Surrey v Sussex at Stedham in September

Sussex Ladies (West Division) v Surrey Ladies, Sunday 21 September 2008

In this inaugural game between Sussex, represented by West Division, and Surrey, both teams were competing for The Greater London Council’s (GLC) Senior Schools Trophy, a magnificent example of the silversmith’s skills of the 1930s. This shield was originally presented to the GLC by Lord Wakefield for competition between the Senior Girls Schools in London in 1935, but in the late 1970’s, Rosemary Hobbs, Chairman of Ockley Stoolball Club and later President of the National Stoolball Association (NSA) was able to acquire this shield for inter-county competition. It will now be played for annually between Surrey and Sussex, with Sussex being represented by each of the Sussex Divisions over a five year period.

Batting first, Sussex knew that runs would not come easily as they faced the speed of Surrey bowler, Sue Targett, and a particularly slow outfield, but patience and not a little skill saw the first wicket pair of Melissa Mantle and Gill Hilliard, both from Angmering Stoolball Club, put on a satisfactory half century partnership. With the dismissal of Hilliard for 27, it was left to Mantle (87) to steer Sussex to 189 off their 35 overs.

Sue Targett (Dorking) bowled non-stop with impressive speed for 17 overs to return 7 for 71 and was well supported by Julia Grout (Alfold) with 2 wickets from the other end and Jackie Elliott (North Holmwood) who took 3 catches.

A target of 190 for Surrey to win off 35 overs seemed comfortable enough, but with Sussex still smarting from their defeat by Surrey in the Expo Cup Charity Tournament in mid August, skipper Carole Nicholls had other ideas. With wickets falling at regular intervals, Surrey struggled to get any decent partnerships going and though opening bat Louise from Alfold and first wicket down Kelly from Chiddingfold both got into the 20s, it wasn’t until Mandy McGachie (Oxshott) reached the wicket that Surrey looked like making a bid for victory. Mandy hit a quick-fire 27 which included the only boundaries of the day, but when she got out the remaining batsmen could only offer token resistance.

For Sussex, the steady bowling of Horsham Trinity’s Carole Nicholls (4 for 48), Yapton’s Chris Hobbs (2 for 36) and Angmering’s Kelly Finneran (3 for 36) received excellent support from the rest of the team, in particular the Horsham based Gill Hilliard who held 4 catches. When the last wicket fell at 130, Sussex were safely home to victory.

Sussex (West Division) under 21s v Surrey under 21s, Sunday 21 September 2008

This was the very first under 21 match played between the West Division of Sussex and Surrey at the picturesque ground of Stedham on a warm September day under cloudless skies.

The guests batted first to post a useful score of 109 in 20 overs, with captain Sarah making a very positive contribution of 48 runs and being ably backed up by Jenny with 15 runs. For Sussex, Natasha (Ashington) took 4 wickets and Jessica (Yapton) 3 wickets and they were backed up by some first class fielding and throwing.

The start had been delayed due to a very heavy dew and the Surrey batsmen found it difficult to score runs on the damp surface. However, their final total meant that the Sussex team would have to score at more than 5 an over to win, so it would not be all plain sailing. Despite some penetrating bowling by Oliva (3 wickets) and Jenny (2 wickets), the Sussex team produced a good winning score of 175 for 7 from their 20 overs with Eastergate’s Maxine (76 retired) and Ashington’s Natasha (21) leading the way.

This was a well fought game and produced a high performance level from both teams.

Tags: match, scsa, surrey