Horley Cricket Club round-up: First are one win away from promotion

Put in to bat, Newdigate started brightly, but the first wicket fell when Ruki Wickremasinghe (10) skied one to cover off Will Taylor and Ben Davies took a good catch. A stand of 42 between Alex Kurobasa (14) and Scott Dunkerley was broken when the former nicked off to wicketkeeper Ant Puttick off Matt Gainsford and then Dunkerley (26), who had played well, was lbw to Davies with the score on 86.

With not much happening in the next eight overs, captain Charlie Robins threw the ball to Derham and then wickets started to tumble. First Derham bowled David Arnold (10), then Robins bowled Stephen Kehl (11). In the 37th over two lovely deliveries from Derham produced two bowled wickets, making the score 141-7.

Only 19 more runs were added as Derham took all three remaining wickets, two bowled and one caught by brother Regan Derham, to wrap up the innings at 160.

Horley’s reply started well until Regan Derham fell lbw to Cooper for 23 and Dunkerley picked up the wickets of Puttick and Sam Bracken, then Davies was caught at cover, having made 24 enterprising and swift runs in a partnership of 61 with Matt Ware. The score was 107-4 after 25 overs and when Ware went for 45 with more than 30 runs still needed, Horley needed to be careful. However, there are always fireworks when Gainsford comes to the crease and it was immediately evident that he intended to finish the match off quickly. After he holed out at cover for 22, only three more runs were needed and Richard Waddington (14 not out) smacked the ball through the covers to close out the match.

If Horley win at home against eighth-placed Woodmansterne next Saturday and third-placed Lingfield, who are eight points behind Horley, lose, then Horley will need just one bonus point from their final match to finish at least second and secure promotion after narrowly missing out a year ago.

A terrific century by opener and skipper Andrew Thomas and five wickets from Rob Woodward helped Horley 2nd XI romp to a 155-run win against Teddington Town.

He and opening partner Aryan Patel began with a stand of 118, scoring at a similar pace and reaching their half-centuries in quick succession. Patel then fell for 50 off 65 balls (eight fours) but Thomas batted on with Jon Barnett, who is looking in better form each week having returned from a torn Achilles tendon. He hit nine fours in an innings of 52 from just 37 balls, and Thomas was still looking secure on 85 not out when Barnett was caught.

Horley’s captain reached his ton off 109 balls, finally falling in the 38th over for 103, including 15 fours.

Jordan Robins was caught in the next over having blasted 31 off 16 balls, including one six and four fours, then Kieran Childs and Woodward had a great go at getting Horley to the 300 mark, with Childs making 31 from 25 balls before being run out off the final delivery of the 45 overs with the score on 294-6.

Horley were in charge of the reply from the outset, reducing the visitors to 39-7 by the end of the 18th over. Opening bowlers Chris Cosham and Woodward both bowled out their allocation of nine, with Woodward taking 5-20 – snapping up the fifth off his final ball – and Cosham 2-19, helped by catches from Alex Field, Thomas, and Childs.

Khyan Patel picked up the next wicket, caught by Barnett, but Teddington’s tail then wagged with Ralph Meyer making 38 at number eight before Ben Stewart bowled him, and Rob Elliot hitting 37 at number ten. Trevor Stevens came on to bowl the 39th over, thought he had Elliot out lbw from his first ball, but the decision was reversed when the umpire realised he had hit it, so Stevens promptly bowled him with the next delivery and Teddington were all out for 139.

Horley remain third in the Surrey County League 2nd XI Division One, 16 points clear of fourth but 33 behind Croydon in second.

A high-scoring thriller saw Horley 3rd XI edged out by top-of-the-table Kilnwood Vale in the Sussex League Division 11 West (North).

Vale were asked to bat first on a dusty wicket. The Horley skipper’s decision surprised a few but looked to be the right call when Sam Terry (3-21) took a wicket with only his third ball, bowling opposing skipper Robert Legg for a duck with a vicious yorker on middle stump. It was particularly sweet as Legg had made 183 not out against Horley in June.

In a hostile spell, Terry took another wicket and induced a top edge from another top order batsman, Peter Haysom, who had to retire hurt after the ball hit his nose. It is good to note that he came back to the ground in good spirits after a quick trip to the hospital.

Kilnwood Vale found scoring difficult with Stewart Warren (12 runs off four overs) bowling a very economical spell. They slowly got back into the game with some lower order partnerships but three wickets for skipper Joe Wildman and one for Aidan Spalding combined with another good spell from Naveed Sherwani (22 runs off six overs) kept the visitors to 204-7. Kalyan Oruganti top-scored with 45.

Horley’s chase could not have started better with the opening pair of Dave Hyde (63) and Rob Rigby (67) putting on a century partnership before drinks. That was when Horley stumbled as wickets were lost at regular intervals. From a strong position of 167-4 after 30 overs, a change of ball after it was lost in the hedge seemed to change the game and more wickets fell.

