Women & men warm up for T20 campaigns with wins over 2018 Aboriginal XIs

The women’s match was the first of a double header on a hot day at The 1st Central County Ground.

Batting first, Sussex Women lost Lucy Western in the first over. That saw guest for the day, Fran Wilson join Paige Scholfield in the middle and the pair put on 111 for the second wicket.

Both players made half-centuries, Scholfield’s 58 coming off 43 balls and Wilson’s 53 from just 36.

The loss of those two in consecutive overs threatened to derail the home side’s innings, but a Alice Davidson-Richardson’s 19-ball 36 not out saw Sussex post an imposing 182-4 from their twenty overs.

Two quick wickets for Freya Davies and a run out denied the 2018 Aboriginal XI any sort of platform to their chase.

Roxanne van Veen and Christina Coulson combined to put on 62 for the fourth wicket, but regular wickets thereafter saw the visitors finish 83 runs short of their target on 103-8.

The men’s match followed a similar pattern. Sussex Sharks made 188-5 batting first as Laurie Evans (44 off 37), new signing Tom Bruce (23 off 20), Michael Burgess (44 off 21) and David Wiese (49* off 21) all contributed.

Dan Christian was the top-scorer in the 2018 Aboriginal XI’s reply, making 24 off 18 balls including a six that cleared the pavilion and went straight through the windscreen of Tom Bruce’s car. The New Zealander might be choosing a different parking space for the rest of the season!

Three wickets for Danny Briggs (who once again showed his white-ball prowess after impressing on Thursday night against the Australians), two for Chris Jordan and one each for Jofra Archer, Wiese and Will Beer skittled the touring side out for 89 to hand the Sharks a 99-run victory.

The day started with a moving ceremony that saw a large silk banner unveiled, a commemorative stump handed over and speeches to mark the 150th anniversary of the tour that saw the original Australian Aboriginals play two matches in Sussex in 1868.

A scorecard of the women's match is available here. 

A scorecard of the men's match is available here.