29 August: Hastings & St Leonards Priory; Three Bridges rained off
5 September: Priory 251 for 8; Preston Nomads 249 for 9

HUGH SULLIVAN

In September 2024 the Hastings & St Leonards Priory team were relegated from the Sussex Premier League when, in fading light at Horntye Park, the last Horsham pair hit eight runs off the final over of the final match to defeat them by one wicket.

Fast forward two years to another season’s finale last Saturday evening at Fulkington on the fringes of Brighton. Home team Preston Nomads, needing 252 to win in their allotted 50 overs, are batting with apparent serenity towards a victory which will doom Priory to a repeat relegation after one topsy-turvy summer back in the Premiership.

At 215 for three in the 42nd over, the Nomads need only another 37 runs off 43 balls with seven wickets in hand. Their fourth wicket partnership has accumulated 128 runs with opener Zan Copleston 104 not out and his partner Rudy Northcott on 56. Priory skipper Harry Scowen has rotated seven bowlers to no avail.

But all season the Sussex Premier League has been a contest of fine margins and surprise turnarounds. Priory spinner Troy Henry, who has been bowling well without good fortune, finally has Copleston caught at the wicket by Joe Billings. Next ball, the start of the 43rd over, Adam Pye dismisses Northcott in the same manner. Unexpectedly the game is on again, with two new batsmen at the crease and bowlers with their tails up.

OVER AND OUT

Pye takes the sixth wicket in the 45th over, caught by Henry. But the seventh wicket pair Harry Eastman and Nav Patel scramble seven runs off the latter’s next over, so only 22 runs are now required off 24 balls. Pye limits them to a single run off his tenth and final over, which leaves 18 balls to be bowled – 12 by Henry, six by the dependable Adam Barton.

It’s actually another bowler who makes the breakthrough: Adam Page runs out Patel as he goes for a second run off Henry. Four balls later Henry clean bowls Eastman. And, with the first ball of the following over, Barton likewise hits the stumps.

Somehow Priory have gained the ascendancy. The batting side is now down to their last pair, needing 17 runs to win, or 16 to tie, off the last 11 balls.

Four runs come off the last five balls of Barton’s over, and just three singles off the first three of Henry’s last. Ten off the last three is surely too much. But the fourth ball is clouted to the boundary, and the next one adjudged a wide by the umpire, so there are still two more to bowl. The batsmen manage a single off each, but that’s not enough: Priory have won by two runs.

The drama of the ending has naturally eclipsed proceedings earlier in the day. Priory’s top order, sent in to bat by their hosts, started nervously, but were hugely indebted to opener Billings who carried his bat through the innings, reaching an unbeaten century (102 not out) in the final over. Scowen (23), Henry (23) and Caleb Laloo (34) all gave him useful support, and the final score of 251 for eight felt, if not a winning total, a competitive one. Just how competitive was soon to be revealed.

The final league table shows Priory ninth out of ten teams, which would have resulted in their relegation in previous seasons. They are beneficiaries of a somewhat dubious decision of the Sussex Cricket League made last autumn to limit promotion and relegation between the Premiership and Division 2 to just a single team. The aim, according to league chair Gary Stanley, was to improve the overall quality of the Premier division. That’s unconvincing, given that the team that came up in second place from Division 2 in 2025, West Chiltington and Thakeham, has just finished third in the Premier this year.

However, nobody at Priory will be arguing against the ruling right now. They have survived against the odds, and are entitled to celebrate their fortune. 2026 will surely be remembered here as the year of the Great Escape.

22 August: Priory 237 for 9; Horsham 237 for 7

HUGH SULLIVAN

After suffering a comprehensive home defeat at the hands of Bognor Regis on 15 August, the cricketers of Hastings and St Leonards Priory tied a thrilling game with Horsham last Saturday. Those results taken together send Priory back to the foot of the Sussex Premier League, needing to win at least one and perhaps both of their two remaining games to save themselves from relegation. But their effort to salvage even spoils from the game at Horsham, which they played with a weakened side and looked at several stages bound to lose, shows that anything is possible.

First choice batsmen Joe Billings, Caleb Laloo and Shawn Johnson were missing from the Priory line-up, as was opening bowler Freddie Hulbert. Captain Harry Scowen opted to bat first on winning the toss but may have rued the decision when he was dismissed for a seven-ball duck.

Alfie Hunter (50) and Eddy Finch (43) put together a solid second wicket partnership of 95, but after both were trapped lbw by home captain William Beer (four wickets for 29 in his ten overs), the middle order foundered and at 131 for six, the innings was in danger of meltdown. Young Troy Henry (43), promoted up the order, and veteran John Morgan (25), fought back with a stand of 63, and lusty blows at the death by Adam Pye and Adam Page hoisted a final total of 237 off 50 overs.

For the next two hours, that did not seem likely to be enough. In Hulbert’s absence, Adam Pye and John Morgan delivered tidy opening spells, and Henry also bowled his spinners tightly. But the home batsmen found themselves gradually able to accelerate their run rate against Adam Barton, Page and Hunter and after 44 overs, found themselves needing only 31 more runs from the last six, with two batsmen Nick Oxley and Chris Nash well set and seven wickets in hand.

A run out accomplished by Priory wicket keeper Greg Devlin dismissed Nash for 37, then Pye and Barton took a further wicket apiece. Nevertheless, with 11 balls remaining, Horsham’s score had risen to 232 for six: just six runs were wanted with four wickets remaining; Oxley was 74 not out and on strike. Priory’s defeat was surely inevitable.

Or was it? Pye had Oxley caught by Scowen, and conceded only two runs off his last four balls. Barton bowled the last over, allowing only one run off the first four balls. Two were now wanted off two. One was scrambled off the fifth and another off the sixth, leaving the scores tied.

A week earlier Priory had succumbed with little fight at home to Bognor Regis. After early dismissals of Hunter and Finch, Billings (56) and Scowen (27) dug in with a third wicket stand of 66. But when Scowen was bowled out, the absence of Laloo and Johnson exposed a brittle middle order and meek tail-end. The eventual total of 154 was hit off by their West Sussex visitors inside 27 overs, Hulbert and Henry sharing the four wickets which fell, but no bowler able to stem the flow of runs.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Priory host Three Bridges at Horntye. Their final league game will be away to Preston Nomads at Fulking on 6 September.

8 August: Roffey 244 for 6; Priory 201 for 7

HUGH SULLIVAN

August has proved a more than satisfactory month so far for the cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory, achieving an outstanding victory and then an honourable draw on successive Saturdays against the two leading teams in the Sussex Premier League, Middleton and Roffey. Priory remain eighth in the table, only ten points above the relegation places. But with their bowling attack revving at a higher gear than earlier in the season, and their batsmen showing resilience in depth, they should approach the final four games with confidence – to be played under limited-over format, each to be won or lost (no draws).

At Middleton on 1 August, Priory batted first and were indebted to opener Alfie Hunter, who made 86 while his top order partners came and went. When he departed, with the score at 159 for six in the 47th over, a more brittle side might have folded. But Ryan Hoadley, playing his first game of the season, hit a bright 34 off 33 balls and, with help from Eddie Finch (18) and Freddie Hulbert (21 not out), boosted the 58-over innings total to 231 for 8.

A similar Priory score had been chased down the week before by opponents Haywards Heath for the loss of only three wickets. But on this occasion the Hastings side bowled and fielded superbly, Shawn Johnson leading the way by running out Middleton’s opener Toby Barton in the first over before he had received a ball. Adam Barton (no relation), sharing Priory’s seam attack with Hulbert, injured himself in his third over and could not continue. But Johnson was a lively replacement, taking two wickets apiece with Hulbert so as to reduce the home side to 86 for five.

Spinners Adam Page and Hunter were introduced, and at first struggled to contain a potential batting recovery. But Page had the dangerous Sean Heather caught by Johnson for 52, and wickets continued to fall. Credit to the Middleton tail for attempting to keep up their faltering chase, but Page nailed the final batsman lbw to close out a 47-run victory.

Last Saturday Roffey, who had taken advantage of that result to overtake Middleton as league leaders, came to Horntye. Winning the toss and opting to bat, they started cautiously against the seam bowling of Hulbert and Johnson, then found themselves unable to accelerate as they would have liked against the Priory spinners Hunter, Page and Barton (recovered sufficiently to bowl off his shortened run). But a final spurt over the last seven overs, which yielded 57 runs, eventually secured a challenging total of 244.

In reply, Priory also batted cautiously. Hunter (22) and Joe Billings (56) gave them a solid start, and Scowen (53) held the middle order together, but they were always behind the required run rate, and when Scowen was sixth out with 69 still needed and less than six overs left, the remaining batsmen chose to see them out judiciously rather than go down with all guns blazing.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Priory host bottom-of-the-league Bognor Regis at Horntye. Another win would hugely improve their chances of Premier League survival.

Sussex Cricket League – PREMIER TABLE (bottom 4) as at 9 August 2026

HUGH SULLIVAN

After their encouraging win against Cuckfield on 11 July the cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory will have hoped for a continuation of good form and favourable results. That’s not how it has turned out.

A week later, they lost a match that seemed theirs for the taking against West Chiltington & Thakeham, and last Saturday their bowling attack – usually so effective on their home ground at Horntye – was dismantled by a confident Haywards Heath top order. Next game they’ll need all the resilience they can muster: it’s at Middleton, current league leaders.

At West Chiltington, the Priory team arrived with Freddie Hulbert fallen ill en route and unable to take active part. In his absence Shawn Johnson opened the bowling with Adam Barton. Both performed splendidly, and within an hour the home side, who had elected to bat first, were reduced to 33 for five.

A middle order recovery led by home captain Reuben Taylor was held in check by Priory spinners Troy Henry and Alfie Hunter, and when Taylor departed in the 35th over with the score at 111 for eight, a quick end to the innings was assumed.

Instead, no. 9 batsman Ben Lucking launched a monstrous counter-attack, hitting 97 runs off 102 balls with eight fours and five sixes, and sharing a ninth wicket partnership with Benjamin Van Noort (40 not out) which more than doubled the total.

When Priory replied, Hunter and captain Harry Scowen started well enough. But against the penetrating bowling of Oliver Whitehead and Lucking, wickets fell in a heap, and at 90 for seven the game seemed lost. Henry (top scorer with 48), Noah James (37) and Barton batted determinedly to try to salvage a draw, but even that proved beyond them.

At home to Haywards Heath, Priory’s batsmen struggled in the first hour on an uneven pitch. Johnson (40) and Iden McCleave (51) steadied the innings, and with useful contributions all down the order, the final total of 237 looked defensible.

But, after an opening seam attack from Hulbert and Barton which netted one wicket, Scowen rotated his spinners in vain against batsmen who used their feet, ran hard between the wickets, and increasingly peppered the boundary. Barton, off his shortened run, took a couple more wickets, but Hunter and Adam Page both proved innocuous, and eventually Heath captain Jonny Phelps (69 not out off 49 balls including two huge sixes) used his bat like a high-lofting six-iron to power his team to their seven-wicket victory.

11 July: Cuckfield 152 all out; Hastings & St Leonards Priory 156 for 5

HUGH SULLIVAN

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory started this month at the foot of the Sussex Premier League table, without a win since 16 May. But in two successive home games against top-half opposition they have emerged with the best of a draw against Preston Nomads followed by a comfortable win over Cuckfield. Only 21 points now separate fifth from tenth, and the stage is set for a tight contest between all the league sides over the second half of the season.

On 4 July, hosting the Nomads, captain Harry Scowen won the toss, opted to bat first, and made hay under sunny skies. Hitting a masterful 117 off 136 balls, he shared an opening century partnership with the more circumspect Alfie Hunter (26), then enjoyed another rampant pairing with Joe Billings (50). From a score of 206 for one after 43 overs, a total of over 300 looked on the cards. The last 15 overs produced only 61 more runs for the loss of all nine remaining wickets, however.

Freddie Hulbert took a couple of early wickets when the Nomads replied, and the visitors remained well behind the required run rate as Adam Barton and Troy Henry, bowling with accuracy on a pitch that favoured spin, kept tight control. Scowen maintained an attacking field with close catchers around the bat, inviting the batsmen to accelerate towards their target with some cheap boundaries. But Nomads were not tempted, seeming to decide rather early that this was beyond them, and the game petered to a draw with seven wickets down and over 50 runs still to get.

A week later against Cuckfield, Hulbert again struck early, clean-bowling first Joe Cambridge, then Omair Yousuf with only 16 on the board. As this pair had hit 244 runs between them in the corresponding fixture between the sides when they played at Cuckfield in May, these dismissals naturally stoked Priory into the belief that this should be their day. Barton and Henry again bowled with admirable control, while Hunter took five wickets. The West Sussex side subsided to 26 for four, recovered somewhat to reach 102 for five, but never managed to collar the home bowling, and were eventually dismissed for 152 in the 55th over.

Batting conditions remained tricky for Priory’s batsmen and, despite a fluent 26 from Scowen, Priory lost half their wickets in reaching 87. However, Caleb Laloo found his best form of the season and, with confident assistance from Henry, helped himself to 11 fours, including some fine drives and a delicious reverse sweep in an unbeaten knock of 67. The pair guided Priory to victory without further loss and with plenty of time to spare.

Next up is an away trip tomorrow (Saturday) to Pulborough to face West Chiltington & Thakeham, followed by a home game against Haywards Heath.

Sussex Cricket League – Division 2 table 

Ramblers Making Tracks

Down in Division 2, Little Common Ramblers are promising a second successive promotion season. They achieved a fourth successive victory (in completed matches) last Saturday, winning by just eight runs in a thrilling finish at the local Recreation Ground against potential promotion rivals Brighton & Hove.

Kaleb Auld top-scored with 43 runs in a total of 201, then took three wickets, including a caught-and-bowled to dismiss the last opposing batsman. Ramblers have profited all season from his consistent all-round performances – 320 runs so far, plus 28 wickets at an average of under 13. 

27 June: Priory 303 for 9; Three Bridges 304 for 2

A magnificent innings of 152 not out scored by Joe Billings last Saturday wasn’t enough to save Hastings & St Leonards Priory from defeat at the hands of high-flying Three Bridges. Priory’s total of 303 looked defensible, particularly when Freddie Hulbert was bowling a tidy opening spell, but the rest of their attack was taken apart by the home batsmen. Sussex squad player George Thomas made an unbeaten 159, and his team cruised to an eight-wicket victory with more than seven overs to spare.

