FARNCOMBE had a baptism of fire in the I’Anson Competition as a Blackheath newcomer hit an unbeaten century on the first day of the season.
The 12-team Division?Three got off to an early start in the limited-overs format. Two of the games were cancelled, but there were encouraging wins for Blackheath II, Bramley, Headley II and Midhurst.
Farncombe, put in at the Heath, began well, with openers Ryan Luff (46) and Glenn Wakeham putting on 52. The visitors reached 70-1 before Blackheath II began to make inroads, with Josh Cummings, newcomer Mitch McMullan and Alex Bertola all taking three wickets.
Still, 187 all out seemed a decent total and Blackheath were in a bit of trouble at 33-2. McMullan then announced himself with a hurricane knock, hitting 105 not out off 79 balls, including 20 fours, and the hosts raced to victory in 30 overs.
It was the same old story for Hindhead, who failed to apply themselves after opting to bat first at Bramley. Ali Holmes, Dan Burstow, Juher Shaikh and Rory Brooks-Kent (3-8) did the damage as the visitors were shot out for 57.
James Shrubb and Stuart Woods bowled tidily in reply, but the latter pulled up injured and Holmes and Nick Hyett saw Bramley to an easy nine-wicket win.
The Headley II bowlers showed fine early-season form as they dismissed Thursley for 103, making good use of a slow pitch that gave low bounce. Thursley took 23 off the first three overs, but Tom Kiddy struck in the sixth over and Headley never looked back. The batsmen continued to go for their shots, but once Saghir holed out for 36, the innings tailed away, Zac Benstead taking two wickets in an over and Pete Messina claiming a victim with his only ball.
Headley were made to work hard for the runs and only 25 came off the first 15 overs. Benstead batted solidly throughout to finish unbeaten on 39, while the more aggressive Marc Hawtin hit 40 not out. Two rain breaks reduced the target to 96 and Hawtin, skipper for the day, finished the game with a boundary.
The club’s groundsmen managed to provide an excellent wicket at Shalford, but it was Midhurst who made the most of the favourable conditions and ran out winners by 41 runs. Openers Simon Lush (44) and and Nathan Kemp (61) shared a fine partnership, enabling Midhurst to total a healthy 192-6 in their 45 overs.
Peter Unsworth (33) led a solid reply by Shalford, but they were always off the pace against tight bowling. They finished on 151-8 and salvaged two points.
One fixture was played in Division Five and Fernhurst II bea Badshot Lea II by three wickets. Badshot Lea were bowled out for a modest 69, with Chris Minassian scoring 27 and Tristan Rissik taking 4-11. Fernhurst also found it hard going as Matt Morrison and Tom Spooner each claimed three wickets.