Goodwood and Chichester celebrate Miles' unbeaten 50

He first played for Goodwood in 1968, following the family tradition of father Arthur (Mick) and uncle Jack. He was the third Miles to captain the side which he did from 1974 to 1993. He captained in 396 matches including a two-year unbeaten run and only lost 83 games.

During his captaincy he scored over 6,000 runs, took 97 wickets and made 27 ducks. For the last 21 years Steve has been fixture secretary. His son Jamie captained the side in 2008-09. Steve also played for Chichester’s first and second XIs.

His influence on this club has been second to none, doing much to engender a friendly and family atmosphere. Gill, his wife, has played a vital role too.

The role of the family in the club is underlined by the large number of fathers and sons who have played together.

Some 40 ex-players and wives came back to celebrate with Steve and his family and a presentation was made to him and Gill.

As for the match Goodwood batted first with Pete Lamb making an excellent 63 supported by Henry Whitby (23), Owen Spicer (18) and Johnny Heaven (24). Goodwood’s innings ended on 176 after 40 overs. For Chichester Stanley Mayne and John Ashworth each took 2-25.

A 50-themed cricket cake made by Lottie Greenlees Goodwood was unveiled at the interval.

Chichester made a steady start before James Mayne had Rob Carver caught for 11 and wickets fell at regular intervals with No10 Stanley Mayne (16) the highest scorer.

Goodwood’s fielding was good with catches from Johnny Heaven (2), Pete Lamb and Tim Odell. Steve Dudman took 2-28, James Mayne 2-10, Richard Geffen 2-6, Pete Lamb 2-2 and John Clifton 1-21 as Chichester were bowled out for 95 and Goodwood won by 81 runs.

Get all your local and county cricket news hereAround the grounds

Emsworth CC had a great season that ended in promotion from division three south of the Hampshire League.

They ended the campaign when they travelled to East Dorset to play second-placed Winton, who won the toss and asked Emsworth to bat on a damp, low wicket.

James Swaine and Mike Norris hit early boundaries. Winton fought back with quality bowling to take Swaine’s wicket.

Wickets started to fall in rapid succession, through poor shots and questionable LBW decisions to leave Emsworth setting a low target of 135 for Winton to achieve victory and become league champions.

Emsworth fought back with determination and confidence and Ant Norris and brother Rob snared the opening pair from Winton. Winton began to regroup but good bowling from Emsworth gave them hope - before a late flurry of sixes and fours gave Winton the win in the 39th over.

Nevertheless Emsworth have had an excellent season on the back of being division four south champions last year, to achieve promotion again from three south and be top until the last game is a wonderful achievement for everyone involved.

Emsworth CC has been around since 1811 with some reports dating back to 1760. It is steeped in history with many famous players, including James Lillywhite, the first England Test captain, and PG Wodehouse, famous author of the Jeeves and Wooster series.

They have three league teams, several junior teams and a competitive women’s team.

Emsworth are always on the lookout for new players, scorers and umpires that would like to volunteer their time and effort. If you would like to join, play and even become a volunteer member please email [email protected] or [email protected].

News from the top Sussex League divisionsCrawley Eagles 2nd v Bognor 2nd

Division 6 West

Enjoyment was the name of the game as Bognor and the Eagles’ second teams had a short encounter with shot playing the order of the day.

The pugnacious Charlie Jays top-scored with 36 for Bognor in their 106 all out and Crawley ended the contest early winning by nine wickets.

Harry Hood’s team of zesty teenagers gave their all but a second-to-bottom finish was the end result for a challenging season.

* Aldwick were forced to concede against Ifield and finished their division six west league season in a respectable fifth place. As expected RMU were crowned division six west champions.

Aldwick 2nd v Bosham

Div 10 West South

Aldwick twos were determined to finish on a high following a disappointing campaign. With fire in their bellies they rolled out Bosham for just 89 in the 20th over.

It was a great day for the opening bowling pair of skipper Jonny Knapp (3-46) and Tom Hoare (4-32) who sliced through the visitors’ batting line-up with relative ease.

Only David Maclean (28) and David Richardson (25) came out with respectability. Aiden Miles (1-4) and Dan Cox (1-0) wrapped things up, supported by a wonderful run-out from veteran Arthur Bradbury.