After wins for both Horsham and Haywards Heath, the sides below them at the start of the day, Priory now prop up the Premier League table.

The previous Saturday Priory hosted Horsham at Horntye. Spin duo Adam Page and Alfie Hunter took four wickets apiece as the West Sussex side were limited to 220 for nine off 58 overs. Priory lost two early wickets in reply, recovered through a partnership of 67 between Hunter (43) and Scowen (39) but slumped again to 130 for seven, with the later order having to battle hard to save a draw. 

After last week’s fixture was washed out by dreadful weather, Hastings and St Leonards Priory travelled to The Regis Oval in search of their first away win of the season against Bognor Regis. Under far brighter skies, Priory won the toss and chose to field, but that decision quickly looked a difficult one as Ryan Maskell and Theo Beynon-Ayers took full advantage of the batting-friendly conditions. The opening pair put on 125 for the first wicket in just 21.4 overs, giving Bognor Regis the ideal platform.

A total well beyond 300 looked firmly on the cards at that stage, but Priory responded with determination to pull Bognor Regis back to 285 for 9 from 57.4 overs. Taylor Jaycocks played an important hand with 59 from 77 balls, while Charlie Maginnis added a brisk 41 from 43 deliveries to maintain the hosts’ momentum.

The fightback was driven by a superb spell from Alfie Hunter, who claimed 8 for 88 from 20.4 overs in a remarkable individual performance. The only other wicket fell to Freddie Hulbert, who finished with 1 for 44 from his 8 overs.

Priory would have hoped for a similarly solid start with the bat, but their reply unravelled almost immediately. The first wicket fell with only seven runs on the board, and with three wickets then lost for the addition of just a single run, they slumped to 42 for 5 inside the opening exchanges.

From that precarious position, Harry Scowen and Troy Henry produced a magnificent recovery, adding 125 for the sixth wicket to revive the innings. Scowen made a composed 65 from 100 balls before departing, while Henry carried the resistance with an excellent 92 from 126 deliveries before he was bowled by Maginnis. That wicket effectively ended Priory’s hopes of chasing down the target, and they closed on 204 for 8 from their 52 overs. For Bognor Regis, Michael Reynolds returned 2 for 48 from 12 overs.

Though the game ended in a draw, Priory could still take encouragement from the way they battled back after being in deep trouble at 42 for 5. Hunter’s outstanding spell with the ball and the defiant batting of Scowen and Henry were the major positives, while Maginnis’ all-round contribution also proved crucial for Bognor Regis. There was enough quality on show from Priory to suggest they have the ability to compete strongly in this division.

16 May: Hastings & St Leonards Priory  220 all out, West Chiltington & Thakeham 169 all out

HUGH SULLIVAN

The month of May showed its full range of effects over the first two Saturdays of the Sussex Premier League cricket season, producing contrasting conditions and scores to match.

On 9 May, in warm and sunny weather, the Hastings Priory team travelled to Cuckfield in Mid Sussex, and – sent in to bat after losing the toss – rattled up a score of 308 for seven in their allotted 50 overs. Harry Finch, released from his commitments to the Kent county team, scored 86 off 87 balls. Caleb Laloo made 44; new recruits on their league debuts, Alfie Hunter and Troy Henry, weighed in with 39 and 31 respectively; old hands Harry Scowen (28), Joe Billings (30) and Greg Devlin (22 not out) each made useful contributions.

All fine and dandy, except that the host batsmen enjoyed the friendly conditions even more. In the absence of Freddie Hulbert, who has a side strain that means he is likely to be unavailable for several matches, Priory’s opening bowlers were John Morgan and Adam Barton. Morgan claimed an early wicket, but the arrival at the crease of Pakistan international batter Omair Yousuf heralded an onslaught. Barton’s fourth over went for 28 runs (two sixes, three fours and four no balls). Yousuf went on to reach 145 not out, his second wicket partnership with opener Joe Cambridge (99) amassing 181 runs, and Priory’s score was overhauled with only three wickets down and more than seven overs left. None of Priory’s bowlers were spared, spinners Hunter and Sean Johnson coming in for particularly brutal treatment.

Last Saturday, after a series of rain and hail showers during the intervening week, the pitch at Horntye was damp and heavy for Priory’s first home fixture – any darling buds well and truly roughed up by a cold and blustery wind. Captain Harry Scowen, unfazed by the experience of the previous weekend, opted to bat first, judging that conditions wouldn’t improve over the day.

Visitors West Chiltington & Thakeham, newly promoted to the Premier League along with their Hastings hosts, bowled tightly for most of the innings, and after 30 overs had restricted the batting side to only 92 runs with three dismissed, including top scorer Scowen (a painstaking 41).

But Johnson raised the tempo with a breezy 40 off 36 balls, and after his dismissal Henry (23, made in elegant fashion) and Morgan (29, with some trademark biffs to the boundary) enjoyed a seventh wicket partnership of 58 that raised Priory’s eventual total to 220.

That looked a stiff target, and under grey clouds that threatened  rain (which fortunately didn’t materialise until the game was over) the Priory attack quickly gained a stranglehold. Spinner Adam Page, omitted from the side at Cuckfield, opened the bowling with Barton; Henry’s left-arm spin was also introduced early and, at 61 for five in the 28th over, West Chiltington were far in the rear view mirror. A sixth wicket stand of 75 between captain Reuben Taylor (50) and Richard Wilson (48 off 45 balls) opened the possibility of catch-up, but they had started far behind the clock, and both eventually succumbed to catches in the deep as the scoreboard pressure mounted. The tail flailed and ran out of wickets to lose in the 47th over, 51 runs short.

Team Priory celebrated raucously, as is their habit, and now move on to an away game at Haywards Heath tomorrow (Saturday), followed by hosting of Middleton on 30 May.

For the fourth time in the last six years, the cricketers of Hastings and St Leonards Priory are preparing for a summer season among the ten elite teams of the Sussex Premier League.

In 2021 they survived relegation from the Premier by a miraculous turn-around of form in the final month. In 2022 a very young team, short of experience and suffering injuries to key players, finished bottom. In 2024, having squeezed back from Division 2 the previous summer, they exited painfully again after a one-wicket loss to Horsham in the last over of the final match, when victory would have saved them.

Well, here they are again in 2026, after marching to a convincing Division 2 championship title last summer. But the attitude struck by winning captain Harry Scowen is different. “In previous seasons, the objective has been to stay up – and twice we’ve come short of that,” he says. “This time we really want to compete.” While not under-estimating the quality of opposition, he believes that the team is capable, at minimum, of a top five finish, perhaps better.

To that end, there has been an ambitious recruitment drive over the winter to add both quality and depth to the playing squad.

Young all-rounder Seaver Cowley has gone to Australia, and his middle-order batting and seam bowling will both be missed. Like last year, there will be no overseas player. But Alfie Hunter, who scored 538 runs and took 41 wickets with his off-spin for Buxted Park in Division 2 last season, has transferred his allegiance to Priory. So have a Mayfield pair, batsman Noah James and 18-year-old all-rounder Felix Holt.

Troy Henry, a 22-year-old left-arm spinner from Hornsey in Middlesex, has also signed up, subject to a ‘rookie’ contract with the full Sussex squad which has been renewed for the current season. He made his professional county debut for them in a one-day match last year.

BILLINGS’ RETURN

Best signing may, however, turn out to be the return of Joe Billings, wicketkeeper batsman who has scored prolifically for Priory in the past as an opener but has spent recent seasons in Wakefield, batting at no.3. That’s a position in the Priory line-up which has been problematic over the past couple of years, and which it’s hoped his boots could fill with distinction.

Last season’s bowlers should all be available again, with the exception of Cowley. Freddie Hulbert, Adam Barton and Shawn Johnson shared the new ball then, and are likely to do so again. Priory’s strength, though, was in their spin attack, particularly on the home pitch at Horntye, where helpful conditions throughout last summer persuaded both Barton and Johnson to bowl spinners more often than seam. With Adam Page offering reliable spells in support, and new recruits Hunter and Henry also in the frame, there could be tough competition for selection in that department.

Scowen maintains, however, that the club has a good culture of mutual support, with 2nd XI captain Brad Smith and director of cricket Jason Finch helping to ensure that all squad players stay keen and motivated. “Everyone wants to play at the highest level they can,” he says. “There’ll be opportunities for all.”

New local sponsors, Brewing Brothers, are providing some welcome financial support, and time and money has been spent over the winter on firming up the Horntye pitch. Scowen suggests that the aim is to give it more pace and bounce – though Priory supporters may hope that won’t militate against their cohort of spinners.

Priory’s first league fixture will be contested tomorrow (Saturday) away at Cuckfield. The following Saturday they host West Chiltington & Thakeham, who were promoted with them last September.

6 September: Priory 220 for 9, St James’s Montefiore 143

HUGH SULLIVAN

The summer of 2025 should be remembered fondly by the first XI cricketers of Hastings and St Leonards Priory for many years to come. The team won 13 out of 17 completed games in Division 2 of the Sussex Cricket League, including the last seven on the trot. They finished as champions, 52 points ahead of runners-up West Chiltington & Thakeham and 92 ahead of third-placed Brighton & Hove.

Priory’s success has been a true team endeavour. Of their batsmen, only captain Harry Scowen (568 runs overall at an average of 41) figured among the top 15 run-scorers in the division. But crucial innings came from anywhere in the batting order that the occasion demanded, and none of the three defeats suffered during the season came from being bowled out.

If openers Scowen and Caleb Laloo failed, which wasn’t often, the middle order, led by Greg Devlin, Shawn Johnson and Eddy Finch, generally turned things around. Young all-rounders Iden McCleave (a crucial 43 not out in unpromising circumstances to turn the tide in the top-of-the-table clash with West Chiltington on 9 August) and Seaver Cowley contributed valuable runs in many games. And it was a most astonishing tail-end partnership of 63 runs between number 9 Freddie Hulbert and number 10 Adam Page, including 56 plundered off the last 18 balls, that secured victory at Roffey in June with one ball to spare.

In the field, bowling honours were also shared widely. Freddie Hulbert was consistency personified as opening seam bowler, well supported by Cowley. But the side’s main artillery, particularly in home games at Horntye, was a multi-pronged spin attack, where the generally dry and dusty conditions remained favourable throughout the summer. Johnson, Adam Page, Adam Barton and McCleave all enjoyed lethal spells. Eight out of nine home games were won, Eastbourne being the only visitors to escape with a draw (with nine wickets down and 84 runs adrift).

In the field too, honours were spread. Wicket-keeping duties were shared between Scowen and Devlin, but Finch deputised ably when both were injured (the former with a broken thumb, the latter with a damaged finger). Not all catches were held, but the important ones were, and Finch, Johnson and Ryan Hoadley led the way in nimble and tidy ground fielding.

GETTING PROMOTED

Promotion was confirmed with a match to spare when Priory’s contest with Eastbourne at the Saffrons on 30 August was the only fixture to survive the rain sweeping across Sussex. The home side won the toss and elected to bat, but were swiftly in trouble. With neither Barton nor Page available, Priory had called upon veteran Jason Finch as an extra seamer, and he, Hulbert and Cowley reduced them to 35 for four. The middle order grafted painstakingly for a while, and the tail-enders swished, but McCleave took a couple of wickets and Cowley returned to good effect, finishing with four wickets in his seven overs.

Eastbourne’s eventual total of 133 seemed inadequate and, with rain still threatening, Priory made light of it. Laloo was adjudged lbw in the second over, but Scowen (39) and Tom Gillespie, making a rare appearance and hitting six fours in his innings of 46, added 86 for the second wicket. After both were dismissed, three more wickets tumbled quickly before Johnson (34 not out off 27 balls) struck the winning boundary.

BECOMING CHAMPIONS

A week on, Priory required six bonus points from their match against St James’s Montefiore to attain the championship title even if West Chiltington were to win their last game against Preston Nomads (in the event they lost it). Sent into bat by their visitors, Priory had a first target of 160 runs, the score which would guarantee six points.

Laloo (21) and Scowen (35) put 55 on the scoreboard in the first ten overs. There was then a mini-collapse in the middle order, with Johnson, Finch and McCleave all dismissed cheaply, and at 116 for five, a potential shortfall. However, Devlin (55) and Cowley (32) combining careful defence with belligerent blows, passed the target score still together and, after a typically aggressive cameo from Hulbert (18 not out including a six off the last ball), Priory’s total from their 45 overs was 220 for nine.

When St James batted, they lost their first three wickets to Hulbert (three for 18 off his nine overs) and two more when Page was introduced to the attack. From 56 for five, the rest of the innings was damage limitation: Johnson snaffled three wickets and McCleave the final two. The eventual total of 143 was 77 runs short, cuing raucous celebration both on-field and in the home dressing room.

Sussex Cricket League Div 2 Final Table (top three) 

HUGH SULLIVAN

It’s been a comfortable fortnight for the cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory, notching up two commanding victories against lowly opposition to retain their position at the head of Division 2 of the Sussex Cricket League.

Second-placed West Chiltington remain hard on Priory’s heels as they too enjoyed two easy wins. But with the chasing pack unable to keep pace, there’s now a wide gap to third place. Promotion back to the Premier Division for the Hastings side will surely be confirmed tomorrow (Saturday), when they travel to Eastbourne with only six bonus points needed.

On 16 August Priory’s batsmen rattled up their highest score of the season at Worthing. Captain Harry Scowen was run out in the third over and Ryan Hoadley also departed cheaply, but Caleb Laloo was in sparkling form, scoring 94 off 92 balls. His third wicket partnership of 119 with Shawn Johnson (60 off 60 balls) put Priory in total charge, and later batsmen Eddy Finch (36), Iden McCleave (30), Seaver Cowley (16 not out) and Freddie Hilbert (20) all cashed in to extend the total past 300.

Worthing responded with an opening stand of 92 runs, but steady bowling by Cowley, Adam Barton and Adam Page kept the scoring rate in check, and wickets gradually fell. McCleave took three in the closing overs, as the home batsmen swung their bats in vain to finish 56 runs short.

A week later at Horntye against Roffey 2nd XI, Priory again chose to bat first, this time in more testing conditions – a dry pitch which played low and slow and inhibited fast scoring. Scowen eschewed his usual swashbuckling style for a more watchful approach, picking off the bad balls while defending the good. His score of 73 held the innings together. Of the other eight batsmen engaged, all reached double figures, but none topped 30: Johnson (21), Finch (28) and Cowley (24) made highest contributions.

