Ludlow scores 111 and Rose takes five as Bridges draw

Joseph Ludlow scored a brilliant first ever league century with 111 and Brad Gaylor continued his superb form this campaign with 72. Bridges amassed a tremendous total of 285-3 and they nearly followed up with a victory but in the end they coul;d not dismiss their oppoents’ last pair who hung on for a high-scoring draw at 265-9. The pitch looked good from the start and when Bridges won the toss, there was no hesitation to bat. Openers Hugo Cowan and Joe Ludlow made a promising start, taking the score to over 100 for no loss. Ludlow completed his first 50 of the season and looks to be a significant talent for the rest of the season after moving through the batting gears with a minimum of fuss. Cowan fell just before his second first team 50 of the season but again impressed with his composure and timing. After spending much of the season batting in difficult circumstances, number 3 Brad Gayler came in at a very different stage. This allowed Gayler to bat in a highly destructive manner and after some brutal hitting, he raced to another 50 of the season. At the other end, Ludlow continued scoring at a good pace and completed a superb first league century for Bridges. Ludlow eventually fell for a brilliant 111 and Gayler for 72 allowing Bridges to declare on a mammoth 285-3 off 52 overs. As well as Bridges batted in the first innings, the tide immediately turned in the second. A combination of some poor bowling and brutal pinch-hitting from John Taylor saw St James race to nearly 100 at nearly 10 an over. Mark Church turned to Adrian Chappell and Mike Rose before the 10th over was up and they immediately started to stem the tide. Chappell had Taylor and other opener Sam Cooper well caught off skiers and at the other end Rose dried up the runs and chipped away at the wickets. St James kept scoring well but the final total slipped further and further away as Rose completed a brilliant five wickets. With two wickets needed in the last over, Tom Blandford pulled off a superb instinctive reaction run out at short leg, but number 11 Jordan Shaw saw out the final 5 balls to secure a draw. Rose and Chappell were the clear pick of the bowlers and almost saw Bridges to a win when the Crawley side were in big trouble. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1 Make this website your homepage 2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex 3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex 4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!