Wellington Cricket Club

Wellington 2nd XI recorded a surprise 7 run victory at Taunton St Andrews in an exciting encounter after heavy defeats in the last two outings. St Andrews were 12 points behind leaders Minehead having previously lost just one match this season. The win by Wellington still leaves them 155 points behind the Saints

Mark Bushen decided to ask the visitors to bat first on one of the hottest afternoons of the season and Chris Close announced his arrival with a boundary through the covers of the first ball of the innings. Simon Burge soon captured his first wicket and ex St Andrews batsman Barry Salter featured in a stand of 32 with Close in 10 overs before being bowled. Burge claimed his second wicket as Close (35) fell LBW after hitting his highest score of the season -an innings that included 5 boundaries.

Alex Sparks looked in good nick until he was caught for 12 but James Dyke took full advantage of the fast outfield with an entertaining knock of 41 -another highest of the season for the vice-captain.He struck 6 boundaries before being caught off the bowling of the promising youngster Tom Vickert

Bob Trott (30) and Julian Jones (21) added 41 for the sixth wicket and Sam Cook (10) holed out with 2 balls of the innings remaining. The total of 174 was due to some consistent and sensible batting throughout the order.

Burge returned 2 for 41; Alan Parsons 2 for 17 and Ian Hockey had excellent figures of 11-3-29-5

St Andrews made an aggressive start but soon fell away as Bradford was caught by Nicholls off Lee for 13. The stylish teenager Penn (15) then clipped a ball to square leg to Kevin Crout. This brought Burge to the wicket and he soon announced his intentions with some forceful shots, particularly back over the bowler. He was finally out to an excellent catch by Barry Salter on the long off boundary for 34.

In the meantime St Andrews had lost skipper Bushen for 9 who had struggled for 24 overs. Alan Parsons then played the anchor role and with 5 an over required he seemed set to take the home side to victory. Bob Trott switched 3 of his bowlers several times and was well rewarded as Nicholls bowled the dangerous Rawle for 11.

Suresh seemed to be taking the game away from Wellington but was bowled for 19. Nicholls who claimed 2 wickets in 5 balls surprisingly bowled Parsons as panic set in. With 9 runs required from the last over Sam Cook, with the assistance of keeper Julian Jones ran out Hockey. This dismissal clinched a further 16 points for Wellington who took 33 from the match to St Andrews 18. Extras contributed 26 as the innings closed on 167.

Bob Trott bowled an excellent spell of 9.1-0-23-1 Adrian Lee 11-1-41-2 Roy Hutchings 12-5-31-2 and Phil Nichols 12-1-55-4

This was a first class team effort from Wellington although at one stage it seemed they would regret grounding 4 catching chances early in the St Andrews innings. Wellington captured important wickets at critical stages when the home batsmen had looked set.

Mark Salter opted to bat first on a hot, sunny day and this proved to be the right decision as he and Rob Moysey added 93 for the first wicket against some pretty bland Outcasts bowling, indeed Warren and Pedler delivered 24 overs on the reel without any success and this showed the paucity of their bowling resources.

Moysey was the first to pass 50 and was looking set for a large personal total when he deflected one to the backward point and Outcasts had their first success. Not that this ruffled Salter and his new partner Stuart Currall who proceeded to add exactly 100 for the second wicket.

Salter made it to 95 before departing run out as he tried for one to short third man, he deserved a hundred for sure, but he had done a sterling job for his team. Currall lashed 55no in 48 balls and he was aided and abetted by Thom Trott, Dave Hewitt and John Paine to get as many in the final few overs as he possibly could and at tea Wellington had reached 238-5, their highest total of the season as Outcasts had taken some real punishment with the ball. Greg Jackson was their best bowler with 2-53.

If Wellington thought they had sufficient runs in the bank they became a little worried as Williams and Hewlett crashed 68 in under 14 overs to give Mark Salter and his troops more than a little to think about. Both Outcasts openers hit the ball with power, so it came as a bit of a surprise when Williams gently looped one up to Stuart Currall at short mid-wicket off of Simon Rudd and the breakthrough was made.

Thom Trott made a good catch to remove Hewlett from Rob Moysey as he bowled another good spell of leg-spin and it is good to see him been used in an attacking capacity, he took 2-28.Gary Tillett and Dave Hewitt, making his first 1st XI appearance since August 2002, broke the back of the Outcasts middle order as they kept things tight and with the required rate rising all the time risks had to be taken and chances inevitably followed.

All eight wickets to fall were caught as Tillett took 2-23 in 9 overs and Hewitt 3-25 in 6. At 145-8 Wellington would have hoped to take the final two wickets and thus maximum points, but an unbroken ninth wicket stand of 34 thwarted this and the Red and Blacks had to settle for 33, but this keeps them in fifth place with a month to go.

Wellington had much the better of the draw that resulted from their game with The Journeymen last Monday as the visitors were over sixty runs adrift when stumps were drawn.