The total of 228 for 7 reached in 45 overs was a daunting one in the circumstances, and in poor light and against Priory’s accurate six-man attack, the visitors never mounted a serious challenge, subsiding to 97 all out in 34 overs.

Priory are due to play at Eastbourne tomorrow (Saturday), then have a final game at Horntye Park against St James’s, Montefiore on Saturday 6 September. 

Sussex Cricket League – Division 2 table (top four)

HUGH SULLIVAN

Hastings & St Leonards Priory returned to the top of Division 2 of the Sussex Cricket League last Saturday by squeezing past previous leaders West Chiltington & Thakeham in a thrilling finish at Horntye.

Winning the toss and inviting their West Sussex visitors to bat first on a dry pitch which aided spin, Priory bowled them out for 189, scored off 52 overs. Adam Barton, starting at pace but then reverting to spin, took six wickets for 56 off 21 overs and was ably supported by Adam Page and Shawn Johnson. Captain Harry Scowen bemoaned a couple of catches that went down – “they should have got 15 or 20 less than they did” – but the target of 190 in 48 overs remained within range.

Priory’s openers started cautiously, and after Scowen was removed by pace bowler Ashay Palkar, West Chiltington reverted to their own spin attack led by Hugo Gillespie. Caleb Laloo (20), Ryan Hoadley (27) and Shawn Johnson(27) battled hard but succumbed in turn. Eddy Finch was dismissed for a duck, and at 97 for five after 30 overs, a draw seemed the best that the home side could achieve.

TABLES TURNED

But, in a tense atmosphere of lengthening shadows, with spectators gathering in increasing numbers around the pavilion and cheering each run scored, Priory’s middle order led by Iden McCleave gradually turned the tables. He and Seaver Cowley (15) added 32 for the sixth wicket, then Greg Devlin joined him, and the pair launched a calculated attack, combining fierce driving with some deft shots into empty space behind the wicket. Devlin hit 29 runs in 30 balls, including five boundaries. Two balls were lost in thick hedgerows beyond the boundary. Palkar eventually returned to trap Devlin lbw, but by that stage only 12 more runs were needed off 19 balls.

Three runs came in the 46th over, and five in the next, shared between McCleave and number 9 batsman Freddie Hulbert, leaving McCleave on strike for the final six balls to be bowled by Gillespie.

McCleave hit the first for two runs through extra cover, missed the next two, then skied the fourth ball into vacant space on the legside, and he and Hulbert scampered the two further runs required. McCleave finished with 43 not out off 54 balls, probably his finest innings in Priory colours.

VICTORY AT MAYFIELD

A week earlier, Priory had accomplished a more routine victory away at Mayfield. Batting first and sharing in an opening stand of 107 with Laloo (36), Scowen (118 including 15 fours) scored his second century of the season. Finch hit a rapid 44 not out off 37 balls, as a total of 262 for six was amassed in 50 overs.

Mayfield never looked capable of overhauling this score, and Priory chipped away at their batting line-up, with wickets shared between Barton and Page (three each) and Hulbert and Johnson (two each). Victory by 79 runs was achieved with four overs to spare.

The league competition now reverts to limited-over format for the remaining four Saturdays of the season. Priory will play away at Worthing and Eastbourne, home against Roffey 2nd XI and St James’s Montefiore. Five of the ten league sides – Priory, West Chiltington, Brighton & Hove, St James’s and Eastbourne–remain in contention for the two promotion places. 

Sussex Cricket League – Division 2 table

HUGH SULLIVAN

Hastings & St Leonards Priory fell to their third defeat of the season at Hove on 19 July in a game reduced by heavy morning rainfall to 20 overs per team. They scored what they must have thought was a defensible total of 154, Shawn Johnson top-scoring with a rapid 35, Seaver Cowley (29) holding the middle order together, and stand-in captain Freddie Hulbert providing a late flourish with 24 not out off 26 balls.

In reply, hosts Brighton & Hove lost their opener caught at the wicket off Seaver Cowley’s second ball of the innings. But a century stand for the second wicket put them in control, and they marched on to victory with seven wickets and nearly four overs to spare. Hulbert had six front-line Priory bowlers to call upon (Cowley, Adam Barton, Johnson, himself, Adam Page and Iden McCleave) but none could stem the flow of runs.

The only consolation for the Hastings side was that neither of their immediate rivals at the top of Division 2 of the Sussex League managed a victory on the day. West Chiltington & Thakeham were held to a draw by bottom-of-the-table Roffey 2nds, while St James’s Montefiore and Eastbourne had their respective fixtures cancelled because of the rain.

A week later, with captain Harry Scowen restored to the team after recovering from injury, Priory sought to make amends at Horntye against Buxted Park. Caleb Laloo (62) and Scowen (25) made a patient start and Cowley upped the tempo with a swashbuckling innings of 56 off 60 balls. Perhaps concerned at the performance in the field at Hove, Scowen held off a declaration for the full 53 overs.

The target of 234 was always going to be a tall order for the visitors. They started in similar fashion to Brighton and Hove, losing an opener in Adam Barton’s first over, then putting together a century stand for the second wicket. They were behind the clock, however, in the face of disciplined seam bowling from Hulbert, Barton and Cowley.

The advent of Priory’s spinners wasn’t immediately effective, Page being roughly treated in a brief spell, but Shawn Johnson made the breakthrough in the 25th over from the pavilion end, and he and Barton – returning to find lift and turn with left-arm spinners from the far end – ran through the middle order and tail. Johnson took six wickets for 42 runs, five of his victims clean-bowled; Barton took the other four for 36. Priory won by 82 runs with more than six overs to spare.

12 July; Preston Nomads 2nd XI 148: Priory 149 for 3

HUGH SULLIVAN

It’s been a fortnight of contrasting fortunes, both individually and collectively, for the cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory. Captain Harry Scowen broke his thumb in fielding practice before the away match against St James’s Montefiore at Hassocks on 5 July and could do nothing to assist his team-mates as they went down to their first defeat in two months. This despite a brilliant century by Greg Devlin. Scowen will be out of action for the rest of this month.

Then Devlin himself, keeping wicket for Priory the following Saturday as they hosted Preston Nomads 2nd XI at Horntye, also suffered a serious injury to his finger (he spent much of the afternoon being treated in the Conquest Hospital A&E department). However, with both injured men eventually present on the sidelines, the Hastings team completed a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Preston to avenge defeat by them in the corresponding away fixture in early May.

The game against St James’s was cut short by ten overs as a result of rain. Priory won the toss and elected to bat. By the seventeenth over they found themselves four wickets down with only 44 on the board. Devlin (110 not out off 96 balls) led an excellent recovery supported first by Tom Gillespie (21), then by Seaver Cowley (34 not out).

Scowen judged the eventual score of 202 for five sufficient to declare on, aiming to give his bowlers 45 full overs to bowl out St James’s. Unfortunately, the home batsmen had other ideas, and knocked off the runs with five wickets and a couple of overs to spare. Cowley bowled economically and took two wickets, but Freddie Hulbert’s six overs cost 34 runs, and Adam Page’s two wickets were expensively earned.

NOMADS DOWNED

The course of the game against the Nomads was altogether more satisfactory from Priory’s perspective. Hulbert, captaining in Scowen’s absence, lost the toss but wasn’t unhappy to see the visitors take first knock on a dry pitch which had uneven bounce and took spin. The openers scored 58 in a first wicket partnership, but it took them more than 21 overs to do it against tight seam bowling from Cowley and Hulbert. Then Priory’s spinners Adam Page (5 for 29) and later Shawn Johnson (3 for 50) took control, and Preston could muster only a further 90 runs from their remaining nine wickets, finishing with 148 in 52 overs.

With little time pressure on Priory’s openers, Caleb Laloo and Iden McCleave, they could adopt a measured approach, playing straight and defending good balls while punishing the looser deliveries. Their own 50 partnership took only13 overs. McCleave (30) eventually drove a catch to mid-on, and Ryan Hoadley was dismissed cheaply, pinned lbw by a ball that kept low.

But Laloo continued imperturbably to a first half-century of the season, finishing with 61 not out, while Shawn Johnson’s breezy 28 ensured there would be no faltering in the middle order. Both men combined expansive drives with aggressive running between the wickets, and the target was reached with only three wickets down and 20 overs to spare.

The win seems to confirm Priory’s penchant for bowling first and chasing a target rather than having to set one themselves. They’ve won all five Sussex League matches this season when they’ve batted second – only one when they’ve batted first.

The win also consolidates their league position. With Division 2 leaders West Chiltington & Thakeham comprehensively beaten last Saturday at Worthing, while third-placed St James’s also lost in a high-scoring match with Brighton & Hove, Priory have kept themselves well-placed in the second promotion slot.

Next up is an away trip to Brighton & Hove, then a visit to Horntye by Buxted Park. Scowen and Devlin are unlikely to be fit for either match, which might render the batting line-up a trifle thin. But the side has shown strength in depth so far this season: it’s an opportunity for others to shine.

HUGH SULLIVAN

In a topsy turvy game at Horntye last Saturday, the cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory came within a whisker – that’s to say an umpire’s marginal call – of triumphing over neighbours Eastbourne. The visitors, previously unbeaten in Division 2 of the Sussex League, lost their ninth wicket in the 42nd over, 84 runs adrift of the Hastings score. Their last pair, numbers 10 and 11, were surrounded by close fielders, and subjected to a series of ear-splitting appeals every time the ball hit a pad but they managed to dead-bat the last 34 balls bowled by Prior’s spinners Adam Page and Shawn Johnson to secure a draw.

Earlier in the day, Priory’s batsmen, invited to take first innings after captain Harry Scowen lost the toss, had struggled to muster a decent total. Six of the top seven reached double figures, but only Tom Gillespie, making a rare return to the team, went on to greater profit, and at 126 for 8 in the 36th over, they were in serious trouble. A ninth wicket stand of 55 between Gillespie, who finished with 76 not out, and veteran John Morgan (25) retrieved some respectability. But it was costly too, in that Morgan pulled a hamstring in a scamper between wickets, leaving Priory short of a key bowler to defend the final score of 194.

Their response in the field was admirable, with Freddie Hulbert (2 for 20) and Page (3 for 53) bowling a tight line and length from either end as they shared the first 24 overs of the Eastbourne innings between them. The batsmen laboured to get their score moving and then started losing wickets – five down for 51 at this halfway stage, and continuing to falter as Johnson (3 for 33) maintained the stranglehold as Hulbert’s replacement.

Page eventually bowled unchanged for the whole innings, 24 successive overs – a heroic feat of stamina, though Scowen might perhaps have tried another option to break the last partnership.

A week earlier Priory and Roffey 2nd XI had accumulated 550 runs between them, the Hastings side scraping a remarkable two-wicket victory with just one ball to spare. Eddy Finch top-scored for Priory with 80 off 76 balls, then Hulbert (66 not out) and Page (25 not out) combined as numbers 9 and 10 batsmen in a winning ninth wicket partnership of 63, including 52 off the last three overs.

14 June: Worthing 195; Priory 197 for 2

HUGH SULLIVAN

Only three points separate the top three teams in Division 2 of the Sussex Cricket League after last Saturday’s round of matches – but Hastings & St Leonards Priory now head the table after a comprehensive home victory over Worthing. Captain Harry Scowen put his inconsistent start to the season behind him, smiting 19 fours and a six in an unbeaten innings of 119 not out scored at more than a run a ball as his team raced to their target of 196 for the loss of only two wickets.

Priory had completed the double over their West Sussex opponents when both teams were playing in the Premier Division last season, and from the beginning of this match, when Scowen won the toss and opted to field first, they always seemed likely to maintain their supremacy.

It was a good toss to win, in truth, after heavy overnight rain had dampened the pitch. Priory’s opening seamers John Morgan and Sachi Mahendran were kept at bay, but at the cost of a slow scoring rate. Change bowlers Adam Page, Charlie Francis, Shawn Johnson and Iden McCleave all bowled economically, and after 44 overs Worthing had just 148 runs on the scoreboard with eight wickets still in hand.

That left a maximum of nine overs for the rest of the batsmen to swing their bats in an effort to raise the tempo. Instead, Page (finishing with five wickets for 64, including two stumpings by wicket-keeper Greg Devlin) and Johnson (three for 17) ran through their middle and late order batting, and they were bowled out for 195, leaving Priory 47 overs to overhaul them.

Opener Caleb Laloo was run out early on and in-form Ryan Hoadley was also dispatched cheaply. But by that time Scowen was already well on his way, and he was given excellent support by Johnson (58 not out off 54 balls) in an unbroken partnership of 145 runs as Priory cantered to victory with more than 13 overs to spare.

RAIN CHECK

The previous Saturday, 7 June, Priory made the long journey to Pulborough to play West Chiltington & Thakeham. The home team are a force to be reckoned with in this division and, after sending their visitors in to bat first in a 45-over match, bowled them out for a total of 167 in the 42nd over. Although Scowen lasted only seven balls, a second wicket partnership between Hoadley (44) and McCleave (also 44) had seemed to put the innings on a secure foundation, but after the latter’s dismissal, wickets tumbled. Only Eddie Finch (20) and Morgan (24 not out) reached double figures.

Priory hit back quickly in the field, Morgan recalling vintage spells of the past as he took three wickets – two bowled, one lbw – in his first three overs. With significant rain expected, it was always unlikely that there would be time for either side to win, and so it proved. The Pulborough side had reached 58 for four off 14 overs when the game was called off. Four out of five matches in the division suffered similar abandonment, including that of current leaders Eastbourne playing up the road at Horsham against Roffey 2nd XI, so little ground was lost.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Priory in turn travel to Roffey, while on 28 June they will host Eastbourne, who are still unbeaten after six games, in a top-of-the table contest at Horntye.

24 May: Buxted Park 61; Hastings & St Leonards Priory 64 for 2

31 May: Priory 245 for 5; Mayfield 190

HUGH SULLIVAN

Two comfortable wins over the past fortnight have elevated the Hastings & Priory team to second place in Division 2 of the Sussex Cricket League. There’s a long way to go, and Priory have yet to play against any of the better teams in the division, but the form of both batters and bowlers augurs well for the immediate future.

