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Management Meetings 2006 2005   REVIEW OF THE 2006 SEASON

This season saw the start of the re-structured format of four divisions of 9 teams, playing home and away fixtures. This resulted in a stronger Division 1 which produced many very competitive matches. Rather surprisingly, Crawley Eagles 3rd XI and Lancing Manor 1st XI finished in the last two places in this division. West Chiltington were runners up while Three Bridges 3rd XI finished in third place. However the winners, West Blachington 1st XI really dominated the division finishing 50 points clear, despite having three matches abandoned. There is no doubt that West Blachington would prosper in the Sussex Invitation League if the long discussed pyramid structure ever came into existence in West Sussex. West Blachington also provided the highest run aggregate scorer in Suni Agnihotri who made 585 runs from 14 innings at an average of 65.00. Mention should also be made of Brian Chambers who made 552 runs from a mere 8 innings at an average of 92.00 The leading wicket taker was Carl Broad of Findon with 35 wickets followed by Prasad of Three Bridges with 31 wickets.
Division 2 was won by Adelaide 1st XI with 373 points and the runners up, Kemp Town Belgrave were a mere 2 points behind them. Amberley finished in third position. James Smallman of Partridge Green took the batting award in this division with 578 runs , an average of 49.36. K. Tharme of Kemp Town Belgrave achieved 491 runs with an average of 49.10 as runner up. The top bowler was Matthew Blackwood of Bury and West Burton who took 32 wickets whilst Jaffar of Ifield took second place with 28 wickets.
In Division 3 Edwards took first place 54 points ahead of the runners up, Chichester Priory Park 3rd XI. Dominating the batting and bowing of this division were members of the Brighton Electricity Cricket Club. Ryan Smith scored 578 runs, a batting average of 57.80 to top the division, followed by John Cane with 287 , average 28.70. The bowling was close. Heading the wicket takers was Sam Figg with 20 wickets. However , taking 18 wickets each were the following, Ryan Smith (what a good season he had) Kevin Turk (also Brighton Electricity), Dave Evans (Three Bridges) and Jim Birch (Rosehill Taverners).
Petworth Park won Division 4 with 352 points, 21 points ahead of runners up Hangleton. Mark Lloyd of Hangleton took first place in the batting of this division with 405 runs, an average of 50.63. Jamie Bicknell of Petworth Park was the runner up with 358 runs at an average of 51.14. and he also won the top bowling position in the division with 26 wickets. His team mate Nathan Kerridge was runner up having taken 22 wickets.
Teams reported that the new structure had increased the general enjoyment of the games.
Colin Tennant (Chairman)

West Blachington were clear Division 1 winners whilst the runners up were St Matthias 1st XI who were only one point ahead of the joint holders of third place Dome Mission and West Chiltington. Nick Hailey from St Matthias took the batting award with 820 runs at an average of 74.55 and the bowling award was won by Malcolm Fitzgerald ( West Chiltington) who took 28 wickets at an average of 12.82 Amberley were the winners of Division 2, recording ten wins as did second placed Adelaide who finished a mere 3 points behind them. In this division the individual batting and bowling awards were won by members of West Wittering. Neil Blake scored a monumental 935 runs in ten innings while notching up an average of 187.00. Stuart Aldous took 31 wickets with an average of 8.39. Adelaide provided the runners up for each of these awards. A. Gilbert scored 524 runs averaging 52.40 and B.Antonio took 29 wickets with an average of 9.76

The Third Division was won the new entry to the competition, St Matthias 2nd XI who won 11 games, gaining 383 points. Closely behind with 380 points were Brighton and Hove 3rd XI who also rejoined the WSCL this season. The top batsman of this Division was Matt Thorne of Worthing 4th XI who scored 561 runs and averaged 80.14.The bowling award was taken by Rocky from Edwards CC with 23 dismissals to his credit and an average of 11.87.

The WSCL was invited to take part in the trial 20/20 competition staged by the Sussex Cricket Board at the County Ground at the end of August. No single club wished to take part so a side was selected from seven clubs from Division 1 to represent the League. The opponents were clubs from the other Sussex Leagues,Crawley Eagles representing the Invitation League, Crowborough the East Sussex League and Littlehampton representing the Sussex League Div 2.The day/night tournament was hard fought throughout. Crawley Eagles were the opponents of the WSCL in the first nail biting contest and were narrowly defeated in the penultimate over. Crowborough was then matched against Littlehampton who won this game. The winners of each match then played the final under floodlights, discovering that the orange ball used was very difficult to see.Another hard contest ensued with the WSCL team triumphant at the end of very exciting match.

In 2005 we now look forward to the restructured League having four divisions of nine clubs playing home and away fixtures. Several of the teams from 2004 have joined the revived Sussex Cricket League 3rd Division for 2005 which has reduced the number of sides in the WSCL.

In contrast to last year , this season was extremely hot and dry with very few wet Saturdays .

