Matthew Piller
3 June, 2025
Sport

St Michaels Club Day a success

A fantastic day was had on Saturday, as LSM held their inaugural Club Day, which featured to St Michaels teams playing at home for the first time in a number of years, a BBQ, games and facepainting for youngsters and teas provided by The Brewers Arms for all teams. There was a lovely family atmosphere and it was great to see some new and old LSM faces coming down to support and play.

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The Presidents XI won their match against Priory 4s, while the 1st XI came up short against Hellingly. Match reports below.

Lewes St Michaels 1st XI 122 (all out, 32.5 overs) Vs Hellingly 1st XI 146 (all out, 39 overs):

Post game BBQ and games
Post game BBQ and games Credit: Matthew Piller

MATCH REPORT:

Two Saints teams playing at the Convent Field on Sat
Two Saints teams playing at the Convent Field on Sat Credit: Matthew Piller

Saints put visitors Hellingly in to bat in sunny but breezy conditions, looking to make it four wins from four as a club. The home side started brightly with Matt Piller (3-14) and Shrey Nilvarna (2-23) working excellently in tandem to reduce Hellingly to 45-5; Brian Field taking two good catches. Michael Williams (63) and Aiden Miller (39) counter-attacked brilliantly to get the batting side back in the game, with the former playing some lovely strokes having played himself in, while the latter took a more forthright approach; crunching boundaries from the off. Sam Barnett took 1-19 before Skipper Pratik Patel (2-22) and "Golden Arm" Naimat Zafary (2-15) mopped up the tail to leave Hellingly 146 all out.

The Lewesian reply was a stuttering one, losing key wickets early on. George Scott (20) batted well to add vital runs, while Captain Patel (11), Ash Williams (13) and Shrey Nilvarna (12) all made promising starts before coming unstuck. Paul Kirk (3-28) and Andrew Rose (2-28) both bowled well to keep the pressure on the hosts. The Saints batting performance of the day came from Richard Arnold at 3, who put on a masterclass of measured batting: providing both a solid anchor while picking off the looser deliveries with aplomb. "Dizzy" Arnold reached his half-ton with six 4s and two 6s but eventually ran out of partners. In a last-wicket stand and the target within a few lusty-blows' reach he was eventually undone by a good Aiden Miller (3-28) yorker, to leave the home side short of the total.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Sponsored by Stewart Hunt Chartered Certified Accountants- Richard Arnold: a great display with the bat, making 50, which gave Saints a fighting chance going in to the final overs.

Lewes St Michaels President's XI 99-3 (14.2 overs) Vs Lewes Priory 4th XI 98-7 (35 overs)

MATCH REPORT:

Lewes St Michaels President's XI won an enjoyable encounter against Priory 4th XI at the Convent Field to cap off a fantastic Club Day on Sat.

Priory batted first, putting on 98 from their alloted 35 overs for the loss of 7 wickets. Arthur Ellis (36 not out), John Moore (11) and 'keeper Crispin Sunderland Bowe (8) were the main run-getters for the batting side. Barry South kept it tight, going for only 1 run per over for Saints, Pete Bassett took 2-9 in a tidy spell, while Brad Brownings, Matt Kidgell, Pete Thomas, Claudio Cosimetti and Sean Beagan all contributed wickets in a real team effort, which also included yet another wonder-catch from Skipper James Sale.

In reply, Phil Loveland-Stuart and Rob Williams got the hosts off to a blistering start, crunching boundaries before retiring on 27 and 28 respectively. Matt Kidgell (10), Raj Kaushal (13 not out) and Craig Taggart (13) added further boundaries before Peter Thomas hit the winning runs from a 4 off his first ball. Justin Wray (2-49) and Christopher Woodward (1-5) took the wickets for Priory.

A game played in good spirits and capped off by a delicious BBQ after the game. Thanks to James Sale for organising the day and for Priory for stepping up and providing a fixture at relatively short notice.