Junior Sussex Martlets - 219 - 7 wickets - 40.0 overs
Junior BB - 156 - 10 wickets - 35.0 overs
The first match of the 2017 Junior BB season was against the Junior Martlets. Last year we had a convincing win at Hurstpierpoint, but this year they bought a decidedly older and stronger team. Unfortunately we were not able to match them and lost by 63 runs.
The Martlets batted first at the picturesque Stonewall Park ground, which was kindly made available to us by the Fleming family. Sean Menary was extremely unlucky not to take a wicket in his opening spell (5-1-15-0) and it was Will Falcon made the opening breakthrough by producing a great Yorker to remove the blonde haired Margarson for 2.
There followed a match winning 2nd wicket partnership of 121 between the bearded Futcher (73) and Moorat (50). They hit 23 boundaries between them and were especially ruthless on anything loose.
Captain Alex Moen turned to spin, which was a brave decision given the short boundaries and big hitting. His faith was rewarded by wickets for Felix Fleming (2-54) and Hugo Pettman (3-35), aided by some fine catching from the skipper, who pouched 4 at mid wicket. Felix is only 15 and deserves real credit for keeping the ball pitched up and getting his success.
The Martlets had power hitters down to no 7 and we did really well to restrict them to 219-7 in 40 overs, having been 134-1 in the 25th over. We began our chase with the experience of Tom Pollington and Alex Moen, who saw off the pacey but erratic openers with an excellent stand of 49.
All seemed to be proceeding well, however Tom was out in the 13th over, and despite a fine 42 from captain Moen and a promising first appearance for 14 year old Ollie Streets, we were falling behind the rate.
Only Will Falcon (20) and Sam Huggett (24) provided any real resistance in the middle or lower order by hitting boundaries, and we fell short with 5 overs to spare.
So we will be hoping for better things next week in our matches against the Hoggets, Leeds & Broomfield, Chief's XI and Shepway Stragglers, but an enjoyable game played great spirit.
Champagne moment today would have to go to the Captain for his wonderful reflex catch off Felix to break the second wicket partnership at short mid wicket from a fierce drive.
Man of the Match? Probably spread around the team with several good performances with the ball - Hugo's 3-35 with his leg breaks, Will Falcon's 2-25 and Felix Fleming's 2-53. Then Alex Moen (42), Tom Pollington (25), Will (20) and Sam (24).
Thanks to everyone for their effort and support and look forward to seeing you in the next two weeks.
Mark Pettman
Junior BB Manager