Ram C.C. our Division 1 winners only entered the League in 2000 and since then have won the 3rd Division that year, the 2nd Division in 2002 whilst their 2nd XI also won Division 3 in that year. They were worthy champions of Division 1 in 2003 winning the title by 47 points from their nearest challenger West Chiltington and Thakeham.They scored plenty of runs ( four of their batsmen being in the top 20 batting aggregates) and took many wickets with four of their bowlers also in the top twenty. The leading run scorer in Division 1 was G. Morrish ( Brighton Insurance ) with 949 runs at an average of 94.90, second was A.Raja ( Crawley Eagles ) 721 runs at an average of 55.46 and third was N. Buckley ( Palmers ) with 695 runs at an average of 49.64. The top bowlers in Division 1 were jointly J.Challoner (West Chiltington and Thakeham ) and Kartik ( Ram ) who both took 33 wickets, whilst in third position was S. Hoyle ( Dome Mission ) with 32 wickets.

Partridge Green were Division 2 winners, recording eleven wins as did second placed Ifield 3A and Kemp Town Belgrave who took third position. These positions bear testimony to the closeness of the battle at the top of the division as only seven points separated these three teams, Partridge Green taking 362 points, Kemp Town Belgrave with 359 and Ifield on 355. S.O’Shea (Littlehampton, Clapham and Patching) won the Division 2 batting aggregate award with 536 runs at an average of 60, closely followed by S.Hughes (Kemp Town Belgrave) on 497 runs (average 62) and in third place C.Tagg ( Partridge Green) with 411 runs (average 46). The leading wicket taker was S.O’Shea with 26 to his credit, with Kit Hinton of Partridge Green in the runner’s up position with 22 wickets and four players tying for third position – K.Wood ,M.Blackwood (both of Bury and West Burton) B.Martin ( Kemp Town Belgrave) and Andy Atkins (Aldwick) each with 21 wickets.

The Third Division was won by Littlehampton, Clapham and Patching 4th XI with Adelaide in second position and Rosehill Taverners placed third. A.Gilbert (Adelaide) with 565 runs at an average of 81 was the leading run scorer whilst R.Batchelor (Hangleton) scored 357 in only 4 innings took second position and Paul Hewitt (Littlehampton, Clapham and Patching) made 347 runs (average 39) for third place. Kevin Alexander (Rosehill Taverners)was the leading wicket taker with 36 wickets to his credit,with Paul Hewitt(L,C&P) second with 29 ickets and Wayne Sears (Rosehill Taverners) in third place with 28 wickets.

The Sussex Invitation League have invited Division 1 winners Ram and Aldwick (5th in Division 2 and 4th in Division 3) to join them. We wish both clubs success in this new venture.

During 2003 the Parker Building Supplies East Sussex Cricket League and the Sussex Invitation League presented a joint proposal to the Association of Sussex Cricket Leagues for a revision to the structure of the Shepherd Neame Sussex Cricket League and the West Sussex Cricket League. However this was rejected by the Sussex Cricket League and as the Sussex Invitation League had indicated that their proposed re-structure in West Sussex was dependent on their proposal being accepted, the pyramid structure sought by the ECB remains as elusive as ever.

In a season dominated by damp pitches the League was fortunate not to have more matches cancelled. Saturdays were often amongst the best days of the week.

Once again our top team of Division 1 was Crawley Eagles. Even though their 1^st and 2^nd XI’s had at last been admitted to the Sussex Invitation League, their 3^rd XI was able to top Division 1. This was a truly remarkable achievement especially as their 1^st XI also succeeded in winning Division 4 of the Invitation League as I predicted last year.

In Division 1 L. Dent of Dome Mission topped the aggregate number of runs with a total of 570 ( average 57) whilst in second and third place J. Downey achieved 568 (average 63) and Neil Soffe 473 (average 43) both of whom play for Hove Medina. The top bowler in this Division was Ollie Hall from Worthing Chippingdale who took 28 wickets finishing ahead of Colin Tennant (Three Bridges) who had 27 and Jeff Read (Lancing Manor) with 25 wickets.

Three Bridges 4^th XI were the victors of Division 2 , just holding off West Chiltington with both teams winning 11 matches. Terry Stanley took the 2^nd XI batting award with 346 runs (average 69) whilst the bowling award was shared by J.Chaloner ( West Chiltington) and Kit Hinton (Partridge Green) both with 32 wickets each.

Winning the Third Division was Ram 2^nd XI with ten victories to their credit. The batting award was taken by Mr Williams of Hangleton and Knoll who scored 458 runs (average 50). Jez Akan of Worthing Chippingdale received the bowling award having taken 23 wickets.

The Sussex Invitation League despite introducing their new four division leagues for the 1^st and 2^nd XI’s have moved no closer to the pyramid structure favoured by the ECB and for the coming season have invited Worthing Chippingdale to join their League. I wish Worthing Chippingdale every success for 2003.

The 2001 season started with a degree of uncertainty. The dreadful autumn and spring with incessant heavy rain, meant that pitches were unavailable for cricket until May 19^th because of soccer fixture re-arrangements. This was possibly a blessing in disguise as many pitches remained waterlogged and unfit for use until the second week of May. The weather continued to influence the season with torrential rain washing matches out on several Saturdays.

