Sussex Over 60s First Team lift Vase Cup

Sussex 60s First Team made it two trophies in the same day for the Senior Teams, as they beat Oxfordshire in the Vase Cup Final. That success came after the Sussex 60s 3rd XI won the National Cup.

September 5th saw Sussex Over 60s First team under captain Russ Varney travel to Valley End Cricket Club for their second cup final in two years.

The Valley End ground which won the Cricketer magazine’s award for the greenest ground in 2022 is a superb venue and great thanks go to the club for their hospitality and hard work on the day.

Sussex had already faced Surrey at Valley end in the group stages of the competition and it proved to be a happy hunting ground once again.

Sussex having chased down 297 to win with 5 overs to spare against the home team. Sussex had already comfortably defeated Wiltshire at Marlborough and Cambridgeshire at Sawston in the knockout stages, so, the team’s confidence was high.

Asked to bat first, the Sussex batsmen found the pitch more difficult than that first visit. The prolific top order of Martyn Ford, Gordon Morgan, Mick Webb and John Lewis found the going tough, with only Ford 59 getting a score.

At 139-6 with 10 overs left, Sussex looked to be in trouble, but Man of the Match Andy Hill 39 and Dave Christmas 25 (not out) mastered the conditions and the Oxfordshire attack to put on 57 for the 7th wicket. Sussex ending on 197-8 off the full allocation of 45 overs.

The contrasting Sussex Opening bowlers Hill and Tim Peters had Oxfordshire in early trouble. After 11 overs the innings was in tatters at 19-3. Hill bowling straight through his 9 overs finished with 4-18 and looked unlucky not to have been awarded three more LBWs.

The support bowling was equally tight with Goff Baker taking 1-18 off his 9 overs and Paddy Smith weighing in with three wickets. The bowlers were well supported by a finely honed and athletic fielding performance which took on Morgan’s mantra of concentration.

The wicketkeeping of Jon Woodman was a strong contender to Hill’s MoM award. Three stumpings including two off legside wides by Christmas and a catch giving him four top class dismissals. Oxfordshire were eventually all out for 138 in the 41st over, leaving the Martlets victors by 59 runs.

Many Sussex supporters took the trouble to turn up to support the team, with the Third team who were also playing and winning their cup final also against Oxfordshire, a great day for Sussex seniors was complete.

The Oxfordshire team played the game hard and in a great spirit as with all Senior’s games and the two teams enjoyed each other’s company for a drink after the game.

Special mentions go to Hugh Milner the Director of Sussex Seniors Cricket who has done so much to develop the Seniors set up in to a club that fields 9 teams in the three age categories; Adrian Harland our reliable and hard-working scorer and to the umpires who have adjudicated for us all season.

Scorecard: https://sussexover50.play-cricket.com/website/results/6052636