Wellington were put into bat and through Rob Moysey and Thom Trott a solid 21 was added for the first wicket before Trott was excellently caught and bowled by Hayes for 12, although in the process Hayes injured himself and was to take little further part in the game.

Moysey found his rhythm and progressed to 36 before fencing at one and been caught behind.
Paul Short was building an innings all the time and after a composed start he took the attack to the Journeymen and conjured up an innings of 48.

Teenager James Mayes showed more promise with the bat with a wristy knock of 26 and a real push was given to Wellington’s innings by John Paine and James Dyke with their 62 run sixth wicket stand.

Paine lashed a personal best of 67no with two huge sixes and Dyke made 13no that saw him rotate the strike excellently.
The Journeymen’s attack wilted in the face of this onslaught and Wellington had a good total to defend.

Thom Trott took a wicket with his first ball as Jeffery could only glove one to Rob Moysey in the gully as the fast bowler bowled a miserly spell that gave the visitors nothing to go on with.
Andy Mitchell bowled well at the other end and was unlucky to not get a couple of LBW shouts to go his way.

Chris Rudd got through the most work for Wellington on the day as he sent down 10 good overs of off-spin and off-cutters and he was rewarded for his efforts with the ball when he removed Dixon for 7 as he castled him totally.
All the time the Journeymen were falling further and further behind the rate and at 83-5 with Dave Hewitt having removed Tuffill leg before saving the game was the only route open to them.

But despite Wellington trying all options open to them Goodrich with 38no and J.Douglas with 22no ensured there were no further alarms and the added a modicum of respect to a total that was looking decidely poor at one point and the game was drawn when stumps were pulled.

Possibly the best Club Day ever was enjoyed by Wellington CC on Sunday 25th July when fine weather, a great attendance and first-class meal at lunchtime, an entertaining game of cricket and the return of the evening barbecue made for a day’s premium entertainment that had something in it for all the members, vice-presidents, sponsors, guests and friends of the club who were in attendance.

The day started with a demonstration of ‘Kwik-Cricket’ from some of the members of the club’s Under 11 and Under 13 teams. This is a form of the game that does not use a hard ball and is an ideal way of introducing the game to a young player.

Lunch was prepared and served by the Rudd family – Tony, Simon and Chris – and they complimented main course choices of fresh salmon, chicken and ham with a quality selection of salads and an excellent array of condiments. Fresh fruit and traditional puddings rounded off lunch.

Over 100 persons enjoyed the fayre on offer. Chairman Duncan Short welcomed everybody to the event with the guest of honour being the Mayor of Taunton Deane, Jean Allgrove, and Wellington Town Councillor David Mitten and his wife Gill.

Duncan paid tribute to the magnificent attendance at the event. The club was most grateful to the Taunton Deane and Wellington Town Councils for their support in the development of the facilities at the ground. Thanks are on-going to all the sponsors who attended including Chris and Sheena Tooze from CJ Tooze and Sons Transport, Roger Nunn from Roger Nunn Driving Services, Cliff Trott from CA Trott and Sons Building Contractors, Tim Bennett and family from Webber’s Property Services and Karen D’Amori from Aphrodite Health and Beauty of Street. Thanks are also expressed to the sponsors of the club who were unable to be present on the day itself.

The playing component of the day followed with a 20 overs per side game taking place with all outfield players bowling two overs each and this resulted in a win for the side captained by Alec Short over the side captained by Mark Salter. Club President Roy Hutchings presented the trophies that were kindly donated by Mike Sertin of Wellington Sports. The focus for the day then switched to Wellington Football Club, where the club is based after matches, and a wonderful barbecue was cooked and served by Simon Spalding, his wife Monica and Jane Trott. A range of burgers and hot dogs with relishes and pickles were on offer and these were washed down with the help of a drink or two from the bar.

All in all this was an excellent day and one where the club showed itself in the best terms possible.

For the second week running Wellington 2nd XI were totally outclassed by the unbeaten top of the table Minehead.This was Wellingtons highest ever defeat and Bosley struck a flamboyant 147 not out and Azuradin captured 4 wickets in successive balls to leave the home sides reply in tatters.

Bob Trott, who won the toss, could not have anticipated the run feast that was to follow as the visitors struggled against the opening attack Unfortunately Adrian Lee was forced to retire after turning his ankle having conceded just a single from his first 4 overs. Chris Rudd, who replaced him, bowled a beauty with his first delivery to dismiss Swallow.In his next over he trapped Sully (9) LBW. Bob Trott then took a magnificent catch running backwards from mid off to remove Clark for 14. The visitors were reeling with the total at 38 for 3 in 14 overs.

Andy Hayes played cautiously at the start of his innings but later became aggressive, particularly on any ball pitched up.

However it was Bosley who changed the course of the game with some vigorous hitting -normally through the leg side or back over the bowler’s head. Most shots went the aerial route and his hard hitting brought about numerous fielding mistakes as the home teams heads went down. He reached his 50 with his second six and continued to take heavy toll of the Wellington bowling.