On 24 May, they travelled to Buxted Park. That’s not always a happy hunting-ground for visiting bowlers, but Harry Scowen won the toss for the Hastings team, invited the home side to bat first and saw his seam attack – Freddie Hulbert, Adam Barton and Shawn Johnson – skittle them for 61 all out in 24 overs. Barton (2 for 14) took the opening two wickets, Hulbert (3 for 29) the next two, then Johnson blazed through the tail with five wickets for just nine runs in seven overs.

When Priory batted, Scowen and Caleb Laloo were dismissed within the first seven balls of the innings and, at one run scored for two wickets lost, it seemed that the match might not be as one-sided as it had hitherto appeared. Iden MCleave had other ideas, hitting 39 not out off 41 balls, and with Johnson (18 not out) giving good support at the other end, the pair strolled to an eight-wicket victory.

A week later, back at Horntye, visitors Mayfield sent Priory in to bat, but on a warm, sunny afternoon, Priory’s batsmen enjoyed themselves. Ryan Hoadley opened with Scowen, and scored 91 off 112 balls, including eight fours and a six. He and McCleave (37) shared a second wicket partnership of 112, then Shawn Johnson came in to yank up the scoring rate with 50 in 49 balls. The eventual score of 245 for five off 45 overs would take some overhauling.

Mayfield made a go of it despite losing early wickets as Adam Page and Hulbert took two apiece. The Priory bowling was occasionally ragged, both in the number of wides conceded and in off-length deliveries. Visiting captain Tristan Killops, batting at six, showed a range of aggressive shots and kept going for them; the score mounted at a competitive pace. But Jed O’Brien, bowling his left-arm spin unchanged through his allotted nine overs, prised out a succession of his partners (one lbw, two bowled and one well held in the deep by Page) to end up with four wickets for 37. Johnson was brought back to remove numbers 10 and 11, leaving Killops high and dry with 65 not out, and Priory the victors by 55 runs.

Next fixture for the Hastings team (tomorrow, Saturday) is a long trip to West Chiltington near Pulborough. The following Saturday, 14 June, they’ll entertain Worthing at Horntye. 

17 May: Brighton & Hove 181; Priory 182-4

HUGH SULLIVAN

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory began their Division 2 season with a five-wicket defeat by Preston Nomads 2nd team – due warning that, after relegation from the Sussex Premier League in 2024, they are not going to get themselves back up without a struggle. Last Saturday, however, entertaining Brighton & Hove at Horntye, Harry Scowen’s men were able to exercise control from the start, and completed a six-wicket win with more than 11 overs to spare.

In this dry and sunny May the pitches have been baked unseasonably hard and, with quick outfields, batsmen have been able to hoist high scores throughout the leagues. Batting first against Preston at Henfield, Priory were probably pleased with their overall total of 251 off 45 overs. Caleb Laloo (67), Scowen (28), Iden McCleave (42), Greg Devlin (31) and Freddie Hulbert (32) all made solid contributions as the scoring rate was gradually accelerated.

But, in reply, Preston got off to a flier as Priory’s frontline seam bowler, John Morgan, suffered an embarrassing afternoon, conceding 48 runs off four overs, including 18 wides and two no-balls. A first wicket partnership of 79 was ended by Shawn Johnson dismissing both openers in his first over, and the home side struggled for a time to keep up with the required run rate, but Joe Mustoe, batting at three, eventually took command, scoring 80 not out off 76 balls with none of Priory’s bowlers able to contain him.

A week later, spinners Adam Page and Jed O’Brien replaced seamers Morgan and Seaver Cowley in the Priory bowling attack against Brighton & Hove. Ryan Hoadley was also recalled to the side after scoring 88 not out for the 2nd team in his first knock of the season.

The visitors elected to bat first on another dry wicket, and made a bright start, but were pegged back by the steady loss of wickets. Page took 3 for 41 off his nine overs and O’Brien 2 for 26, while Johnson (2 for 30), Jason Finch (2 for 29) and Hulbert (only 14 runs conceded off his five overs) gave valuable support. Brighton reached an eventual total of 181, before being bowled out in the final (45th) over.

That score seemed under par in the conditions, and so it proved. Laloo and Johnson fell early to lbw decisions, but Scowen was in aggressive mood, scoring 71 off 72 balls, including 13 fours. McCleave (21) played second fiddle in a third wicket partnership with him of 81. After both were removed, Hoadley (24 not out) and Devlin (also 24 not out) eased to the target.

Next up (tomorrow, Saturday) is an away game at Buxted Park, who have lost both their contests so far. Then, on 31 May, they’ll play host to Mayfield at Horntye.

An unusually dry and sunny spring has brought cricket weather early this year, and the Horntye Park pitch off Bohemia Road is looking a pretty picture. The Hastings & St Leonards Priory team, relegated from the Sussex Premier League by the closest of margins last September, play their first Division 2 match away to Preston Nomads 2nd XI tomorrow (Saturday). They will open their home season the following Saturday, 17 May, when they entertain Brighton & Hove.

Harry Scowen captains the team for the second year, and it’s likely that they will lean heavily on him again for runs at the top of the order. Two of last year’s regular batting line-up, Dylan Woolley and Adam Keane, won’t be available, and Tom Gillespie is likely to make only intermittent appearances as he commutes between Hastings and Spain. But Caleb Laloo will be expected to build on his confident form of last summer, Ryan Hoadley is set to return, and there are two new recruits, Shawn Johnson from Bexhill and Freddie Hulbert from Linden Park (Tunbridge Wells). Both will bat in the middle order while also offering seam bowling options.

In this department, Priory have considerable depth: Adam Barton, Saatchi Mahendran and evergreen John Morgan should share the new ball, while Seaver Cowley and Iden McCleave will give dependable support. Jed O’Brien expects to be available most Saturdays to ply his left-arm spin in tandem with Adam Page. There may also be increased opportunities for Charlie Francis, last summer’s leading wicket-taker for the 2nd XI.

For the first time in many years there will be no overseas recruit. Four years ago the all-round skills of Sri Lankan Dilshan De Zoysa were instrumental in saving Priory’s Premier League status. But the following year Indian Abhay Negi broke his arm early in the summer and spent most of the campaign on the sidelines as the team slumped back to Division 2. In 2023 Priory engaged young Australian all-rounder Alex Osborne, whose perky batting and quirky leg-spin were key ingredients in their immediate return. But Osborne’s return for a second year was not a success, and he was released early. It remains to be seen how this summer’s team will fare without any replacement.

One positive which Morgan as club chair feels will enhance team cohesion and spirit is the return of the 2nd XI to play alternate matches at Horntye. Promoted last season to Division 4 East, just two tiers below, they should be able to provide a good standard of experience for players on the fringe of the first team, and better opportunities for juniors to come through and compete for first team places.

For now, there’s pressure through the club to get in the nets and find some form for the summer ahead. In a pre-season friendly against Division 3 side Little Common Ramblers on 26 April, the Priory batsmen, with Scowen absent, found themselves facing a keen bowling attack on a lively pitch and were dismissed for 204. McCleave top-scored with 45. In the field, the Hastings side held back their faster bowlers and gave spinners Francis and O’Brien, a fuller work-out. Their hosts won comfortably, reaching their target with eight overs to spare and only four wickets down, Francis taking three. More serious contests lie ahead. 

Hastings & St Leonards Priory Cricket Club are looking for an umpire to officiate in their 2nd XI matches for the 2025 season in Division 4 East of the Sussex League.

Games are on Saturdays starting at 12.30pm from the beginning of May onwards. Home fixtures are at Horntye Park. Expenses will be provided, and the club can give for support with umpire training courses.

If interested, whether it is for a full season, part only, or just the occasional Saturday, please contact John Morgan on 07811 443910 or by email to johnboymorgan@hotmail.com.

The Horntye estate currently provides the town’s primary cricket ground and only current hockey pitch alongside a pavilion complex and large sports hall. Its trustees, the Hastings and Rother Sports Trust operating through Horntye Park Management Company, have argued for many years that the set-up is financially unviable – and always has been since its effective rejection as a first-class cricket ground by the Sussex County Cricket authorities. 

A series of potential moves of cricketers and hockey players – to Bulverhythe, to Claremont school, to Sandhurst – have been contemplated and researched over the past decade. In the case of Claremont, a planning application for the development of new facilities there was approved in principle by Rother District Council in 2021, and some considerable sums were spent in infrastructure development. But, with no external funding offered, all initiatives of the Horntye trustees were dependent on being permitted to sell off the cricket ground for housing development – which planners at Hastings Borough Council (HBC), backed by a swathe of local opinion, have resisted.

Now, with governing requiring an increase in the number of homes built in the borough, the upturn of values in the housing market has caused the trustees to re-assess their development plans. According to the Finance & Development Director of the Management Company, Dave Nessling, a reduced development of between 50 and 65 residential units, located around the perimeter of the existing cricket ground at Horntye, could raise sufficient profit to bankroll a more economical sports package that ticks all the required boxes. 

In short, the plan is for the cricket ground (including junior grass football pitches), pavilion and sports hall to be retained; the all-weather sand-dressed hockey pitch to be re-laid as a full-size 3G football surface; and fresh hockey facilities, including a floodlit sand-dressed pitch and pavilion to be developed at Hastings Academy (the former Hillcrest school in Ore). There should be enough space at Horntye to consider adding a couple of floodlit padel tennis courts and a new boule pitch. The first improvements have already been implemented there in the form of an upgrade of the all-weather pitch floodlights to LED.

ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORT

The Sports Trust has already lodged a planning application for the hockey pitch relocation, which is enthusiastically supported both by UBAT (the University of Brighton Academy Trust) which runs Hastings Academy and by the management of South Saxons Hockey Club. The club’s five adult teams in the South East Hockey League (three male, two female) and busy junior squads have been desperate to move on from the 25-year-old pitch at Horntye: it’s in poor condition, and long past its viable end-date. Development of hockey as a major team sport at the school should not only provide educational benefits in itself but promote links with the club that are likely in the longer term to boost the intake of future young players: it looks a win-win for all.

The finance for the move is still dependent on the success of the now more modest housing plans at Horntye, as are the other sporting initiatives. Discussions with the prospective developers and perhaps with representatives of HBC are likely to take place before the end of this month, after which the way forward in terms of a formal planning application will become clear. Thus the cricketers of Hastings and St Leonards Priory, arrayed in three adult male elevens in the Sussex League plus more occasional women’s and junior teams, will have to wait a while longer to hear whether their future at Horntye can be assured. However, in the meantime, the club has been informed that not only will the ground be available again to its first XI this summer; its 2^nd XI will also be able to return there for their home matches after three years’ exile at Claremont. 

The potential advent of a full-size 3G football pitch – the first in Hastings and long overdue – will be of major interest to community clubs, e.g. those playing in the East Sussex League and junior clubs in the Rother Youth League. Both adults and juniors will surely welcome the possibility of playing there rather than on the wretchedly under-maintained grass pitches of Tilekiln or Bulverhythe. It could also prove a boon to Hastings United, whose players suffer from the lack of a decent training surface. Is this a new sporting dawn for the town?

At Hastings Athletics Club (HAC) it’s been a busy and successful year for the club in every discipline – from local events to international level – as it celebrated its 60th anniversary. 

Ten club members featured in the UK top 10 for their age group, and 13 made the top 20 for performances in track, field and road in 2024.  

An astonishing 52 athletes made it into the top 10 in the club’s own records, with 17 breaking a total of 28 club records between them.

Back in February, athletes of different age groups won medals in indoor track events and, as the cross-country season wrapped up, youth athletes represented their schools and county up to national level. The adult team joined forces with Hastings Runners to lift aloft the cup for the East Sussex Sunday League. 

At the highly anticipated Hastings Half Marathon in March, HAC’s Grace Baker was first female home, nearly seven minutes ahead of her nearest challenger; Rhys Boorman, also of HAC, came sixth in the men’s race. Tom Chaffin won the mini-run. 

Track season brought top performances in the youth development league and Southern Athletics league, while the Sussex County Championships produced 12 medals. Rae Le Fay went on to represent Team GB in the 2,000 metres steeplechase – the first HAC athlete to do so at international level in the last ten years. She broke a British Milers Club record on her qualifier at under 20s level, her name now to be etched on the awards board in the clubhouse alongside many club legends.

A surge in interest for field events was well supported, leading to two hammer throwers, Alanna Oakman and Kitti Szabo-Papp, competing nationally at the English Schools championships. 

The club hosted not only two very successful league events on the track, but also a 60th anniversary competition and awards ceremony emphasising the longstanding camaraderie among its members. The clubhouse has had a refresh and is now a buzzing social hub at the end of every session. There is huge optimism for 2025.

FOOTBALL

It’s been a tale of three managers at the Pilot Field in 2024 – four if you count the caretaker role played last month by coach Sean Ray. A year ago Chris Agutter was in his second stint at the helm after arriving in October. He steered Hastings United to the fringes of the promotion play-offs at the top of the Isthmian Premier League in the spring, then left for the richer pastures of Worthing, now going well in the Vanarama National League. Danny Bloor, once of Eastbourne Borough, came in May, but was gone by late October. New appointment from the beginning of this month is Danny Searle, former youth coach at West Ham, who is armed with a UEFA Pro Licence and has previous managerial experience at several clubs in the National League.

At the beginning of April, Agutter’s team seemed well set to finish in the league’s top five, but a disappointing run at the end of the season – only one win in the last five games – meant a final placing of seventh, nine points short of the lowest play-off place. They also disappointed in losing the Sussex Transport Cup Final 3-0 to Horsham at the Amex Stadium. Despite having signed an extension to his contract for the 2024-25 season, Agutter swiftly announced his departure.

Incoming boss Bloor could point to an excellent record at Eastbourne, and came in praising the quality of the playing squad he was inheriting at the Pilot Field, the calibre of the directors and staff he was joining, and the passion of ‘U’s supporters. Most players were retained from the previous season, though the speed and skill of winger John Ufuah has been sorely missed. And initial results were encouraging, Horsham being beaten 2-0 on the opening day, followed by an away win at Whitehawk and progress through two rounds of the FA Cup. 

However, the team lacked the control in midfield that Agutter had always espoused, and leaked goals in defence. Reverses were suffered both away and at home: cup eliminations were coupled with a slide down the league table to the relegation zone. Bloor was unceremoniously dismissed after an FA Trophy defeat at Hadley on 26 October.

