Middleton On Sea

We had previously visited Middleton on Sea in 2015 with the Australian Over 60s Team. On the way back to our hotel from Chichester a detour was made to visit this ground again as Russell, our English travel agent, was playing in a cricket match at the ground.

It was tea time so the male members of our group had to inspect the pitch.

I decided to go down the lane beside the ground to the beach.

One of the thatched cottages in the street leading to the beach.

Entrance to the beach.

The day was overcast and cold - not ideal beach weather.

However some hardy souls were at the beach.

Our stay, this time, was short so it was back to the coach to return to the hotel after a busy day.

Game 15 Second Test against England at Middleton on Sea

We left our hotel in Tunbridge Wells

and after an hour and a half drive from Kent to West Sussex we arrived at Middleton on Sea, near Bognor Regis.

The Middleton on Sea Sports Club covers tennis, lawn bowls, squash as well as cricket.

The club rooms are impressive and the staff had worked hard to publicise the event and ensure all went smoothly. Unfortunately as one person commented, 'The weather is not great so we don't expect many to turn up.'

The Australians had their normal warm up session

posed for photographs

and the national anthems were sung. The singing of Advance Australia Fair had improved greatly compared with the singing at the earlier tests.

Australia batted first. They were 3 for 40 when Phil Drescher came out to bat. The fourth ball he faced was hit out of the ground and not found. Phil's 67 runs included 4 sixes. Australia had made 217 runs - definitely not as many as we would have expected to make.
England also got off to a shaky start and were 3 for 31 after 13 overs. Although Robin and James Martin suffered leg injuries during the match the rest of the bowlers worked hard with success and England could only make 9 for 190 at stumps.

It was a great Australian victory and the first time that an Australian over 60s side had defeated England.

During the game I went for a walk to check out the beach.

It was low tide and there were few people at the beach except for those walking dogs.

Like many beaches in England there were pebbles, not sand.

Erosion has been a major problem and a number of solutions have been tried over the years.

Along the road back to the cricket ground here were a number of houses with colourful gardens.