“Tuesday night saw the holders Boxgrove take on the hosts Singleton in what was an eagerly awaited content in the first round of the 2010 Downland Cup.

Boxgrove won the toss and invited Singleton to bat and it was not long before they started to pile on the runs. Jack Davies in particular took a liking to the Boxgrove attack from the off and he raced into double figures. It took excellent bowling from Paul Mant (1-19 off 4 overs) to keep things in check and his line and length put paid to the innings of Martin Davies who was bowled for just 5. Jack Davies meanwhile was joined at the wicket by the Singleton skipper Tim Robinson and soon passed fifty as the innings bombed along at over ten an over. At the half way stage Singleton looked like they were on for a score of over 200 but Boxgrove had a few tricks up their sleeve as the bowlers were rotated to great effect. Matt “Clubber” Langton struck to remove Tim Robinson, caught expertly at gully by Ockwell for 35 and things started to look up. At this stage the score was 112-2 off of 11 overs but Boxgrove managed to claw their way back into the game by restricting Singleton to a score of 166-5 off of 20 overs. Key to that effort was the bowling of Ben Gottesman who took 1 for 18 off his 4 overs, with Perry being bowled for a duck, and James Thorpe who took two wickets - Dawtrey caught by Gottesman for 3 and then Jack Davies bowled for 74.

In response Boxgrove’s innings got off to a poor start with Thorpe holing out to Jack Davies in the deep off of Simon Hall for 1 and then Ben Gottesman following for a duck after being bowled by Hall who of course plays for Boxgrove on a Saturday. Rew Reed and Tom Vinnicombe tried to re-build the innings against very tight and sometimes testing bowling but Boxgrove were slipping behind the already steep run rate. After 5 overs the score was 16 for 2 but Reed and Vinnicombe managed to get it up to 31 for 2 off of 8. The pressure was on though and Reed’s promising innings was ended on 15 when he was stumped by Stanford off the bowling of Rooke leaving Boxgrove in a perilous state at 38 for 3 off of 10. That brought Holl to the wicket but with 128 required off 60 odd balls he could do little to help the cause. Vinnicombe helped himself to a number of boundaries including some huge sixes as he tried to restore some momentum but the partnership of 49 with Holl was ended when Sparky was caught behind by Stanford of the bowling of Davies for 14. Barrett (3 not out) helped see out the final four overs as Boxgrove ended on 98-4 but at least there was time for the impressive Vinnicombe (52 not out) to bring up his fifty of the very last ball.

So Boxgrove were unable to emulate the heights of 2009 and are out of the cup at the first attempt but that is the way it goes. All that remains to say is that we were beaten by the better side on the night and good luck to Singleton for the rest of the competition.

Singleton 166 for 5 off of 20 overs (Thorpe 2-33, Gottesman 1-18, Mant 1-19, Langton 1-29)

Boxgrove 98 for 4 off of 20 overs (Vinnicombe 52 not out, Reed 15, Holl 14)”       

Can you stick this on the website alongside those for Lavant and West Sussex Wanderers please?