Saturday 18 August saw a tough day on the field for Rye Cricket Club as both teams lost. So many people were unavailable and over the last two years we have lost key players who have moved away and not been replaced by any new players coming into the area.
The 1st Xl travelled to Hailsham and on another hot afternoon the toss was lost and Hailsham batted first and made the most of the perfect batting conditions. Openers Jason Tibble 56 and Ethan Dawber 53 set the platform for number 3 Max Heffernan to hit 109 off 102 balls. There were wickets towards the end of the innings, as Harry Smeed took 2-22 and Ben Clifton 3-39. Hailsham posted a daunting 294 -8 off 45 overs.
Rye’s reply slumped early at 37-3. Ben Browning 50 and Harry Smeed 57 restored some respectability, but Rye were dismissed for 185 in the 36th over. Next Saturday the 1sts host Rottingdean in a match sponsored by My Sweet Old Etcetera.
The 2nds hosted promotion-chasing Iden 1sts. The 2nds had 4 of their players in the 1st team, and 7 players unavailable from the previous week. Rye still put out a side, fielding two who were playing their first game of the season. After 15 games the 2nds have now used 34 different players.
On a hot afternoon Rye won the toss for the first time in 9 games and were thankfully batting first on the hot dry Cricket Salts. Matt Cook made a positive start hitting 34, including 7 boundaries. Fifteen-year-old Freddie Furnival contributed 34, and although 4 others got into double figures Rye never made the most of their 40 overs. Iden’s best return was Iftikhar Ahmed with 3-19.
Rye did threaten an upset as Ross Pierce took 3-19 off 8 overs as Iden were reduced to 40-4. However Iftikhar Ahmed 47 and Matt Barnett 48 shared a partnership of 80 to break the back of the run chase, to win by 5 wickets.
Next Saturday Rye 2nds travel to Brighton to play St Peters 3rds.
Image Credits: Martin Blincow .