Eton Ramblers | Sussex Martlets

Match Report

The Sussex Martlets won the toss and elected to bat at Hurst College. This was their first mistake, though in fairness it did not feel like one at the time. Jordan Shaw had done brilliantly to recruit four talented youngsters from BACA, and optimism, that most dangerous of cricketing emotions, was running high.
Henry Lewis, a man who had apparently been telling people for years that he is ‘more of a batsman’, proceeded to bowl with an irritating degree of competence up the hill. Tom Robson then arrived and took three wickets with what commentators generously termed ‘variety’ and the Martlets top order might more accurately describe as ‘the sort of bowling we really should have dealt with.’ A catch was dropped at second slip, which offered brief consolation, until one recalled that the very same fielder had held the previous one without difficulty. The Martlets were 75 for 4 and running low on excuses.
Jordan Shaw shone with 34 and Hayden Wickwar contributed 18, both of which suggested that a competitive total was not entirely beyond reach. It was, as it turned out, entirely beyond reach.
The middle overs brought tweakers Eckett and Yerburgh and the Martlets batting card began to resemble a casualty list. Three to Eckett, one to Yerburgh, and a catch at first slip by Hugo Alun-Jones that onlookers were unanimous in praising as first-class, a description the Martlets batsman concerned was unavailable to endorse.
Nine down at lunch, the Martlets trooped off to a meal that was, it must be said, delicious — a rare unambiguous victory for the day. Restored in body if not in spirit, they returned to the crease, where Frankie Ashworth duly dispatched his father with a long-hop. Whether this represents a low point for the Ashworth family is a matter for them to resolve privately. One hundred and twenty-four all out.
In the field, the Martlets were not without their bright spots, which made the outcome even more galling. Michael Murray bowled with customary economy and accuracy, returning 3 for 15 off six overs — figures that in a just world would have proved match-winning. Ed Middleton was scarily quick, taking 1 for 17 off five and leaving several Ramblers batsmen grateful for the walk back to the pavilion. The Ramblers wobbled alarmingly at 74 for 5, and had the Martlets possessed even a modest sense of drama, this might have made for a tense finish. Lewis and Yerburgh, however, were not reading from that script and knocked off the remaining runs without apparent effort. The Ramblers won by three wickets, ending eight years of losing this fixture, a statistic the Martlets have generously contributed to over the years.
Tea, meanwhile, was a more subdued affair. The savoury sandwiches – a cornerstone of any respectable cricket tea – were mysteriously absent, or at least present in quantities so modest as to amount to the same thing. Who was responsible remains unclear. The Martlets, having already suffered enough for one day, declined to press the matter.
The highest praise, finally, must be reserved for the Hurstpierpoint groundsman and authorities for letting us play on this wonderful sward.