“After a three week period without a game Boxgrove travelled to play Madehurst in warm sunshine. However it was clear as the players arrived that it would be a tough encounter as we were without a number of regulars and the pitch looked shocking. The 2 o’clock start soon became 2.30 and then nearer three as the Madehurst players ambled back from their Sunday lunches.

The toss was won by Boxgrove and skipper James Thorpe invited Madehurst to bat. In terms of team news for Boxgrove there were recalls for the youthful Liam Glasspool (he’s in and out more than a mole up at the Grove!), Aiden Mant, Stevie Mitchell (he was down the pub with his Uncle Phil and Uncle Grant when the call came in but dropped everything to play) balanced by the call up of the two experienced campaigners Pete Courtnage and Gordon Bailey. 

The Boxgrove bowlers once again started well and Madehurst’s Ashley should have been out first over as he looped a Paul Mant deliver straight to the bowler’s son Aiden but he couldn’t react and will be paying the price for some time to come with no pocket money and extra cleaning duties. Manty then thought he had his man again as a ball shot along the ground and just missed off stump. There were numerous other near misses and shouts from the Boxgrove fielders as the pitch played up as expected yet the Madehurst openers somehow survived. As has often been the case this season the Boxgrove openers, Mant and McGeough, went unrewarded in their opening spell and it took the introduction of Matt “Clubber” Langton (2-27) to make inroads. His first ball was at head height surprising everyone including the local buzzard but he soon then settled into a beautiful rhythm that put pressure on Madehurst and duly yielded two wickets - the first a catch by Thorpe at mid off and the second clean bowling Nigel Smith.

At this stage Boxgrove looked on top and panic set into the Madehurst ranks as Ashley selfishly ran out two of his partners. The first run out was due to good work by Barrett whilst the second saw a ricochet off of Thorpe fall for Langton who expertly threw in to see off Lewis for a duck. Ashley then took his score past fifty as Boxgrove began to toil. Thorpe (0-19) then brought himself into the attack and he outwitted the Madehurst batsmen time and again during a tight spell but could not quite find the edge. Mant (1-42) and McGeough (1-34) returned to the attack and were each rewarded with a wicket, the former via an expert catch by Gordon “the flying fish” Bailey in the gully and the latter clean bowled. Manty can expect a referral to the match referee for an outburst that was due to frustration rather than any malice but nobody could deny him his or Gordon’s moment of glory. Ashley duly passed three figures as Madehurst pressed on but his efforts were ended by Wayne Barrett who bowled him and then followed up by removing Taylor to end a really nice spell for a part time bowler with excellent figures of 8 over 2 for 60. Madehurst finished on 198-9 but it’s hard to know how as Boxgrove fielded and bowled well in difficult circumstances. 

So Madehurst set Boxgrove 199 to win and what looked a tall order soon became a near impossible one. Firstly McGeough was bowled for a duck and then Holl followed to a low one for 2. Any hopes of a recovery were dashed as Barrett then fell for 1 and Bailey was caught behind for 0 leaving Boxgrove 5 for 4. The position then got even worse as Langton picked up his third duck on the trot and the away side were looking down the barrel at 6 for 5. The unlikely hero was Liam Glasspool who coolly withstood the pressure and smashed a four and together with Paul Mant he took the score to the relative dizzy heights of 18 for 5 and in doing so passed Boxgrove’s lowest ever total of 14 which had looked in danger of being broken. Glasspool was adjudged LBW for 7 but then skipper Thorpe joined Mant and took the score to 41. Mant had enjoyed his innings including some impressive shots but when he skied one too many he was out caught for 13. After taking time to get in on what was still an interesting pitch Thorpe began to take on the attack and a series of nice shots saw the score rise. Aiden Mant was then run out for a duck whilst Stevie Mitchell looked the part but after getting off the mark with a nice shot he was dismissed for 1. Thorpe (34 not out) then took Boxgrove to the dizzy heights of 69 before Courtnage was the last man out caught at square leg for what was Boxgrove’s fifth duck of the day (at least we raised a fiver for club funds!).

So a disappointing day ended in a heavy defeat for Boxgrove but that is the way that it goes…..

Madehurst 198-9 (Langton 2-27, Barrett 2-60, McGeough 1-34, Mant 1-42)

Boxgrove 69 all out (Thorpe 34 not out, Mant 13)

Madehurst won by 129 runs”