Despite these problems the Division 1 title was won by the Crawley Eagles 1^st XI, an outstanding team who have won the League twice in the last four years and never finished lower than third in that time. The Sussex Invitation League, finally moving towards the pyramid structure envisaged by the ECB, have invited Crawley Eagles and Felbridge to join the new SIL structure of four divisions of nine sides .I am confident that the Crawley Eagles will quickly win promotion in that League.

Jerry White (Worthing Chippingdale) topped the aggregate number of runs for Division 1 with a total of 659 runs at an average of 54.92 whilst the ever consistent Brian Huffer (Patcham) averaged 60.30 for his total of 603 runs. Jig Agnihotri (West Blachington) was the leading wicket taker in Division1 with 29 wickets, three ahead of his nearest rivals, Ian MacRea (Shoreham) and Ian Catt (Three Bridges) both of whom took 26 wickets.

Ram joined the West Sussex Cricket League in 2000, winning the Division 3 title in that year. Promoted to Division 2 in 2001 Ram repeated their feat of the previous season by winning Division2 at the first attempt. Who knows, perhaps they may complete a treble by winning Division 1 in 2002!

Middleton, the former County League Club, who had to withdraw from the Sussex League at the end of the 2000 season, joined the WSCL at the eleventh hour in the spring of 2001 taking the only vacant place in the League in Division 2. Despite all their pre-season problems, Middleton were able to clinch the runners-up position in that division and gain promotion to Division1 for the coming season.

In Division 2 the batting award went to Robert Llewellyn (West Chiltington) who with 451 runs just pipped M.Patterson (Lancing Athletic) who achieved 447 runs. Paul Thompson (Ocean) took 25 wickets to lead the Division 2 wicket takers.

Division3 was won by Roffey 3^rd XI, who also provided the leading wicket taker Colin Mitchum with 37 wickets to his credit. P.Brand (Horsham 3a XI) totalled 482 runs as the leading run scorer in Division 3.

Whilst 1999 was an excellent summer weatherwise, the 2000 season was much wetter but fortunately nearly all the Saturdays enjoyed the best of each week's weather.

The 1st Division competition was again very close with the 1999 champions Crawley Eagles just having to yield to Patcham who lost only once during their campaign, both teams having recorded 13 wins from their 15 matches. Patcham were indebted to their captain John Knight who's performance with the bat was quite outstanding. In 13 innings he made 1,190 runs with 2 not outs for an average of 108.18 scoring 6 centuries, all this opening the batting against the new ball in a year when the pitches were often providing assistance for the bowlers and scores overall reflected this. Moreover this powerful left hander was scoring quickly virtually all the time and with a platform like this it is not surprising that the rest of the team particularly Brian Huffer were able to support him with steady batting and bowling. Crawley Eagles, the most consistent team in league since it started having never finished lower than second, produced many outstanding results but losing 2 matches meant that they could not quite close the gap of 9 points which separated them from Patcham. Steve Harris of Three Bridges topped the league bowling with 27 wickets only just pipping the ever consistent Steve Luckhurst of Lancing Manor who took 26 wickets.

The 2nd Division was won by Billinghurst, a club who had to withdraw from the Invitation League a few seasons ago, continued their revival by winning title from Shoreham, another club who's fortune took a downturn several years back but have managed to re-organise and to make a welcome return to the WSCL and have earned their place in the 1st Division for the 2001 season. Both teams won 11 matches and but were pursued to the end by Three Bridges IV and Aldwick who both won 10 matches with only 10 points separating Shoreham and Aldwick in fourth place. Billinghurst were indebted to the Burroughs family with Mike topping the league batting with 481 runs whilst Peter was in the top 20 for both batting and bowling with 264 runs and 19 wickets.

In the 3rd Division Newcomers Ram were easy winners, winning all their 14 matches and topping the league by the massive margin of 76 from runners up Steyning 3rd XI and third placed Crawley Eagles 2nd who both totalled 336 points for the season. Ram overpowered their opposition, they provided the two leading batsmen in the league batting in Rakesh and Tarun who scored 556 and 473 runs respectively and the two top wicket takers in Viren who took 30 wickets and Kumar Promad who dismissed 25 batsmen. As Ram also had a further player in both the top 20 for batting and bowling, it would be a surprise if they did not win promotion to Division 1 at the end of the 2001 season.

WSCL officials continue to meet from time to time with the Sussex Invitation League representatives to discuss how to implement the pyramid structure envisaged by the E.C.B. but despite the ceaseless efforts of retiring Chairman Geoffrey Longfield, progress is slow. SIL at their conveniently timed A.G.M. at the end of November 2000 invited Billinghurst,our Division 2 winners and Angmering Manor 11th in Division 1, to join them next year. We wish them every success. Meanwhile the WSCL has attracted four new teams, Aldwick 2nd, Ram 2nd , Roffey 4th and Three Bridges 5th and is also pleased to welcome back Horsham 3a and Worthing 4th for the 2001 season.