Martlets vs MCC
Venue: Friends of Arundel Castle CC
Time/Result: Win
Match Manager: Michael Harrison
Umpire: John Tomsett
Scorer: Tony Gibbs
M. C. C. 209 – 7 (30 overs) A C Cope 57
Sussex Martlets 210 – 3 (29.2 overs) Ashton Turner 89*, Nick Seager 81
On a sunny Sunday morning at Arundel castle the Sussex Martlets took to the field against their old foe the MCC. With impending and permanent rain hitting the castle grounds at 3pm the manager managed to convince everyone that a 30 over game was the way forward and duly won the toss and elected to field.
The Martlets had a fine side of eleven players until a twelfth appeared at 11.15am! Fortunately it was a proper opening bowler and meant that the manager could watch from the sidelines as the eleven battled well to restrict the Club to 209 for 7 from their 30 overs on a typically good Castle batting track. The wickets were shared around and with Michael Murray now at the helm it meant some good restrictive field placing was enforced and checked the MCC's stride in the final overs. A.C. Cope scored 57 off 48 balls batting at 4, which gave the impetus for their innings.
In reply Nick Seager (81 off 69 balls) and Ashton Turner (89* off 64 balls), Australian overseas at Chichester Priory, timed their scoring to perfection as 210 to win was chased down with just four balls remaining. It was a real shame the drizzle and rain appeared just five overs from the end as this no doubt had an impact on the MCC's ability to bowl and if it had stayed dry it could have been even closer! There were some crunching fours and sixes in their partnership of 103.
The manager thoroughly enjoyed the win having been on the field for just 12 balls as a substitute fielder and was able to enjoy lunch and tea more than normal as it was not followed by some overs at the Castle end! All in all a great day out for all involved.