Ray took the reins as interim manager and, like his predecessors, started with a win, 2-0 at home to Whitehawk. But a fortnight later, with several players less than fully fit, the ‘U’s suffered a humiliating 9-0 league defeat at Hendon, and it is probably a relief all round that a more travelled manager has now arrived.

The choice of Searle for the managerial job is presumably based upon his record of enhancing youth development. There’s clearly scope for that in Hastings, though the standard of playable training facilities may be rather lower than he is used to. Most observers would agree that there is enough footballing talent available, if the team is set up capably and recovers good fitness levels. Davide Rodari is a proven goalscorer, Adam Lovatt is a hard-working and combative captain in midfield, and young players like George Walker, Freddie Legg and Fin Chapman should improve with experience. 

So far, Searle has seen his team score a league cup win on penalties over third-placed Cray Valley PM, a 3-2 away win over Chichester City and a gutsy 1-1 draw away last Saturday at second-placed Billericay.  

CRICKET

Hastings & St Leonards Priory cricketers experienced an ultimately unsuccessful return to the Sussex Premier League in 2024 when they were relegated by the narrowest of margins. In other years their record over the season of six victories and nine defeats might have accumulated them enough league points to survive, but they finished just three points short of eighth-placed Bognor Regis.

Needing a victory on the last day at home to runners-up Horsham in order to retain their status, they only got the game going at all by a mopping-up operation after heavy overnight rain. Batting first in a contest reduced to 40 overs per side, Priory scored a total of 165 for seven; Horsham accumulated steadily in reply, but wickets then tumbled under murky skies, and the last over came with nine wickets down and nine runs to win – or eight to tie, which would have been sufficient for Priory’s escape. It was not to be: a conclusive boundary was hit off the penultimate ball, and the Hastings side will be playing back in Division 2 next summer.

On the batting front, new captain Harry Scowen led from the front all summer, scoring 556 runs from 14 innings, including two centuries. Caleb Laloo also enjoyed an excellent first season as an opener. But none of the middle order, often required to accelerate the tempo after a sedate start, retained any consistent form, so that the side posted competitive totals on too few occasions.

John Morgan was yet again the pick of the bowlers, taking 22 wickets. Adam Barton gave him good support when available, and Adam Page enjoyed his best season to date as spinner. Aussie recruit Alex Osborne was unable to bowl his leg-spinners with any sort of control, however, and was ultimately released in mid-season. Young all-rounders Seaver Cowley and Iden McCleave had their moments of success with both bat and ball, but lacked the consistency which more experience may bring.

The future of Priory’s home ground, Horntye Park, is still in the balance, the plans to dig it up for housing seeming no further forward than this time last year.  

RUGBY

With a new chairman Ben Davies, a new coaching duo of Bruce Steadman and Ben Petty, and a new captain, Harry Walker, Hastings & Bexhill have been celebrating their centennial season with eyes on the future as well as the past.

On the pitch, having survived the threat of a second successive relegation in the Kent League in the spring, H & B’s first XV have performed well this autumn, chalking up seven victories out of 11 matches in Counties 3. Top three in the division are 2nd XV teams from Tonbridge (Juddians), Tunbridge Wells and Beckenham, but the Hastings team beat Beckenham convincingly in their opening game in September and went down only narrowly 14-17 to Tunbridge Wells a month ago. Defence has been strong – they have conceded less league points than any other team; and when their backs are on song, they can also score freely: New Ash Green were thumped 47-15 at H & B’s home ground of Alexandra Academy last Saturday.

The squad is still lacking in numbers, short of sufficient replacements when first picks are injured or otherwise unavailable, though those who have come in have generally acquitted themselves well. One boost is the return of Quin McManus after a spell in New Zealand.

Women’s and junior/ ‘mini’ teams have, in the meantime, been thriving. The women have combined to produce a joint team with Seaford. The ‘minis’ train at the club every Sunday between 9.30 and 11am – playing full contact rugby at under 9, under 10 and under 11 levels. The under 10s won their first game of the Polgrove Salts Cup, defeating Seaford earlier this month.

Lower age-groups play under ‘tag’ rules, with numbers surging after the club’s annual ‘bring a friend’ day. There will be several festivals of rugby for them to play in early next year. And there is now an under 6s section for children in school Reception and Year 1, learning basic ball control through playing fun and interactive games with a dedicated coach.

Off the pitch the club has held a centenary ball as well as two lunches for former players.

TENNIS

The (mostly) friendly dance of rivalry between the Amherst club in Hastings and The Green in St Leonards continued in 2024 with perennial ups and downs. 

In the Tennis Sussex Winter Doubles competition, The Green men’s team, boosted by participation of coaches Joe Adams and Ross Cudmore (late of Amherst), were promoted to Division 2 in the spring and have scored two match wins out of three in the current season. Shorn of these players, they’re not the same force, as they showed finishing mid-table in Division 8 of the equivalent Summer competition.

Amherst, too, were promoted from Division 5 to Division 4 of the 2023-24 Winter league, with consistent performances by captain Dylan Preece, Quentin Soucek, Anthony Hickey and Mark Cunnington. They have been struggling, however, at the higher level. In the equivalent Summer Doubles, starting in Division 3, they fielded nine players including several new to first team play, but were unable to win a team match and will play next summer back in Division 4.

On the women’s side, The Green were relegated from Division 3 to Division 4 in the spring despite the efforts of their always proficient first pairing, Beaula Page and Amanda Ruck. In the Summer league they finished mid-table in Division 4.

Amherst’s women were involved in thrilling finales in both competitions. Needing a 3-1 victory in their final Winter match away at Horsham to be promoted to Division 2, they won all three matches in third set tie-breaks, Pearl Hare paired with Nikki Crowhurst, Anita Pearce with Jane Garrett. Summer Division 3 was just as tight: again Amherst needed a 3-1 win away against Seaford & Blatchington for equivalent promotion. All four matches went to third set tie-breaks: this time Pearce and Debi Ani won both theirs, but Crowhurst and Hare suffered agonising defeats.

There are no inter-club matches featuring singles play, but Amherst held a highly competitive closed tournament in June. On a day of freakish wind-gusts, Soucek overpowered Hickey in the men’s final, while Crowhurst and Hare fought a thrillingly turbulent (though immaculately sporting) contest, just edged by the former in another third set tie-break.

CRICKET

Graeme Mounsey, RIP

JOHN MORGAN

Hastings & St Leonards Priory cricketers are mourning the death of former president, treasurer and player Graeme Mounsey, who has sadly passed away at the age of 90.

Nobody has done more for the Priory club than Graeme. He was a founder member when Hastings & St Leonards merged with The Priory in 1957 to form one of the strongest clubs in the Southeast, and was captain when it joined the Sussex League in 1971. He featured in many of the club’s early successes including the 1974 Kemp Cup win and the 1978 league championship.

He played with distinction in all XIs across the men’s teams, primarily as a wily slow left-arm bowler who put fear into the opposition batting line-up, but also a lower order batsman with a century to his name.

By the late 70s, Graeme had dropped to the 2nd XI, but was leading wicket-taker in 1981. He finished his playing career forming a formidable spin bowling attack in the 4th XI with Peter Finch in the noughties, though not before being recalled to the first team as a 65-year-old when the team was hit by a spin bowling crisis.

Graeme was similarly committed off the field, serving the club in many posts over a cumulative 68 years, as a rigorous and tenacious treasurer (nobody got away with debts to the club), as secretary, and latterly as club president until stepping down earlier this year. He also ran the 100 Club, the draw being the conclusion to many a committee meeting.

From 1974 until 2002, he was the chairman of the Central Cricket Ground Trust, integral in the planning and development of Horntye Park to save senior cricket in the town following the demise of the Central Ground.

   Above all, Graeme was a sincere and caring person, eager to help young players and to share his love of the game and the club. He was a regular spectator, greeting fellow cricket lovers with a cheery smile and a polite ‘good afternoon’. His loss will be sorely felt. 

The Sussex Cricket League, whose 2024 season ended earlier this month, spreads over 39 Divisions, accommodating over 370 teams between Bosham in the west and Rye in the east. There are just four teams based in Hastings: Hastings & St Leonards Priory first, second and third elevens – and Royal Hastings.

The Priory first team played this year at Horntye Park in the Premier League, which may or may not be available to them again when they return to Division 2 in 2025. It is currently the subject of a planning application to be turned into housing. The second team played at Claremont School (which is outside the borough), gaining promotion from Division 5 East to Division 4. The third team played at Sandhurst Recreation Ground on the Ridge in Division 11 South-East alternating use of the pitch there with Royal Hastings, a quite distinct team of newcomers. 

The Royals were formed less than a year ago from a nucleus of friends and work colleagues of South Asian origin employed as doctors and nurses at the Conquest Hospital and other local medical practices. Recruited into the NHS from Kerala, Sri Lanka and other parts of the Indian sub-continent, they found they shared a cricket education in common. They started playing casually at the Oval park on Bohemia Road with a tennis ball, which was in most cases the only kind of cricket they’d previously experienced as kids in school. Some of them then joined the Crowhurst Park club to experience proper hard-ball cricket in the Sussex League. 

By last autumn, they realised they had enough players – most, though not all, with medical backgrounds – to form a separate league team in their own right, and they found that the Sandhurst pitch was available to be shared on alternate Saturdays with Priory thirds. They applied to join the league on this basis. In January the original chairman Sanju Sukamaran, who had laid the foundations of the club, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest – ironically surrounded by other medics – while playing indoor cricket for Crowhurst. But his former colleagues went ahead nonetheless, entering the league in the same Division 11 as Priory and finishing three places above them in third place, narrowly missing out on a promotion play-off place.

Club secretary Dr Chris Mathew says that the Royals actually have 35 players signed up to participate. But most are medical employees on changing shifts that may include nights or weekends, who cannot make themselves regularly free to play Saturday afternoon games. Availability for the next fixture has to be signalled on the Monday or Tuesday of the week in question, then the team is selected accordingly.

Although the summer league ended on 7 September, the club will enter the local indoor league this winter, playing at Horntye along with teams from Priory, Crowhurst and Bexhill. In the meantime, the summer season’s awards for outstanding contributions to the club’s victories have just been voted on by popular ballot – to Sachin Gopinath as Best Batsman, Nikhil Jose as Best Bowler and Dr Mathew as Best All-Rounder, reflecting highest runs scored and most wickets taken.

The Royal Hastings name might suggest some patronage in high places, but Dr Mathew says that, on the contrary, they have no sponsorship nor other financial support from anywhere, and are entirely self-financing. Why Royals? “Hastings is linked, of course, to the famous battle, and the name reflects the regal heritage which the town holds dear”.

Once upon a time, a leading local hospital might have provided facilities or equipment to a team in their name, as teaching hospitals in London and elsewhere still do. No such privilege is on offer from the Conquest or any other local institution – to be fair, none has been sought. Ground fees, bats, balls, protective equipment and travel costs all have to be funded by the members themselves. But they clearly enjoy their status as an independent cricketing stronghold. Dr Mathew wonders whether they might soon need to form a fifth team in Hastings: the Royals 2nd XI.

New players from all backgrounds – they needn’t be either medics or of South Asian origin – are welcome to join the Royal Hastings club: see their website royalhastingscc.co.uk

Gallant Priory Relegated After Nail-Biting Finish

31 August: 
Bognor Regis 119 all out; Hastings Priory 120 for 4

7 September: 
Hastings Priory 165 for 7; Horsham 166 for 9

HUGH SULLIVAN

It all came down to the last over of the last game of the season at Horntye. On an evening of gathering rain-clouds and increasing murk that rendered the red cricket ball barely visible to batsmen, fielders or spectators alike, visitors Horsham needed nine runs to win with their last pair together. Victory would take them to runners-up position in the Sussex Premier League.

By contrast, hosts Hastings & St Leonards Priory needed to limit them to eight runs or less from six balls, or take the final wicket, to secure not only victory in the game but the points needed to overhaul Bognor Regis at the bottom end of the league table. Defeat would leave Priory stranded below Bognor, despite a comprehensive victory over their relegation rivals the previous Saturday which had left a gap of only five league points between them. 

The Priory total of 165 for seven had been scored off 40 overs, the contest being reduced to this number per side by a late start. Two days of heavy rain in Hastings had left the ground sodden, and a further shower at around 10am risked full abandonment – as indeed happened at East Grinstead, where Bognor’s contemporaneous fixture was called off without a ball bowled. That meant the West Sussex side would receive ten league points; Priory would have to win in order to survive.

Priory skipper Harry Scowen lost the toss, and his side were sent in to bat. Scoring runs on a damp pitch and slow outfield was predictably hard. Scowen, who has led from the front all season, batted grittily for his 34, but other batsmen came and went, and after 30 overs the score of 94 for five looked patently insufficient. Old warriors Tom Gillespie (39 not out) and John Morgan (28 off 28 balls, including three sixes) came to the rescue, however, and with Seaver Cowley (12 not out off 11 balls) hitting a couple of boundaries, the last five overs yielded 45 runs to give Priory renewed hope.

When Horsham replied, Scowen rotated his bowlers to good effect, but the visiting batsmen accumulated steadily and seemed in command at 95 for three with 17 overs still remaining. Then Morgan, returning to the attack, induced the dangerous Bertie Foreman into a swirling top-edge safely held by Eddy Finch and, though the score continued to mount in the receding light, wickets also tumbled. Adam Barton, bowling spinners off a shortened run, took two in successive balls, and when he then had the game’s top scorer Nick Oxley (43) caught by Finch again at backward point in the penultimate over, 12 runs were still needed with only one wicket left. That target had been reduced to nine as Scowen threw the ball to Cowley to bowl the last over. The tension was matched only by the gloom of the evening.

The young seamer’s first delivery was snicked past wicket-keeper Greg Devlin by number 11 batsman Oliver Avinou to reach the boundary. Only five runs were now required. The next three balls limited the batsmen to only one run between them, but the fifth was clattered by number ten George Briance through the offside field to the boundary – a classic cover drive to win the game and break Priory hearts. 

24 August: Hastings Priory v Preston Nomads match cancelled (rain)

HUGH SULLIVAN

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory kept alive their chances of retaining Sussex Premier League status when beating Worthing by three wickets on 17 August. However, relegation rivals Bognor Regis also won on that day, and last Saturday all matches were washed out by rain. 