Kilnwood Vale were getting heated under the pressure situation, with only 13 runs needed with over three overs to go, but Horley capitulated due to some poor shot selection and were unable to get over the line. Sagar Dattani was the pick of the KVCC bowlers with 4-21.

Still, Horley could hold their heads high knowing that they played the game in the right spirit, not rising to the unsavoury celebrations by the opposing team at the end.

This Horley team, new to the league and with a number of willing and improving youngsters, were able to push a strong men’s team the full distance and the future looks bright.

Horley will look to get back to winning ways next weekend ways at Roffey CC.

Horley’s Development XI finished the group stage of the Surrey Trust League Tier Two East with a 57-run win at Beddington and go into next month’s final with six wins and one conceded win from seven matches under their belts.

Horley elected to bat and Harry Grimwood and Richard Waddington put on 96 for the first wicket before Waddington fell lbw for 34, trying to push the scoring along.

Grimwood, who was playing despite feeling unwell, went on to make a crucial 62 from 86 balls befor he was caught in the 23rd over.

Jon Barnett clattered the ball into the car park three times as he hit 58 from 46 balls at number four (four fours and four sixes). Ben Stewart made 17 and skipper Matt Gainsford also peppered the car park as he struck 25 from just eight balls, while Kieran Childs scored 40 before being run out off the penultimate ball, taking Horley’s total to 258-6 from 40 overs.

It was about the mark Horley had been looking for but Beddington’s reply started well as they made 31 from the first six overs. Alex Field then struck twice in an over, having opener Tom Wilkins caught by Waddington, and then sending skipper Matthew Isaacs back to the pavilion for a duck, caught behind by Harry Grimwood.

Beddington put on 60 for the next wicket before Gainsford broke the dangerous partnership with a superb caught and bowled, diving to his right.

Two wickets in two balls at the end of the 23rd over, the first a suicidal runout by Aidan Spalding and the second a skied catch to Field off Gainsford, reduced Beddington to 115-5. Ryan Bunn threw in for Horley to grab another runout from a single which was never there to make it 144-6 and Evan Grimwood picked up the next two wickets, one superbly caught behind by Harry Grimwood and the other caught by Gainsford.

Bunn bowled the number 10, and although Horley couldn’t take the final wicket, Beddington finished well short on 201-9 from 40 overs.

Horley Development XI will play Normandy in the Surrey Trust League final on Sunday, 11 September at Godalming CC.

Horley Under-16s won three matches out of four in the Sussex Festival and had one rained off, which added up to a very successful week. Luke Smith scored a century in the last game.

On a rainy Tuesday at Preston Nomads, they played a reduced overs match on an artificial wicket. Horley won the toss and bowled well, with off-spinner Khyan Patel the pick of the bunch with 3-19 runs from his four overs. Sam Terry, Evan Grimwood and Will Hofmann were also among the wickets as Nomads scored a very respectable 125-9 from 20 overs. In Horley’s reply Jacob Law stole the show with a destructive 68 not out from 50 balls, including six fours and four sixes. Skipper Ben Stewart supported well with 23 not out from 23 balls to set up an excellent seven-wicket win.

The next day’s match against Cuckfield was abandoned due to rain after 26 overs, by which time Grimwood had taken two wickets and Usman Syed and Aidan Spalding one a piece; under-14 off-spinner Spalding particularly impressive with figures of 1-16 from his six overs.

On Thursday Horley were back on the road, playing Wisborough Green at Bramley Cricket Club due to some drainage issues at Wisborough’s usual ground. Stewart elected to field first and he, Joe English and Grimwood all took wickets while Wisborough only reached 50-3 in their first 20 overs. They improved after drinks before Grimwood returned to dismiss Warmington. Law then picked up two wickets in a pacey spell before also claiming a runout. Wisborough finished on 174-7 from their 42 overs.

They bowled well to dismiss three of Horley’s top order very early on, but Stewart played brilliantly, opening the batting and scoring 91 from 102 in a partnership of 111 with Luke Smith, who finished on 47 to bring Horley home with a victory by six wickets with nearly four overs to spare.

On Friday Horley welcomed Horsham. Put in to bat, Horley got off to a shaky start, losing Robin Paulett in the first over. Stewart steadied the ship with a 50 partnership with Grimwood before the latter was bowled for 17.

Smith was then reunited with Stewart for another solid partnership of 39 before Stewart was caught just short of another 50. Smith batted on and made his way to a classy 101 not out from 90 balls, with Law finishing on 60 not out in Horley’s highest partnership of the week, 155.

Horsham were very quick off the mark trying to chase Horley’s total of 245, with a destructive 50 from the first seven overs, before Alfred Haynes was caught by Ryan Bunn off Patel for 39. Hofmann then claimed the wicket of Maxwell Bartlett, well caught by Artie Hoskins for 32. Stewart and Grimwood bowled out the Horsham middle order, Stewart particularly devastating with 4-21 in a pacey spell. Billy Johnson scored an exciting 52 from 31 balls including a six onto the pavilion roof. Hofmann returned to grab a second wicket before Smith capped a fine display by grabbing the last wicket with only an over to spare to secure a memorable win.