Clubs come together to wrap up The 1st Central Sussex Cricket League

On Friday 13th October players and volunteers came together to celebrate the end of another fantastic season in The 1st Central Sussex Cricket League.

Held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Brighton Metropole, the awards night featured former England Test spinner and Ashes winner, Ashley Giles, who shared stories from his glittering playing career and presented the awards to the Winners, best batter and best bowler from each division.

Another successful season saw over 2,900 fixtures completed around the county, across 38 divisions, featuring 362 teams from 142 clubs.

This year’s Premier League champions were newly promoted Cuckfield CC with Preston Nomads CC finishing as runners-up. Hastings & St Leonards Priory CC & Worthing CC were promoted from Division 2 replacing Eastbourne CC & Mayfield CC who were relegated from the Premier League.

T20 Finals Day was once again held at The 1st Central County Ground in September. In front of a good crowd, Mid Sussex Heathens CC won the Plate, Middleton CC 2nd XI won the Trophy and Preston Nomads CC won the T20 Cup defeating Mayfield CC under lights.

Speaking at the end of the season, Gary Stanley, Chair of The 1st Central Sussex Cricket League said: "It has been another fantastic year for the Sussex Cricket League.

“It was great to see a first time Premier division champion in Cuckfield CC, an amazing achievement having been promoted just the previous year.

“We ended the season with our now traditional T20 Finals Day at The 1st Central County Ground, a great and well attended advert for the league.

“Lastly, a gauge of the league's popularity is that our end of season awards evening has now grown to the point where, for the first time, it was held at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton, with 340 people in attendance. Roll on next year!"

Gary Wallis-Tayler, Community Cricket Director for the Sussex Cricket Foundation added: “It has been another fantastic league season and it’s great to see the league continue to grow and develop in Sussex.

“Congratulations to all our league and individual awards winners this summer and a huge thank you to all the volunteers and our league committee who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure cricket is accessible to the hundreds of players across the County.”

The 2024 season promises to be just as exciting, with a net gain of a further 11 teams from across Sussex, showing that the game continues to grow at recreational level in the County.

Full results and final league tables can be found on The 1st Central Sussex Cricket League website.