County League: Egerton Park batsmen undone at Ibstock

There's a big day of cricket in store at Hove

Park handed debuts to Henry Newton, Harry Wells and overseas signing Mitchell Ellis, from Australia, as they look to build on a mid-table finish from last season.

But they made a disappointing start after losing the toss and being asked to bat first.

Regular wickets fell throughout the innings with only four players reaching double figures, Nick Watchorn top scoring with 23 as he moved Park to 97 all out.

A pumped-up Park took to the field looking for early wickets as they tried to mirror Ibstock’s earlier performance in the field.

But good batting from the home side took the game away from the Melton team.

Watchorn and 15-year-old Barber were the only bowlers to pick up wickets as Ibstock eased to an eight-wicket win.

Park will look to kick-start their season on Saturday when they entertain Narborough and Littlethorpe in their first home match of the season (1pm start).

Egerton Park: H. Newton 0, S. Rose 12, T. Glover 10, C. Madden 18, H. Wells 7, M. Ellis 5, R. Haffenden 2, D. Burdett 0, A. Barber 5, K. Panchal 0, N. Watchorn 23, Extras 15. Total: 97.

Ibstock: 98-2.

Bowling: T. Glover 6-1-16-0; K. Panchal 2-0-15-0; M. Ellis 8-2-13-0; N. Watchorn 5-0-32-1; A. Barber 3-0-15-1; H. Wells 1-0-7-0.