Brilliant Bexhill triumph in league opener

Luke Youngs scored a century with the bat and Sam Roberts took five wickets with the ball as Bexhill triumphed by 97 runs away to Billingshurst.

Bexhill amassed 263-5 declared after winning the toss and choosing to bat - a massive improvement on six days previously when they were all out for 126 in an ECB National Club Championship tie against Bromley Common having been 38-6.

The score was built around a superb third wicket partnership of 197 between Youngs and Callum Guest. The pair came together with the score 58-2 after Shawn Johnson was run out for 34 following the earlier dismissal of Malcolm Johnson for 11.

Youngs scored just 76 runs in eight appearances for Bexhill last season, but went way beyond that figure in one innings at Jubilee Fields with a magnificent 119.

Guest, who last season scored an unbeaten century against Horsham, provided splendid support with an unbeaten 84. Although Bexhill lost three wickets for eight runs at the end of their innings, the bowlers had plenty of runs to play with after tea.

Bexhill proceeded to bowl their opponents out for 166 in 42.3 overs, with Roberts - who has come over for the summer from the United States as club coach - returning outstanding figures of 5-13 from 5.3 overs.

Six of Billingshurst’s top seven batsmen reached double figures, but with none of them getting to 35, they lacked the big scores they were bound to need if they were to threaten the target.

Billingshurst’s highest scorers were their two openers, Stuart Barber and Tom Haynes, with 28 and 33 respectively. Both fell to Joe Cox (2-29 off seven overs), the former caught behind by Youngs and the latter lbw.

Bexhill later picked up three wickets for six runs to leave Billingshurst 105-5. All of them went to Nick Peters (3-42 off nine overs), including Mike Burroughs for 23 and Scott Stratton for 14.

Rob Woodman (27) and Shane West (15) put on 41 for the sixth wicket before Billingshurst tumbled from 146-5 to 166 all out with Roberts claiming all of the last five wickets, evoking memories of his exploits for the club shortly after the turn of the century.

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