Sir Paul Getty XI

Sussex Martlets in thrilling win at Wormsley

It was a cloudy but well anticipated day for the Sussex Martlets to reignite their historic battles with The Getty’s XI at the stunning Wormsley estate.

Getty’s won the toss and chose to bat on what looked like a beautiful batting surface and fast outfield. The Martlets XI looked strong batting wise on paper but lacked some pace in their attack as Rebbetts was partly injured and could only muster some half pace alongside the canny skills of Murray opening the bowling. Murray threatened both edges of the bat but the flat pitch allowed the opening batters Kilbee and Greatorix to hit through the line and take the attack to the Martlets bowlers. They reached 137 – 0 before the tempting off spin of Paul Walker was too much for Greatorix (61) as he went for one shot too many and was caught at mid-off. Martlets bowlers did work hard for their wickets and Trubshaw, Forster bowled accurately without reward. It was left to some excellent fielding by Will Adkin to account for the next two wickets; firstly after an excellent diving stop he threw to the stand in keeper Darryl Rebbetts to run out the impressive Kilbee for an excellent 73. Adkin then superbly caught Vanderspar for 10 at short extra cover to see the Martlets stem the flow of runs slightly. Dan Burstow got the Martlets 4^th and final wicket of the innings having Surt LBW leaving the Getty’s 270-4 declared off 44 overs. Paul Walker easily the pick of the Martlets bowlers finishing with excellent figures of 2-56 off 9 overs. A generous declaration from Getty’s giving the Martlets an estimated 52 overs in return to get the 271 required.

In addition to the fabulous cricket being played, the Martlets enjoyed a spectacular lunch and tea supplied in a fantastic setting with the England test match in the background; what else could you need on a Sunday!

Thankfully the weather continued to improve in the afternoon and the Martlets began batting in the sunshine which only improved the batting conditions. Rebbetts and Forster opened the batting but lost Forster LBW for 0, which brought W Adkin to the crease to begin an East Grinstead partnership. Both began brightly with regular boundaries and saw off the strong new ball attack of Wilkinson and Carroll. Unfortunately Adkin on 28 somehow managed to pick out the only fielder on the leg side after a drag down short ball from Wilkinson. Once again the Martlets needed to rebuild as Christian Davis came to the crease. With the threat of the new ball gone the Martlets could pick up the run rate with both Rebbetts and Davis rotating the strike well and frustrating the Getty’s XI. They now knew that the Martlets were not going to roll over and a true fight was on for the victory. 60-2 became 155 – 3 when Rebbetts finally departed for a well-made 68 but left the game in good hands with Davis well set in the 50s as well. However Getty’s fought back with 4 quick wickets as 154-2 became 175-6 as they fought back strongly. Davis remained still, not showing any signs of tiring or getting out. This left Martlets needing 105 off the final 20 overs. With Murray and Davis at the crease the game was still firmly in the balance and Murray turned over the strike to Davis excellently; although Davis, I’m sure was not enjoying the 2s and 3s quite as much after batting for such a length of time! Davis brought up his century in excellent fashion with a brilliant flick off his legs to the boundary and from this moment on, Martlets were quietly confident as long as the big hitting Davis remained. He was given a couple of lives at mid-wicket and extra cover and the Getty’s were made to pay as Davis then drove in the sword further once he passed his 100. It did come down to the final over needing 4 runs, but thankfully with Davis on strike. A wonderful unbroken partnership of 95 runs between Murray and Davis saw the Martlets home against an excellent Getty’s XI and a great way to end the day.

We can only look forward to welcoming the Getty’s XI to Arundel in the near future to treat them to what I can only call an equally brilliant experience at the Castle. We can only dream of more competitive, high standard fixtures for the Martlets in the future. A huge thanks to the Getty’s for the invite and such an excellent game.

Highlights:

Getty’s XI :      Martlets 271 – 6: Christian Davis 129* Rebbetts 68 Murray 39*

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