A pleasant, sunny afternoon at Winchelsea saw a contest between the hosts and Clive Vale, playing their second game of the 2009 season and some guesting players.

Batting first, Winchelsea made hard work of it against good bowling from Matt Bowles (7-2-18-1) and miserly bowling from guest star F. Bhatti (5-1-8-0), before young Liam Stamp (7-1-26-2), Guy Wenham (7-1-34-3) and skipper Carl Brook (5-1-13-2) got amongst the wickets. Resistance came from Winchelsea batsmen A. Abrahams (21), R. Dowdswell (21 not out), J. Hamilton (18) and danger man Mark Cook (15), whose innings was ended by a superb diving catch from Matt Bowles standing at point. Three catches were missed, but important catches were well held by Carl Brook, Colin Sheppard and a very sharp catch in the slips was held by Chris Brook. Fielding was of such a high standard that sub fielder and retired Vale legend Ken Brook wasn’t required to handle the ball, despite stepping in for an injured player.

After tea, Vale batsmen Andy Hayes (23) and Paul Fagan (12) stoically resisted a good attack until wickets began to fall as Vale chipped away slowly at the small total. R. Pierce (7-4-13-3) was Winchelsea’s star bowler, supported by Alan Crouch (8-0-25-2) and C. Pierce (11-3-27-2), as the hosts held up Vale’s progress with time running out. Guests Colin Sheppard (15) and F. Bhatti (14) made some progress, but it needed some firm hitting from Guy Wenham (11, including this year’s first six) and injured Chris Brook (8 not out) to push the scores level, before a leg bye off the last scheduled ball secured the Vale victory.