Aldwick ground out a victory but took 37.2 overs to do it.

Opener Liam Hicks (24*) carried his bat and there were decent runs from Miles (17) , Tom Hoare (13) , and Ollie Smith (21*) along the way. Opening bowlers Thomas Cowell (1-31) and Adam Selves (2-4) did their best but they lost by six wickets.

Although Aldwick finished second from bottom and were relegated they look forward with optimism to next season.

Chi Priory Park 4th v Bognor 3rd

Division 11 West South

Despite two superb catches from Steve Price and Tim Gregory the game did not go for Chichester.

Winning the toss and batting first, they were 143 all out, with Tim Gregory 29, Caleb Cossar 37 and David Graham-Wood all losing wickets rather more cheaply than they wished.

Bognor were 81-2 and seemed to be coasting but Jonathan Maynard started the tumbling of wickets, V Chudasama took 3-31 and there were run-outs by R Smith and T Toft.

Nine wickets down there were several chances to snatch victory squandered by Chichester and Enrique Andrade-Paris scored the winning run.

Nevertheless it’s been a great season for Priory fourths with several players meriting promotion next season.

David Graham-Wood gained the well deserved team award for contribution and commitment during this season.

The result saw John Hooker’s team of Bognor lads and dads finish in seventh – and much enjoyment was had by all.

Lavant v Arundel Grasshoppers

Arundel Grasshoppers asked Lavant to bat first on a green strip and Lavant lost their first two wickets in the first three overs.

Skipper Steve Brooker returned his highest score this season, ably supported by Alex Burford and Dave Carrol. Lavant’s tail wagged briefly with Lee Russell, visiting player James Allen, and Sam Hadnett adding valuable runs.

Lavant were all out for an under-par 113.

Arundel Grasshoppers’ reply started briskly until Russell trapped Connolly lbw and Tom Cole bowled Glenn and it was 29-3.

Beale and Brown took the score to 69 and wickets fell to some good catches – but Grasshoppers crept closer to the total.

With four overs remaining, Arundel Grasshoppers were nine down, with 12 runs needed for victory, and Linton skied a catch to extra cover. Two Lavant fielders collided and the catch was dropped. But with two overs to go Linton hit another catch into the covers and Lavant won by ten runs.

Cole returned 3-20 with two catches in the covers, Burford took 3-20 and Russell 2-15.

Fernhurst CC’s under-12 team flourished in the long hot summer, winning the top division of the Berkeley Sports Two Counties League.

There had been concerns that, as promoted champions of division two, they might struggle in the top flight.

But coach Bill Gourlay said: “The team spirit was incredible, with all the boys chipping in with vital performances at one stage or another, whether it was Henry Eden’s masterful 44 not out at Farnham, Jack Kidd’s leadership versus Valley End, converted keeper Ned Freeborough’s three wickets versus Woking, or the energy of ‘most improved’ player Harry Adey in the field, to name just a few.

“They played with a maturity well beyond their years.”

Having suffered just one league defeat in two years, the future looks bright for this group, with Louis Eden already a core part of the Sussex district set-up and several others heading for trials over the autumn.

In the under-ten division, three Fernhurst boys spent the summer as part of the Sussex system with leg-spinner Fergus O’Connell getting the county call-up in August.

Kirdford v Ancient Mariners

‘The Sun came up upon the left, out of the sea came he – and he shone bright, and on the right went down into the sea.’

A glorious day heralded the arrival of the Ancient Mariners to Kirdford and the opposition batted first. Excellent bowling from George Reynolds and James Gillett restricted the Mariners, but brought Samad (21) and Overton (90) to the crease.

A partnership of 100 got the Mariners up to 150 before Jamie Rountree and Tom Harvey-Jones took three quick wickets. Will Westwood had a late flurry and took the Mariners to a daunting total of 197 off 44 overs.

When Kirdford went into bat, excellent early Mariners bowling crushed any hope as Kirdfordians crumbled before the pace and bounce of the opening bowlers.

A final-wicket stand of 45 by Harvey-Jones and Simon Pett made sure Kirdford were not embarrassed, but the winning margin was still fairly significant.