Junior Martlets | Sussex Martlets

Match Report

Sussex Martlets 241 – 6, Ed McGregor 61, Michael Murray 56, Richard Iago 43, Sam Carter 30

Only one day of the whole week was gloriously sunny from dawn to dusk, and that was the day of the Vice Presidents Day at Arundel, enjoyed by players, ex players and spectators alike.

It was a young Juniors side; indeed only one of the team was an 18 year old – Tim Chamberlain, who was awarded his Martlet tie (having picked up four A grade A levels the previous day). Both captains had strong Martlet pedigrees. Johnny Wills’ needs no explanation and the Juniors’ captain was 16 year old Greg Wisdom, son of Nick.

Richard Iago and Ed McGregor opned up for the Seniors with a stand of 84, when Richard was dismissed for 43. Ed went on to score 61. Further runs came from Michael Murray (56) and Sam Carter (30). For once Mark Semmence missed out – virtually nailing their young spinner to the sight-screen, and after the ball had been surgically removed he was declared out caught and bowled. The declaration came just before 3.20 with 241-6 on the board.

It was a particarly flat track and none of the bowlers got any real life out of the pitch. That said, the Juniors batted well with Greg Wisdom and Marcus Campopiano putting on 67 for the first wicket. Marcus, aged 16, would have been awarded the accolade of Man of the match (had there been one), Having earlier thrown out Michael Murray from a good twenty-five yards, he went on to record what was apparently his second century in two days. However Michael Murray had his revenge and returned the compliment with another well aimed throw from a similar distance.

Johnny Wills did his best switching his bowlers around skilfully – even calling on Ed McGregor to bowl. Aided by an expert legside stumping by Andrew Hartridge, he ended with the remarkable figures of 3-0-13-2 which is not bad for an ex wicket-keeper!

Late wickets from Tom Gibbs and Patrick Goodwin gave the Seniors hope of a victory, but they held on, ending on 171-8. An excellent performance by the Juniors – they are going to be quite a handfull next year!