That leaves only two fixtures for each side to play, including a crucial clash between Priory and Bognor in West Sussex tomorrow (Saturday). But even a victory in that contest for the Hastings side would only save them if they also win their last match at home to Horsham on 7 September while Bognor lost at East Grinstead. Roffey, in seventh place, could still also in theory be relegated, though they need to gain only 11 bonus points in their last two games to ensure that Priory could not overhaul them.

At Worthing, Priory’s victory effectively confirmed the home team’s relegation while keeping themselves just about in touch with the sides above them. It was only achieved, however, from the jaws of defeat.

Worthing won the toss, chose to bat, and started confidently, with an opening partnership of 59 within the first ten overs. John Morgan bowled his allotment of ten straight through, and took two wickets in his sixth through wicket-keeper Greg Devlin (one stumped, one caught). But Adam Barton’s direction was wayward, conceding too many wides, and the home batsmen accumulated steadily against support bowlers Adam Page, Seaver Cowley and Iden McCleave – none cutting loose, but in combination reaching a formidable final total of 248 for nine.

In reply, Priory lost anchor batsmen Caleb Laloo and Dylan Woolley cheaply. Although captain Harry Scowen (53) and vice-captain Tom Gillespie (42) repaired the damage with a partnership of 83, they found boundaries difficult to reach, and the run rate only gradually accelerated. When both were out, at 124 for four, another 125 was needed in less than 18 overs. 

Eddie Finch responded with a sound 31, and Morgan and McCleave made cameo contributions to quicken the pace. Cowley, batting at nine, hit 17 off 10 balls in a frantic finish. However, it was Devlin who took centre stage with a score of 59 not out in 54 balls, and fitting that he should score the winning single with just five balls to spare.

10 August 
Hastings Priory 160; Three Bridges 166 for 5

HUGH SULLIVAN

Two heavy defeats for the cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory over the past two Saturdays, coupled with more favourable results for other teams around them in the Sussex Premier League table, have left the Hastings side in dire straits.

Assuming that Worthing, with only one win and 13 defeats in 14 matches, are relegation-bound, avoidance of the second drop place seems to be a contest now between Priory and Bognor Regis, with just four matches each to be played. Two other sides that were struggling, Roffey and East Grinstead, seem to have hit form with three wins each in their last five. Bognor beat Priory by ten wickets on 29 June but haven’t won since. The two sides are due to play each other again on 31 August. 

Priory will target this return fixture as a must-win game along with their match at Worthing tomorrow (Saturday), but will need both their batsmen and their bowlers to re-discover a winning streak. 

BOWLING FLOGGED

On 3 August, Priory travelled to Middleton without captain and leading batsman Harry Scowen, overseas recruit Alex Osborne or most dependable bowler Adam Page. The home side opened with yet another century partnership – the sixth against Priory in 13 games – and the top order flogged the bowling mercilessly from start to finish, scoring at an average of more than seven runs per over. Seaver Cowley conceded 103 runs in his 11 overs; Felix Sheppard 51 in just three.

Priory were batting strictly for survival, and Tom Gillespie (20) and Adam Keane (23) each lasted for around an hour, but the rest of the batsmen subsided tamely. The margin of defeat was 227 runs.

Last Saturday Scowen returned to the Priory line-up for a home game against championship-chasing Three Bridges, but opening bowler John Morgan was left out to rest an injury, Osborne was again omitted, and Keane was also unavailable. Scowen opted to bat first, and he himself made a breezy 33, but thereafter the Priory batsmen were tied down by accurate bowling and the inning became becalmed. Dylan Woolley took 70 balls to score 19, Gillespie 26 to make 10, and though Eddie Finch upped the scoring rate in making 33, the rest of the order batted without confidence or success.

Priory’s opening attack featured spinner Adam Page partnering Adam Barton. Page bowled tidily to take the first four Three Bridges wickets – two in his fourth over, two in his ninth – to keep the outcome in the balance at 82 for four. But, as he tired and was withdrawn, the visitors’ fifth and sixth wicket partnerships gobbled up the remainder of the bowling to give them a comfortable five wicket win. 

THE STATS DON’T LIE

So what has gone wrong for the Hastings side? It’s quite easy to see, from a statistical point of view. Last year’s strength in teamwork was enough to make them stronger overall than the average Division 2 side. But the Sussex Premier League is rather different: most sides there have a number of higher quality batsmen and/or bowlers that can step up to hit an unstoppable innings or bowl an irresistible spell. 

Of the top ten batsmen in the league (by aggregate of runs scored), none are from Priory. Scowen is 14th with 422 runs at an average of 42.2; Caleb Laloo is next – 25th – with 312 at 31.2. Of the bowlers, Page’s four wickets last Saturday have taken him up to 15th highest wicket-taker, with 16 at 24.3 each, while Morgan is 20th with 15 at 33.67 each. These are commendable returns, but they’ve too seldom been match-winning ones.

Can Priory still survive? Of course they can. Scowen, Gillespie, Morgan, Page, Barton and Woolley all played in the 2021 team which defied the odds by winning their last four league matches to retain their Premier status. But they surely have to start matching that finish by winning at Worthing tomorrow.

Sussex Premier League Table (bottom five)

13 July: 
Roffey 225 for 7;  Hastings Priory 216 for 8

20 July: 
East Grinstead 151 all out;  Hastings Priory 152 for 3 

27 July: 
Hastings Priory 229 for 9;  Cuckfield 233 for 8

HUGH SULLIVAN

July was a month of mixed fortunes for the cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory, with four matches resulting in one victory, one defeat, one draw and one abandonment to rain. It has left them in the Sussex Premier League’s relegation zone, ninth position out of ten, but still in touch with three other sides above them. With six games to go, there’s certainly everything still to play for.

The match at Horsham on 6 July was a wash-out waiting to happen. Hastings skipper Harry Scowen asked the home side to bat first: they started brightly in the hope of making a quick score, Adam Barton took a couple of wickets, then the predicted rain descended – and that was that.

The following week, Horsham neighbours Roffey came to Horntye.

They started with an opening partnership of 115, and reached 175 for one with star batsman Theodore Rivers going on to score a century, but disciplined bowling and fielding on the part of Priory kept the scoring rate in check. Wickets tumbled late on, as Charlie Francis and John Morgan took a brace apiece. The visitors declared at 225 for seven in the middle of the 56th over, perhaps not wishing to allow Priory further bowling points.

That left the Hastings side 54 overs to overhaul them. They lost talisman Scowen immediately for a duck, but Alex Osborne (72 not out) held the innings together whilst successive partners Dylan Woolley (17), Tom Gillespie (25) and Greg Devlin (17) gradually increased the run rate. At 118 for five, when Seaver Cowley was dismissed cheaply, the target looked a long way off, but breezy knocks by Iden McCleave (25) and Morgan (25 off 20 balls) kept the Hastings side in the hunt. Eventually they finished 10 runs short with two wickets outstanding to leave the match drawn, though Roffey took 14 bonus points to Priory’s ten.

VICTORY AT EAST GRINSTEAD

On 20 July the Priory side travelled to East Grinstead, asked the home side to bat first, and enjoyed their best afternoon in the field since early May, dismissing the home side for 151 in less than 33 overs. Their attack was without Barton, Adam Page or Satchi Mahendran, but Morgan, bowling unchanged throughout, returned impressive figures of seven wickets for 49. Supporting bowlers Dan Pascall, Cowley and Osborne took one each. 

In reply it was Scowen who held the Priory innings together on this occasion, scoring an unbeaten 78 in partnerships with Caleb Laloo (23), Woolley (20), Osborne (6) and Adam Keane (18 not out). The target was reached in the 37th over for a seven wicket win. 

Last Saturday, high-flying Cuckfield – last season’s champions and in the mix to repeat their triumph this season – came to Horntye. Scowen again won the toss, and somewhat surprisingly (in view of previous victories batting second) opted to take the first knock, in the hope that the wicket would deteriorate over the course of the afternoon. He himself made a confident 29, then Laloo (52) and Woolley (25) batted sensibly to push the score along, and there were later useful contributions from Keane (18) and Greg Devlin (21). But the middle order found it hard to move the score along quickly and it was left to Page (22 not out off 14 balls including two sixes) to hoist the score to 229 for nine off the maximum 58 overs.

Cuckfield hit off more than half the deficit with yet another century opening partnership – the fifth scored against Priory in 12 matches this season – but once this was broken, wickets tumbled to a combination of pace from Barton (four for 52) and slow guile from Page (three for 81). When Cowley ran out the ninth batsman Sam Hardwicke in the 46th over, the West Sussex side were still 30 runs short with only two wickets in hand, and Priory seemed on course to chalk up a famous victory. But it was not to be: ninth wicket partners Bradley Gayler and Sam Candfield plundered 23 runs off Page in ten balls to see their side home.

A glance at the league table after this narrow defeat shows that Worthing (played 12, lost 12) are virtually certain to be relegated, even though there are still six matches to play. One of the four sides above them – in ascending order, Priory, East Grinstead, Roffey and Bognor Regis, who have each won four matches so far – is likely to accompany them back down to Division 2. There’s good reason for Priory to feel that, in the shape they’re in, it need not be them. 

Tomorrow (Saturday) Hastings & St Leonards Priory travel to Middleton, then on 10 August will entertain Three Bridges at Horntye.

29 June:
Hastings Priory 139 all out; Bognor Regis 142 for 0

HUGH SULLIVAN

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory suffered a torrid fortnight as they lost back-to-back matches in the Sussex Premier League without taking a single wicket. 

On 22 June, playing away against then league leaders Preston Nomads, they won the toss and chose to bat. After Dylan Woolley departed in the third over for a duck, Caleb Laloo (32 off 78 balls) and Alex Osborne (40 off 109) shared a careful partnership of 73, but both they and the middle order following them found it very difficult to increase the scoring rate. Captain Harry Scowen, coming in at four, faced 34 balls for his 13 runs, Adam Keane 64 for his 33. Only Iden McCleave (34 off 24 balls including two fours and three sixes) and John Morgan (22 not out off 15, also three sixes) loosened the shackles and raised the innings total to 214 for eight off the maximum 58 overs allowed.

Any hope that this score would be competitive was quickly eclipsed. Priory were fielding a weakened attack, with Seaver Cowley sidelined following recent illness and Osborne unable to bowl because of a strained side. Preston’s openers, 20-year-old Sussex Academy prospect Zach Lion-Cachet (120 not out) and Nathan Poole (91 not out), sailed to their target in under 40 overs, helped by a series of dropped catches.

A week later, Bognor Regis came to Horntye. On a dry pitch with a fast outfield Laloo (41) and Woolley (21) gave Priory a solid start, but once again the middle order were unable to move into a higher gear against accurate bowling, and after Scowen (23) departed, the innings disintegrated. William Hutchings, Morgan and Richard Smith failed to score a run between them. Only a few blows by Satchi Mahendran (22 not out) gave comparative respectability to the final score of 139.

The Bognor Regis openers replied in brutal fashion, Ryan Maskell hitting 102 not out off just 54 balls with 13 fours and six sixes, while his partner Theo Beynon-Ayres scored 39. McLeave’s two overs cost 22 runs, Osborne’s solitary over went for 20, and Adam Page’s for 15. 

Cricket can be a harsh game if you’re out of form, out of luck, or just happen across talented opposition who are enjoying a field day. Lion-Cachet and Maskell are the two leading run-getters in the Sussex Premier League this season, each having scored nearly 400 runs over the first eight games at an average approaching 80. By comparison, Scowen has managed 282 (including centuries in the first two matches) at an average of 40 and Laloo 228, but no other Priory batsman has scored more than 200.

The team’s overall bowling statistics make even poorer reading. There is no Priory bowler who has taken even ten wickets, Page being highest with nine and Cowley (absent for the last three games) with seven.

In recent seasons Priory have competed successfully by teamwork. They may not have the individual free-scoring batsmen or penetrative bowlers of some of their opponents, but have often found enough potential contributors in their ranks to hold their own collectively. They now lie eighth out of ten in the league table, ahead of Worthing, who have lost all eight of their games, and East Grinstead. 

Next up is a tough trip to Horsham tomorrow (Saturday) followed by a home match on 13 July against Roffey, whom they defeated in the first fixture back in early May. It’s time to rediscover that early season form.

15 June:
Worthing 113; Hastings Priory 114 for 4

After the first six matches of this season’s Sussex Premier League campaign, Hastings & St Leonards Priory find themselves with a record of played six, won three, lost three: not a dream start nor looking like title challengers, but solid enough to justify their status following promotion last year.

On 8 June they travelled to Three Bridges, lost the toss, and were sent in to bat.  Opener Caleb Laloo (a polished 78 off 116 balls) shared partnerships of 46 with captain Harry Scowen (12) and 49 with Alex Osborne (25) to give the innings a secure foundation. In the middle order William Hutchings (33 off 29 balls) and Iden McCleave (47 off 32) upped the scoring rate, and the eventual total of 247 off 50 overs looked potentially defensible.

With the home side at 70 for three, with two wickets for John Morgan and one for Osborne, Priory were well in the hunt. But the advent of Michael Cowdrey (son of former Kent cricketer Graham and grandson of England legend Colin) changed the dynamic of the game: he hit an unbeaten 100 off 96 balls, and Three Bridges eased to a five wicket win with five overs to spare.

A week later, heavy rain fell during the morning on the pitch at Horntye before Priory’s game with Worthing, and, with a forecast of more blustery showers to come, the respective captains agreed to adapt the contest to 20 overs a side. As it happened, the forecast was wrong. A gale force wind, accompanied by sunshine, brought rapidly drying conditions during the course of the afternoon, which probably favoured Priory as the team batting second.

Within the first seven overs of their innings, Worthing were reduced to 35 for four (three taken by Satchi Mahendran, one by Morgan), and wickets continued to fall regularly. Adam Page finished with three for 9 and Laloo two for 17, as Worthing were bowled out for a total of 113 in their 20th over.

Scowen was run out in Priory’s third over, but Laloo (26) and Osborne (a jaunty 19) steadied the ship, then Adam Keane produced the knock of the day – 33 not out off 30 balls, including an audaciously scooped boundary over the wicketkeeper’s head. Victory came with only ten balls to spare, but had always looked the likely outcome.

Tomorrow Priory travel to Henfield to play title favourites Preston Nomads; the following Saturday (29 June) they will host Bognor Regis.

