard from the deep for a runout and then diving forward to take a low catch off the bowling of Darren Croft, putting Steyning in deep trouble at 81-6 after 28 overs.

Croft bowled the next victim, then Smith capped his debut with the scalp of top-scorer Karl Humphrey (32), caught by another teenage third-team debutant, Ed James.

It was James who took the last wicket, bowled, as Steyning were all out for 94 from 34.2 overs.

Horley Under-17s made it three wins out of four in the Surrey JCC Under-17s Tier One East, beating Banstead by seven wickets.

The hosts elected to bat and Dan Sired began with an excellent wicket maiden, as the opener edged to Harry Grimwood.

Khyan Patel took a great running catch off Luke Smith before Aidan Spalding grabbed three wickets in his four overs, the first bowled, the second lbw and the third stumped by Grimwood with some quick glove work.

Smith dismissed Banstead’s excellent top-scorer Arush Wavhal for 34, the clip off his pads to square leg taken sharply by Ryan Bunn. Sired bowled two victims in his final over and Banstead finished on 104-8 from 20 overs.

After that fantastic all-round display in the field, Horley’s reply did not get off to the best of starts, as they were 7-3 after two overs. Ben Stewart and Grimwood rebuilt and excellent batting by both in a 74-run partnership followed, with Grimwood hitting six fours and a big six over extra cover before retiring on 51 from 44 balls.

Stewart, now joined by Smith, continued to play very well, taking some well-judged quick singles with some excellent calling as the target was neared. Smith clipped a full toss on his pads through mid-wicket for the win after 16-5 overs, with Stewart 29 not out and Smith 12 not out.

This Tuesday the U17s welcome Ashtead to Horley.