Wellington Cricket Club

Wellington were up against the only other team to have completed and won a Somerset League Division One game on the rain disrupted opening week of the season, and despite fighting back with both bat and ball, Evercreech recorded their first win at Courtland Road since August 1998 with this four wicket win.

Evercreech opted to put Wellington into bat on a breezy day and all seemed to be going OK for the home side as Mark Salter and Rob Moysey put on 15 for the first wicket, but Evercreech skipper C.Ough (4-20 in 12 overs) then put the skids under Wellington as they slipped badly from 31-1 to 34-6 and a rescue act was needed badly for the Red and Blacks.

Tom Trott and Simon Rudd came to the rescue with an unbroken stand of 97 for the seventh wicket, thus establishing a new team record for this wicket, beating the 88 that Mark Saunders and Alec Short put on in the exact same game a year ago.
Trott made 42no and Rudd exactly 50no as they gave Wellington some comfort out of what was a challenging situation. Rudd struck two almighty sixes as M.Ough came in for some punishment, seeing his 9 overs cost 52 runs, not in keeping with his colleagues efforts.
131-6 was a poor score all told, but from 34-6 it represented something of an achievement.

Evercreech’s assault on the runs needed was based on solid collective efforts rather than anyone really dominating the innings and at 84-2 they would have thought that victory was pretty much routine, but Tom Trott – continuing his fine afternoon – returned figures of 3-26 in 12 overs as he trapped D.Wood LBW for 31, a valuable wicket for Wellington.

Gary Tillett swapped his usual Football Club end in favour of coming ‘down the hill’ and found the change suited him as he took 2-34 in 11.2 overs and tied the Shepton Mallett based visitors down. Simon Rudd did a similar strangle job and at 119-6 anything could happen, but Bontoft and Cawley saw Evercreech home by four wickets and to the top of the table with two wins out of two.They collected 31 points to Wellington’s 12.

Wellington won their opening Somerset League Division One match of the 2004 season on Bank Holiday Monday at Burnham-on-Sea by 26 runs as two splendid individual performances supplied the Red and Blacks with 33 points.

After been put into bat Mark Salter and Rob Moysey added an impressive 61 for the first wicket.Salter looped one to Tagg as he tried to play to the leg side for 13, but the captain had done his bit. Paul Short was looking set when he chipped one to mid-on, but Mark Saunders with 19 and Stuart Currall with 28 aided Rob Moysey, who carried his bat for a fine 88no, to push Wellington’s score towards 200.

Simon Rudd saw that Wellington got near maximum batting points and 193-6 was a fair total for Wellington to have got to. Burnham’s bowlers toiled with Tagg’s 2-36 been their best offering.

On his 1st team debut, Adrian Lee removed Stagg for a single, but Puddy and Burnham’s Indian import Karmaker added 83 for the second wicket and were looking dangerous before Paul Short induced Puddy to try and loft over the infield, only to find Lee lurking.

After this nobody gave Karmaker any real support as Short claimed three LBW dismissals. Eventually Simon Rudd accepted the chance that was offered from a loose sweep shot after Karmaker had made 65. Burnham-on-Sea were then out of the game, although they did take 14 points from the game.

Gary Tillett and Kevin Symons, playing for the first time since last August, kept the Burnham tail subdued as the home side saw out time but ended up 26 runs short. With Saturday’s almost total washout Wellington have gained some useful early ground and will see Saturday’s home match with the only other team to win over the weekend, Evercreech, as an opportunity to keep up their early momentum.

When Wellington reduced Street to 27-6 with Tom Trott having taken five wickets on a real bowler’s paradise an early tea looked on the cards.Trott bowled with real venom and aggression and with improved fielding he reaped some rewards.

Guy Murray took a fine overhead catch to remove J.Linter and Trott yorked W.Wall with a dipping leg-stump delivery.Denis Fullstone stooped to accept an edge from Gerrard and when Alec Short pouched J.Linter Street were in all sorts of trouble. Guy Murray’s wicket, courtesy of Adrian Lee’s diving effort, gave the promising junior player a deserved wicket as he claimed 1-32 in six overs.

But Street rallied as D.Wall with 37 and keeper Eades with 33 added a telling 79 for the 7th wicket. This merry spree was ended when David Derrick threw down the stumps at the bowler’s end, thus removing Eades. Tom Trott returned to wrap up the tail to return career best figures of 9.1-3-13-7 and Street had been despatched for 113 some twenty minutes before tea.

Rob Moysey and Alec Short put on 36 for Wellington’s first wicket before the rot set in for a second successive week.
Bartlett set about dismantling the Wellington line up as he took 4-12 in 12.5 overs.

Only Moysey with an brilliant 48 did anything meritable with the bat, but when he was at the crease Wellington were creeping closer to the required total as Guy Murray gave Moysey good support from his number 10, but when Moysey was run out the end was nigh for Wellington and they were all out just one ball later to lose by 34 runs as Street won at Courtland Road for the first time in friendly competition since June 1999.

The 2nd’s first league game against Bishops Lydeard 2nd’s has been called off due to the rain.
The Under 11′s match, also against Bishops Lydeard, was also rained off last night.

Disappointing after last weekends sun and throws tomorrows Sundays game into doubt.

Next week the 2nd’s travel to play last season’s 2nd XI Division Three (NE) champions, Brent Knoll 2nd XI.