25 May:
Hastings Priory 175; Cuckfield 176 for 2

1 June: 
Middleton 214 for 4; Hastings Priory 155 all out

HUGH SULLIVAN

In winning their opening two matches, the cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory looked well adjusted to their regained top-table status in the Sussex Premier League. But the past fortnight has shown there’s still some tuning to be done, as they suffered comprehensive defeats at the hands of two of the strongest teams, Cuckfield – last season’s champions – and Middleton.

Most obvious issues are in the batting. Captain Harry Scowen made centuries in each of the first two games. But at Cuckfield on 25 May, he was bowled out in the second over for a duck, and last Saturday (1 June) he wasn’t available to play in the home match against Middleton. Shorn of his scoring power, the rest of the batting line-up marches to the wicket more in hope than expectation.

On the bowling side, the pack can be shuffled to maintain a variety of styles. Adam Barton and John Morgan offer an opening blast; Adam Page, Seaver Cowley and Iden McCleave have been returning good figures with their medium pace; Jed O’Brien made a welcome return to the team last Saturday to add his left-arm spin to the leg spin of Alex Osborne. But, unsurprisingly, it’s proving harder to contain the higher quality batsmen of the Premier League than those Division 2 batting line-ups that were regularly skittled last summer. 

Against Cuckfield, Scowen won the toss and chose to bat first – the formula for success in the previous two games. Within five overs Scowen, Osborne and Cowley were back in the pavilion with just two runs between them. Caleb Laloo, recalled to the side in place of the injured Dylan Woolley, made a painstaking 43, and the middle order – Tom Gillespie (21), Greg Devlin (17), McCleave (39) and Morgan (25) – all contributed valiantly, but all found boundaries hard to reach, and Priory’s eventual total of 175 looked difficult to defend.

So it proved, as Cuckfield set off at a canter. Morgan took a couple of wickets, but the home opener Henry Rogers was in blistering mood, finishing with 100 not out off 85 balls (11 fours and four sixes). An unbeaten third wicket partnership of 105 runs brought victory with eight wickets and more than 20 overs to spare.

A week later, on a damp pitch at Horntye after heavy rain in recent days, visitors Middleton won the toss and elected to bat. For much of the innings they scored slowly, with captain Sean Heather taking 143 balls to score 72. Barton, Morgan and O’Brien all enjoyed economical spells for Priory. But, with wickets in hand, the batsmen gradually accelerated, Josh Wood scoring 82 not out from 78 balls. The total of 214 for four (three of the wickets taken by Page) looked a tall order for Priory to match without Scowen in the line-up. 

Deputy captain Tom Gillespie (22) started brightly, but Middleton’s pace bowler James Hartshorn dismissed him, Osborne (0) and Laloo (4) within the first six overs, and the middle order had once again to embark on a saving mission. Cowley (15), Adam Keane (19), Will Hutchings (26), McCleave (19) and Morgan (10) all reached double figures, but none were able to take command as Heather and Wood had done, and the team were bowled out 59 runs short.

Tomorrow Priory travel to Three Bridges; the following Saturday (15 June) they host Worthing, who were promoted with them from Division 2 last season but have lost all four matches so far.

18 May: 
Hastings Priory 204 for 8;  East Grinstead 104 all out

HUGH SULLIVAN

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory have won their opening two matches in the Sussex Premier League this season. Both matches were contested on a limited 50-over format, but in contrasting conditions. 

On the first day of the campaign, under bright sunshine, they travelled to Horsham side, Roffey, hit their highest league score for several years and squeezed victory by ten runs. Seven days later, on a slow damp pitch at Horntye after early morning rain, they only topped 200 in their fiftieth over, but then skittled visitors East Grinstead to win by a commanding 100 runs.

Central to both performances were centuries by new captain Harry Scowen – a fluent 121 against Roffey off only 112 balls; then a more watchful 106 against East Grinstead – followed in each case by accurate bowling from Priory’s medium pace attack. 

At Roffey, the Hastings side were required to bat first after Scowen lost the toss – a contrast from last season when then captain Tom Gillespie almost invariably managed to win it and chose to bat second. Dylan Woolley went cheaply, but Scowen shared a second wicket partnership of 217 with Aussie returnee Alex Osborne, his innings including ten fours and eight sixes while Osborne’s 78 runs were also scored with plenty of confident belligerence. Scowen was eventually run out, and Osborne caught, but a further 88 runs were plundered in the final 11 overs as Seaver Cowley (23), debutant Adam Keane (30) and Greg Devlin (26 not out) all cashed in on tired bowling.

Roffey set off at a gallop in pursuit, with a partnership of 111 for the first wicket in less than 20 overs. When they reached 200 in the 33rd over with only one wicket down – three overs quicker than Priory to the same score – they seemed clear favourites to go on to win. But Cowley had Usman Khan (47), Jon Phelps (0) and Matt Davies (73) all caught at the wicket by Scowen, and Iden McCleave pitched in with a couple of middle order wickets in an economical spell. The home side could not maintain momentum and finished eight runs short with nine wickets down. 

BACK AT HORNTYE

Back in Hastings last Saturday, in Priory’s first home league game at Horntye since 2021, Scowen again lost the toss and was again invited to bat first. This time his century was compiled off 149 balls, with just eight fours and two sixes, mostly thwacked to the legside boundary when East Grinstead’s bowlers lost their length. He was usefully partnered by Woolley (13), then by Osborne (17), but when their departures were followed by quick dismissals of Cowley and Keane, Priory had subsided to 104 for four. Former captain Gillespie, batting at six, might have followed them cheaply as well but, reprieved when his top-edged shot to square leg was dropped, he shared in a crucial stand of 78 with the centurion. The visitors fielded keenly in the deep but dropped a number of other catches from which their hosts duly profited. 

Priory’s final team score of 204 for eight looked eminently defensible in the conditions, and so it proved. The visitors started brightly enough in the first ten overs bowled by Adam Barton and John Morgan, but the introduction of Adam Page (3 for 23) in the eleventh over and Cowley (2 for 26) in the twelfth started wickets tumbling. McLeave (4 for 7 in four overs) dispatched the tail.

The Hastings side are one of three teams (out of ten) in the league that have won both opening matches – the others are Bognor Regis and Preston Nomads. Tomorrow they play away against 2023 champions Cuckfield; a week later (June 1) they will host Middleton. 

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory will start a fresh Sussex Premier League campaign tomorrow (Saturday) when they travel to Horsham side Roffey. The next day they have a Twenty20 cup game at Chiddingly. The following Saturday, 18 May, hosting East Grinstead, they will play at Horntye Park for the first time in three years.

Promotion from Division 2 required Priory to find an alternative to the Claremont school ground where they’ve been playing home games over the past two seasons, since the League authorities were unwilling to sanction it as sufficiently spacious for Premier League cricket. (They did play in the top tier there in 2022, but that was on the basis that they would be developing an expanded ground alongside, which is no longer the case). The Horntye Park Management Company, acting as trustee for Hastings and Rother Trust, has stepped in to offer a one-season return to Horntye, with four pitches laid out so as to allow 12 games in total (three on each) over the course of the summer. 

That means that the Horntye ground won’t be available for Priory’s second, third or junior teams, which will have to spread themselves between Claremont and Sandhurst (on the Ridge). Club chair John Morgan recognises that this is far from ideal, with equipment and accessories having to be shared across three venues, and a loss of cohesion and camaraderie between the players of different teams rendered inevitable. On the other hand, not only first team players but also their families and supporters will no doubt prefer to enjoy once again the superior facilities and greater accessibility available to them at Horntye.

Last year Priory squeezed to the Division 2 championship title and promotion to the Premier League through a late run of victories sparked by a remarkable sequence of toss successes. Captain Tom Gillespie, or in his absence deputy Harry Scowen, would invite opponents to bat first on a damp wicket; a penetrative seam attack led by Morgan confined them to a moderate team score; then a determined if sometimes erratic batting response generally saw Priory home.

DRIER AND FLATTER

This year it seems likely that the Horntye pitch at least will be drier and flatter, and the toss won’t be won so invariably. Bowlers will have to earn wickets more effortfully at Premier level; batters will need to perform more consistently. But the very young side which found the standard of Premier cricket a little beyond them in 2022 has matured by two years, learnt what winning feels like in 2023, and should be capable of holding its own this time round.

Two years ago Cuckfield won the Division 2 championship; last year they won the Premier League. Who’s to say Priory can’t emulate that sequence?

Scowen has taken over the captaincy from Gillespie this season. He will have virtually the same group of players to lead, including returning Australian all-rounder Alex Osborne, whose energetic performances with bat, ball and in the field were key components of the team’s success in 2023. Morgan reports that Osborne, now aged 21, has not only been playing top grade cricket for the Scarborough club in Western Australia over the winter but also gained some IPL experience in Lucknow, India. He should arrive well-practised, even if conditions in East Sussex are rather different. 

Scowen and Dylan Woolley were the team’s most prolific scorers last summer, and will presumably renew their opening partnership. Much is hoped for from a young (25-year-old) wicket-keeper batsman Adam Keane, who hails from Port Talbot in Wales. Eddie Finch, son of Jason and brother of Harry, is another promising recruit.

The bowling attack has lost leg spinner Harvey Faulkner, who may have felt his opportunities constrained by Osborne’s retention in the same capacity. But there’s strength in depth in the seam attack: even if the evergreen Morgan doesn’t plunder as many wickets as last year, Scowen should have the diverse talents of Satchi Mahendran, Seaver Cowley, Adam Barton, Adam Page and Iden McCleave to call upon. 

What’s needed now is a fine summer.

The club last played at Horntye in 2021, taking its home fixtures to Claremont over the past two years in anticipation of the move, and its second, third and junior teams will continue to enjoy the school’s hospitality there in 2024. However, Claremont’s main ground is not regarded by the Sussex League authorities as big enough to host Premier matches. 

In 2022 the Priory first team was allowed to use it as a one-season concession pending the establishment of a new full-size ground. The team was then relegated to Division 2, where the existing ground qualified as adequate. Last summer, somewhat unexpectedly, Priory won the Division and were promoted back to the Premier League, but that promotion was threatened to be suspended unless another home ground was found.

The Horntye Park Management Company, acting as trustee for Hastings and Rother Trust, has stepped in to help, preparing four wickets on the old cricket square at Horntye which can host up to 12 games in aggregate over the course of the summer. Priory has nine home league fixtures, so up to three cup or other matches can also be accommodated.

The offer is strictly for 2024 only. The trust members remain hopeful that the cricket arena will be dug up for housing construction well before the following summer, and that Priory will then be on the move again. 

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory were celebrating last weekend after winning Division 2 of the Sussex Cricket League by the narrowest of margins. Victories in their last two matches raised their points total for the season to 283, the same number as Worthing. Both teams have been promoted to the Premier Division for next summer – in Priory’s case, after just one season in the lower league, reversing relegation in 2022 – but a better head-to-head tally put the Hastings side in pole position. 

West Chiltington & Thakeham, who maintained second position behind Worthing for much of the season, also won their last two games, but finished third, nine points behind.

The crucial match was contested at Worthing on 26 August, when visiting Priory captain Tom Gillespie won the toss yet again (see adjacent box), inserted the home team to bat first on a damp pitch and saw his bowlers limit them to a score of 132 for nine off a reduced maximum of 37 overs. Even that score represented a recovery after the first seven wickets had gone down for 69.

As has often been the case throughout the summer, Priory’s bowlers shared wickets between them, Adam Barton, Seaver Cowley and Adam Page taking two apiece, with others falling to John Morgan and Iden McCleave, plus a final run-out.

Priory’s batsmen were able to address their target without any undue run-rate pressure, a situation ideal for opener Dylan Woolley who batted composedly throughout the innings to finish with 44 not out off 84 balls. Harry Scowen was bowled for 15, but Cowley (31) shared a second wicket partnership of 57 and, although McCleave departed quickly, Woolley and Greg Devlin quickly rattled off the remaining runs, Devlin scoring 32 not out off just 24 balls, including two sixes.

That victory took the Hastings side to the top of the Division 2 table, with the knowledge that a win last Saturday at their home ground at Claremont School over visitors Brighton & Hove (bottom of the league and already relegated) would be enough to secure the championship and promotion. They knew too, on the other hand, that defeat would be likely to leave them adrift of both Worthing – playing just up the road at Crowhurst Park – and West Chiltington, also away at Buxted.

Worthing and West Chiltington each won their games with some ease. For most of Priory’s final match, the outcome also seemed in little doubt. The pitch was again damp (“low and slow”, Morgan described it), again Gillespie won the toss, again inserted the visiting batsmen, and rotated his array of bowlers to pick them off. They reached 64 for 2 at a slow rate, but the later order was skittled, McCleave taking four wickets for ten runs, with others shared between Morgan, Satchi Mahendran, Page and Alex Osborne. 

The visitors’ total of 98 was hardly daunting, and although Woolley, Cowley and McCleave all went cheaply, Scowen (41) was in commanding form. His fourth wicket partnership with Devlin (21 off 20 balls) left only another 29 runs to get; then he and Gillespie hit off another 19. The win was surely a formality now, even allowing for Priory’s notorious stutters in such situations.

The ending was not for the nervous. Gillespie attempted an injudicious reverse sweep and was adjudged lbw. Scowen was caught superbly at slip; Harvey Faulkner skied a drive to deep mid-on. Morgan, batting at number nine with seven wickets now down, scooped his first ball to leg just over the heads of two fielders to bring the scores level, but was then run out by half the length of the pitch in a mix-up with Osborne, rooted at the striker’s end. 

One run was still required with just two wickets left. The surviving Osborne, who has been a mainstay of the team throughout the summer, scored it with a well-placed cover drive. Priory were champions, and the champagne duly flowed.

Sussex Cricket League standings – final table (top three) 

12 August:
Chichester Priory Park 123; Hastings Priory 127 for 6

19 August
West Chiltington & Thakeham 128; Hastings Priory 129 for 6

HUGH SULLIVAN

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory have been hitting form at the right moment, completing back-to-back wins, each by four wickets, in their Sussex Cricket League campaign. Both games, – at Chichester on 12 August and at home to West Chiltington & Thakeham last Saturday – were played under limited-over rules. In each, Priory won the toss, as they have been prone to do all summer, asked their opponents to bat first, skittled them out, and won with relative comfort despite some batting jitters along the way.

In the earlier game John Morgan and Satchi Mahendran were devastating in their combined opening spell, Morgan dismissing five of the top six Chichester batsmen (two bowled, two lbw and one caught at the wicket) for just 16 runs between them. The later order made something of a recovery as conditions eased, but Dan Pascall, Adam Page and Alex Osborne all bowled tidily, and the total of 123 looked clearly inadequate.

