Selsey slip up ... Almost a Bridges too far for Aldwick ... Witterings held up

Clymping v Selsey

West Sussex Invitation division one

Selsey slipped to a third successive defeat against Clymping in sweltering heat.

They were asked to bat first by their hosts and started strongly moving on to 87 for one. Matt Leclere (66) and Nick Nolan (32) put on 66 for the second wicket and set a foundation, but Selsey succumbed to a familiar problem as the middle order struggled to push on. Selsey fell to 129 for six.

Leclere stuck around and saw off Clymping’s overseas player Sam Varcoe (3-42). James Askew supported him well and took four for 45.

Selsey couldn’t recover from losing regular wickets again and stumbled to 163 for nine.

The pitch offered something to the bowlers with uneven bounce all match. But Selsey bowled too erratically to exploit them as Clymping raced to 47 for two from just eight overs.

Askew kept Selsey interested offering half-chances in the air but they failed to capitalise when he miscued over wide mid-off. He made 87 before being dismissed by Tom Amis, who was the pick of the Selsey bowling taking two for 53 in 15 overs.

Varcoe (52*) came to the crease and provided excellent support seeing his side through to victory by five wickets with 14 overs to spare.

Selsey are 13 points behind Littlehampton and safety.

Aldwick v Three Bridges III

Division three

Aldwick returned from their six-match Isle of Wight tour to restart their league campaign against Three Bridges.

Despite being dropped three times, 14-year old opener Milo Price deserved his century and was finally run out for 107 by Aldwick skipper Joel Lodge.

With good support from Sheikh Rahman (34) and Robert Legg (35), Three Bridges posted an impressive 230 for six. Aldwick’s top bowler was Ollie Smith, who toiled for 15 overs with two for 48.

Chasing 231 for victory, Aldwick started well with opener Joel Lodge contributing 31 valuable runs. However, Bridges’ Matthew had other ideas and cut through the middle order with four for 36.

A late match-saving partnership from the Robinson brothers Adam and Dan allowed Aldwick to finish on 177 for eight and earn a draw. Adam made 33 and Dan 40 to keep Aldwick third.

West Wittering v Lancing Manor

Invitation League division five

After their week off, Wittering sat at the top of division five at the halfway point of the season. However, the league leaders could only muster a draw against Lancing Manor.

Wittering chose to bat and Mark Taylor (60) and James White (55) opened the batting, ran between the wickets well and put away the bad ball confidently.

The stand of 128 came to an end when Taylor was run out by a direct hit. White attempted to accelerate and was bowled but Richard Hammond (25) joined Mitch Hackshaw (36*) continued at a steady rate.

Hammond was bowled and it was 173 for three. Carl Tupper came to the crease with intent and scored a quick 18 off nine balls until he was ran out attempting an ambitious three. Rob Gray (14*) and Hackshaw took the score to 235 for four off 49 overs.

Under-14 captain Joe Sissons was given the new ball along with Tim Osborne and Sissons struck with the score on 31, clean bowling Reynolds.

Hammond took a wicket with his spin and Alex Salmon (2-33) and Kevin Allsobrook (3-33) bowled well.

However, the saying that catches win matches couldn’t have been more appropriate as Wittering had an uncharacteristically dire day in the field and dropped too many, which ultimately made the difference.

Lancing Manor finished on 176 for seven and Wittering took only 16 points - slipping to second for the first time this season.

RMU v Aldwick II

Division seven

Aldwick II could not hold their catches and allowed a batsmen to make a century when he should have been out without troubling the scorers.

RMU’s Ahmad Ebadi was finally caught by Matt Smith off the bowling of Phil Hart (3-29) but not before he had amassed 127. Tim Carthew contributed 51, but the centurion was the main reason the home side finished on a mighty 271 for six declared.

Back after injury, Nathan Belcher bowled well taking two for 55.

Aldwick’s top order did not fare well against the accurate bowling of Fawad Khan (4-20) and with four early wickets down they could only hope to hang on for a draw. Good efforts from Tom Hoare (24) and Ben Bainbridge (30) could not prevent an inevitable defeat as the visitors finished 132 short on 139 all out.