SUFFOLK crushed hosts Hertfordshire by a massive 189 runs to notch a convincing victory in their first ECB 38-County Trophy match at Bishop's Stortford yesterday.

SUFFOLK crushed hosts Hertfordshire by a massive 189 runs to notch a convincing victory in their first ECB

38-County Trophy match at Bishop's Stortford yesterday.

Suffolk, bolstered by half-centuries from Matthew Catley, Andy Brown and Bill Athey, posted a challenging total of 279 for four off their allotted 50 overs.

And Phil Caley's men never gave Hertfordshire a chance to settle in their reply, blasting them out for a mere 90, thanks chiefly to a superb spell of

bowling from seamer James East, who recorded figures of five for 31.

Kevin Brooks, Suffolk's director of cricket, said: "That was certainly one of the best all-round one-day performances of recent years.

"Everyone played their part. The

batsmen got the runs, we bowled well and the fielding was sensational.

"It's always important to make a

winning start in this competition and now we can look forward to our next match against Cambridgeshire at Exning on May 26.

"We were missing several regulars, but this did not affect us. We pushed Matt Catley up the order as a pinch-hitter, in the absence of Ian Graham, who usually performs that role for us.

"Matt responded brilliantly. He set the tempo with a quickfire innings, and we went from strength to strength after this.

"We kept chipping away with wickets in their innings. James East bowled very well and Trevor Smith took two wickets on what was his competitive debut for the county."

Suffolk skipper Phil Caley won the toss and decided to bat. Even though there were four short breaks for rain, adding up to just under an hour's loss of play, the visitors batted in supremely positive fashion.

Opener Matthew Catley powered to a brilliant 77, his highest one-day total for Suffolk. He raced to his half-century off just 35 deliveries and in all plundered 11 fours and two sixes.

He shared a second-wicket partnership of 94 with player-coach Andy Brown, who himself accumulated a responsible 62. Brown passed 50 from 94 balls.

Brown and Bill Athey added 104 for the third wicket. Athey, having reached his half-century off 73 balls, stepped up another gear to make 81 off 93 deliveries.

Caley added a typically whirlwind 26 at the end of the innings to push the Suffolk total to 279.

Smith, the former Derbyshire pace-man, registered figures of 6-0-22-2 in his opening burst to send Suffolk on their way to a huge victory.

Scoreboard

SUFFOLK

R Catley c Gladwin b Ruskin 5

M Catley c James b White 77

A Brown c Frazer b Cooper 62

B Athey c Ward b Cooper 81

P Caley not out 26

T Smith not out 4

Extras (2nb, 17w, 5lb) 24

Total (off 50 overs, for 4 wkts) 279

Did not bat: C Warn, T Catley, J East, C Swallow, G Kirk

Bowling: P O'Reilly 10-0-66-0, S Ruskin 10-1-58-1, L Cooper 10-1-69-2, B Frazer 10-0-47-0, S White 10-0-34-1.

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-116, 3-220, 4-259

HERTFORDSHIRE

V Ward b East 23

I Fletcher b Smith 5

S Lowe c Warn b Smith 7

M James lbw b Kirk 6

B Frazer b East 14

M Everett b Swallow 2

N Gladwin c Caley b East 11

S White c M Catley b East 0

S Ruskin c East b Swallow 3

L Cooper st Warn b East 0

P O'Reilly not out 7

Extras (8 w, 4 b) 12

Total (off 27.4 overs, all out) 90

Bowling: Smith 6-0-22-2, Kirk 10-0-28-1, East 8-2-31-5, Swallow 3.4-2-5-2

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-34, 3-49, 4-57, 5-64,

6-79, 7-79, 8-79, 9-80.