Batting in reply, Harry Scowen was almost immediately run out, but young guns Dylan Woolley (16), Seaver Cowley (27), Iden McCleave (33) and Harvey Faulkner (27 not out) all played sensibly to ensure that the target was reached by the 35th over.

That victory consolidated Priory’s third place in the league behind Worthing and West Chiltington, and they entertained the latter team at Claremont School last Saturday knowing that a victory would enable them to replace them in second. Captain Tom Gillespie was unavailable, but stand-in skipper Scowen duly won the toss in damp conditions after heavy overnight rain, and again gave his seam attack first opportunity to exploit them.

They didn’t disappoint, Morgan (four for 20) and Mahendran (two for 20) again running through the top order; and, when Cowley won an lbw decision, the visitors were teetering at 66 for seven. Again the lower order put up more resistance, but the remaining three wickets were shared between Page and Osborne to limit the visitors’ total to 128.

Scowen, Woolley and Cowley all went cheaply as Priory struggled to 35 for three, but a splendid partnership of 91 between McCleave (46) and Greg Devlin (also 46) turned the match irrevocably in their favour. McCleave’s elegant driving and cutting were matched by Devlin’s less cultured belligerence (three sixes and four fours). Both were dismissed on the brink of victory, and it was fittingly left to Morgan to hit the winning run. 

With two matches to go, Priory can seriously contemplate the prospect of promotion back to the Premier status they lost a year ago. But next up is an away trip tomorrow (Saturday) to leaders Worthing, who have lost only once all season. Victory there would open the possibility of overhauling them and claiming the divisional championship; defeat would leave them relying upon neighbours Crowhurst Park, who visit West Chiltington on the same day, to keep them in the second promotion place.  

Sussex Cricket League standings – top four 

29 July: Crowhurst Park 102; Hastings Priory 103 for 5

Hastings Priory completed their third successive victory over local rivals Crowhurst this summer, when winning by five wickets in their Sussex Cricket League encounter on 29 July. In an early season T20 encounter Priory had overhauled a score of 140 with four wickets to spare; in June, under limited over rules, Crowhurst had managed 162, but Priory got them with seven wickets outstanding. This time, in a traditional-format 100-over game, Crowhurst were bowled out for 102 in the 38th and Priory’s batsmen, despite a mini-collapse, won comfortably by five wickets.

From the start, Priory asserted their dominance on a damp pitch, as Satchi Mahendran bowled out Crowhurst’s top batsman Jordan Shaw, and Adam Barton dispatched fellow-opener Toby Burdekin likewise. From 12 for two, Crowhurst’s third wicket pair, Tom Powell (30) and Bradley Payne (20) batted solidly in a partnership of 47. But John Morgan joined the attack to dismiss both, and only Nick Peters (20 before being run out) offered much resistance in the late order. Morgan finished with four for 27.  

Priory were without their leading scorer, Harry Scowen, but captain Tom Gillespie (35) and Dylan Woolley (24), under no time pressure, shared a careful opening stand of 67 to put victory within sight. An aggressive spell of fast bowling by Shaw had Priory’s middle order batsmen ducking and weaving from short pitch deliveries. He claimed three quick wickets, and Peters, with some gentle spin, took two. Then Harvey Faulkner provided a smart cameo, with three reverse sweeps off successive balls from Peters, to get his side over the line. 

Last Saturday all league games were abandoned without a ball bowled as rain and wind took their toll. That leaves four more games to play, all under limited-over rules. Back in third place, Priory will travel to their Chichester Priory Park namesakes tomorrow (Saturday), then have fixtures against the top two, West Chiltington and Worthing, over succeeding weeks. The results of these should determine whether the Hastings side can gain their season’s aim – promotion back to the Sussex Premier. Crowhurst, meanwhile, also have games against the top two amongst their four outstanding fixtures – so, ironically, could help their local rivals along the way.

Sussex Cricket League standings – top five  

15 July:
Haywards Heath 196 for 9; Hastings Priory 128

22 July:
Hastings Priory 205 for 7 v Burgess Hill
(match abandoned)

Hastings may boast the most sunshine hours of any town in England and Manchester the least (see HIP 227), but for cricket purposes there was little difference last Saturday. While England’s Ashes hopes were being rained off up north, the cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory also enjoyed less than three hours play, hosting visitors Burgess Hill before their Claremont School pitch became too drenched to continue.

That time was enough for opener Harry Scowen to score a belligerent century – 100 off 113 balls – and Priory’s overall score of 205 for seven off 41 overs was a welcome return to form after a series of low totals. But they will have rued the missed chance to bowl at one of the weaker sides in the league from a position of strength.

The previous Saturday, also at Claremont, Priory restricted Haywards Heath to a score of 196 for nine off the maximum 53 overs, with Alex Osborne taking four wickets and others shared between John Morgan, Adam Barton and Adam Page. But as in other recent matches the top order made a poor start, losing four wickets for 38. Osborne (a scratchy 14 off 47 balls) and Harvey Faulkner (a gritty 42) fought hard in a fifth wicket partnership of 58, but when Osborne was run out – for the second time in three innings – and Morgan followed without scoring, it was clear that the visitors’ total was beyond them. 

A draw was still on the cards as Henry Smith (19) and Barton put up some defensive resistance, but Smith, Dan Pascall and Page were all bowled out by returning seamer Rory Livingstone to leave Priory 68 runs short in the penultimate over.

Next opponents are Crowhurst Park, who also suffered home defeat by St James’s Montefiore on 15 July followed by abandonment of their game against Haywards Heath last Saturday.

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory have been on their travels this month, playing three away matches over eight days. Each started in the same way – captain Tom Gillespie winning the toss and opting, like the bazballers of England, to field first. From there on, there were contrasting patterns of play and outcomes: one easy win, one high-margin defeat and, last Saturday, another edgy victory. 

On 1 July their hosts were bottom-of-the-league Brighton & Hove, who have had only one league win all summer.  Priory’s bowling attack was strengthened by the return of Satchi Mahendran after injury, but it was fellow-seamer John Morgan who made regular inroads, bowling 18 overs unchanged and finishing with six wickets for 59, as the home side subsided to 132 all out. In reply, Hastings openers Dylan Woolley (35) and Harry Scowen (78 not out) shared a first wicket stand of 84. After Woolley was caught and bowled, Scowen hit a series of flamboyant boundaries, and the target was reached in less than 27 overs.

The next day, without Mahendran, Priory found Haywards Heath much tougher opposition in a match rescheduled from early May when the hosts’ pitch was unplayable. The match was contested on a limited-over format, and the home batsmen got off to a flying start. Although Morgan, Seaver Cowley and Alex Osborne took two wickets apiece, none could stem the flow of runs. Osborne proved particularly expensive, conceding 75 runs off his nine overs as Haywards Heath reached 260 off 45.

Priory started their response well enough, despite the early dismissal of Scowen, and reached 67 for 1 with Woolley and Cowley seemingly set. But Cowley’s dismissal for 19 sparked a wholesale collapse. Gillespie was lbw for nought, Osborne run out without scoring and Greg Devlin caught likewise – three ducks in a row. Woolley carried his bat through the remainder of the innings to finish with 67 not out, but the rest of the batting order offered little resistance. The final deficit was 118 runs. 

Last Saturday, at St James’s ground at Ditchling, Priory’s bowlers enjoyed early successes. Mahendran took three wickets in his opening spell, then Morgan and Cowley also cashed in on a pitch that helped the seamers as the home side were bowled out for 111 runs.

If that seemed an easy target at the start, Priory’s top order received a rude shock. Woolley, Caleb Laloo, Scowen and Cowley were all back in the pavilion with just 23 runs on the board. Osborne (21 off 70 balls) and Gillespie dropped anchor to steady the ship with a crucial partnership of 41; but when the former’s dismissal was followed almost immediately by that of Iden McCleave, a morale-sapping defeat looked on the cards. Gillespie maintained his captain’s innings, however, to finish with 37 not out. Morgan hit some trademark blows (13 off 13 balls), then Mahendra (15 not out) stayed to the finish – a three wicket win for the Hastings side.

They are now back in third place in the Division 2 league championship behind Worthing, who have won six games and lost none so far, and surprise package West Chiltington & Thakeham. Next up are back-to-back home fixtures against Haywards Heath (tomorrow, Saturday) and Burgess Hill (the following Saturday).

Sussex Cricket League standings – top five 

There was a marked symmetry in games contested by Hastings & St Leonards Priory in the Sussex Cricket League over the last two Saturdays. 

On 3 June, hosts Buxted Park racked up an impressive score of 288 from their 45 overs. Priory replied with an opening partnership of 175, but their later wickets tumbled in trying to match the required run rate, and they were bowled out in the last over, 14 runs short.

On 10 June, playing on their home ground at Claremont School against Chichester Priory Park, it was the turn of Hastings to post an imposing score – 286 off 53 overs, leaving the visitors 47 overs to overhaul this figure for a win or avoid being bowled out for a draw. Chichester looked odds on victors when reaching 232 for 2, but then lost their last eight wickets for 29 runs and lost by 15 runs.

In the earlier game, Priory’s seamer Satchi Mahendran broke a finger in the field and could not complete his overs. Adam Barton made a welcome return to Priory’s bowling attack and returned the excellent figures of four wickets for 40 off his nine overs. Spinners Alex Osborne and Harvey Faulkner shared the other four wickets between them, though the latter conceded on average almost seven runs per over.

Priory’s openers Dylan Woolley (62 off 86 balls) and Harry Scowen (a magnificent 122 off 95 including 20 boundaries) put them in a commanding position, but only John Morgan (20), Osborne (29) and Faulkner (14) reached double figures after them, and the last four wickets fell under time pressure for just eight runs.

STIFLINGLY HOT

Last Saturday, by contrast, Priory – winning the toss and electing to bat on a stiflingly hot afternoon – started poorly against an attack led by Chichester’s Mitch Heyward, bowling with pace and accuracy down the pronounced slope. He had Dylan Woolley caught for a duck in the first over and disposed of brother Jake Woolley soon after. Iden McCleave made a first ball exit, gloving the ball to the wicket-keeper: that was 16 for three. Scowen (42) and captain Tom Gillespie (23) started the rescue effort, but Heyward clean-bowled both of them, and at 84 for five the innings remained in crisis. 

Osborne (108 not out off 111 balls) and Seaver Cowley (50 off 69) then came together in a partnership of 137 that transformed the shape of the match. Starting cautiously, with scampered singles, circumspect drives, and a certain degree of playing-and-missing against the still aggressive Heyward, they pushed the score forward only slowly at first. But as the afternoon got hotter, Heyward tired and Chichester’s support bowling proving unthreatening, they gradually took command. Eventually Cowley was dismissed immediately after reaching his half-century, but his replacement, Morgan, slogged an unbeaten 51, including five sixes, off 20 balls to boost Priory’s final total to 288 for six. 

With neither Mahendran nor Barton available, Cowley opened the Priory bowling with Morgan and took two early wickets, but a third wicket partnership between Chichester batsmen Wergan and Dabinett-Jays of 202 put their side firmly in control – only 67 more runs were then wanted with eight wickets in hand and plenty of overs. Osborne and Faulkner had again proved expensive against batsmen set and willing to chance their arm. Re-enter Cowley, however, who trapped both the high scorers lbw. Osborne also returned to the attack to bamboozle the later order batsmen, and the two Priory batting heroes of earlier in the afternoon formed an equally successful bowling partnership, sharing all ten wickets as Chichester were bowled out 15 runs short with two overs to spare.

Osborne, a recruit for the season from Perth, Australia, will have been particularly pleased to perform so well in front of his father and girlfriend, who have flown halfway across the world to watch him as part of a tour that will also include spectating at one or more Ashes Tests.

Next up for the Hastings team are two matches against other sides who have started the season strongly – away against West Chiltington and Thakeham (outside Pulborough) tomorrow (Saturday), then at home on the following Saturday to Worthing, who have won all four they have played so far.

Crowhurst Park, who compete along with Hastings & St Leonards Priory in Division 2 of the Sussex Cricket League also experienced mixed fortunes over the past two Saturdays. On 3 June they lost by 31 runs at Burgess Hill. They restricted the home side to a total of 199 and started well to reach 82 for the loss of two wickets, but then subsided to 168 all out.

Last Saturday, at home to Buxted Park, they batted solidly to reach 287 for eight from 52 overs before declaring with half centuries from Jordan Shaw (56), Thomas Powell (62) and Clive Tong (52). Nicholas Cockcroft scored a century for Buxted, but lost wickets steadily. Jordan Shaw and Ollie Constable bagged four each, and Crowhurst completed a 31-run victory to reverse the previous result precisely.

The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory ruled the local roost last Saturday in defeating near neighbours Crowhurst Park by seven wickets with more than 11 overs to spare in their Sussex Cricket League contest. 

Crowhurst, batting first, found it hard to score quickly, despite a fast outfield, against Priory’s accurate attack. David Rayment’s 54 took him 92 balls, and, after Priory’s go-to seamer John Morgan claimed three wickets in a middle order collapse, the innings quickly subsided. There was a general share-out of wickets between all five bowlers. 

When Priory replied, Harry Scowen was immediately bowled by Jordan Shaw, but the Woolley brothers – Jack (42) and Dylan (47) – steadied the ship. Then Iden McCleave (51 not out) took control, playing admirably straight with some powerful drives off the front foot. One of those was deflected onto the wicket at the non-striker’s end to run out Dylan Woolley; but there was no further success for the fielding side, as Alex Osborne kept the score moving with some scampered singles, and McCleave reached his 50 with a winning snick to the third man boundary. 

Priory’s comprehensive victory followed a much closer one at Burgess Hill the previous Saturday. Asked to go in first after losing the toss, Priory batted solidly to reach a score of 238 off their 45 overs. Scowen (43), McCleave (41), Osborne (25), Morgan (52 off 42 balls) and Seaver Cowley (24) all made valuable contributions. Morgan took three early wickets when the home side replied, but they remained in the hunt and finished just four runs short.

Meanwhile, at home to Haywards Heath on the same day, Crowhurst Park conceded 263 for 9 off their 45 overs before falling for 165 all out. Bradley Payne made 38 and Shaw 40, but they received inadequate support.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Priory travel to Buxted Park while Crowhurst host Burgess Hill.