The score had reached 60 in the first 20 overs but the next 10 brought 69 followed by a further 100 in the next 10.Wellington conceded a further 59 from the last 5 overs as the Minehead batsmen scored at will. Hayes finally fell in the penultimate over as Barry Salter took a good catch at deep mid on off Rudd.His 90 was well constructed and he struck 9 fours and 4 sixes.

Bosley remained unbeaten on 147 having cracked 10 fours and a massive 9 sixes.

Roy Hutchings returned 12-2-37-1 and Chris Rudd took 3 for 87 from his 12 overs

Wellington lost their first wicket at 12 and the next 7 runs later. Azarudin then had an amazing 12 deliveries when he captured 6 Wellington wickets at a personal cost of only 5 runs to destroy the Wellington reply. He achieved a remarkable all bowled hat trick and then made in 4 wickets in 4 balls as the keeper accepted a chance. 3 balls later he picked up his 7th victim to reduce the home side to 24 for 7.

Kevin Crout (15) played on and Bob Trott (18) added 43 with the tail end before being brilliantly caught at point with the score at 60 in the twentieth over.

Azuradin returned excellent figures of 10-2-17-7 Barney took 1 for 21 and Hamblin 2 for 13

This was a disastrous performance by Wellington who were simply not in the same league as Minehead. The visitors took a maximum 35 points and Wellington just 7.

Two individual innings of pure brilliance were the main points to come out of Wellington’s visit to Street last Sunday afternoon which saw the home team win by 43 runs and complete the friendly double over the Red and Blacks.

Street opted to bat first on a damp track that was still showing the effects of the recent wet weather, but this did not have any bearing on their progress as Bartlett and W.Wall added 124 for the opening wicket without much bother at all. Bartlett, who won the 1st XI league meeting for Street the previous day, made the fourth ever highest individual score against Wellington in friendly competition in making 140no and batting through Street’s innings. His partner made 47 before falling leg before to Alec Short who bowled some tidy medium pace as he had a day off from keeping.

Alex Trott recovered well from a shaky start to take 1-55 in 8 overs as he gained control as his spell advanced. Rob Moysey’s leg-spinners were more productive after he had changed ends and figures of 2-44 bear testament to this.
Adrian Hearn bowled some tidy medium pace late on as Street tried to maximise their score, but as they did so the wickets tumbled and the last two balls of their innings saw two run outs come Wellington’s way to leave the home side on a useful 242-7 at tea.

Wellington’s reply started disastrously as the score dipped to 5-3, but Alec Short and Rob Moysey consolidated things and added 31 for the fourth wicket before Short departed caught for 19 to left-arm chinaman bowler Kidner.
Sam Cook joined Moysey and played in a pleasing manner before getting a grubber and losing his castle, but he had done a job with the bat to go with his tidy keeping earlier on.

But at 65-5 Wellington were staring a heavy defeat in the face. This was the cue for Moysey and Andy Perry to add 90 for the seventh wicket as they took the fight to Street and counter-attacked to good effect. Perry struck three fours in his 17 and he ably supported Moysey who made 99 before spearing one up to the waiting mid-wicket fielder. This was an imperious innings and one that gave Wellington’s scorecard a much more acceptable look to it.
Adrian Lee and Alex Trott added an unbeaten 23 for the last Wellington wicket and the Red and Blacks ended on 199-9.

Wellington nearly pulled off the great comeback as Somerset League Division One leaders Street were given the fright of their lives at Courtland Road last weekend, collapsing spectacularly and, in the end, limping over the finishing line.

On a damp track the toss was going to be vital and the visitors called correctly and had no hesitation in asking Wellington to bat first. Mark Salter and Rob Moysey added 20 for the first wicket without any hint of the alarms that would come later. Moysey was caught behind off of the accurate Higgs who took 3-13 in 12 overs, eight of which were maidens and then the collapse started as Wellington careered to 58-7 and an early finish looked on the cards.

But some tenacious play from the last four Wellington batsmen resulted in a total that passed 100 when earlier it seemed as if this was a no-no. Paul Saunders with an excellent 24 and Gary Tillett and Matt Coleman with 9 and 7 got the score going upwards and a last wicket stand between Saunders and John Paine realised 30. Paine swung the bat hard and made 22no in 19 balls with one of the biggest sixes seen at Wellington for some years as he cleared the boundary with ease and nearly found the tennis courts.Wellington were dismissed with seven balls left of their innings for 120, still a poor score, but one that had been much improved on by Saunders, Tillett, Coleman and Paine.

Street’s prolific openers Dowden and Pope added 50 without too much problem until Matt Coleman snared them both within six runs of each other. Thom Trott took a great catch on the run to get rid of Pope and then Dowden played on.
Gary Tillett got Bradshaw trapped LBW and a direct hit from Matt Coleman accounted for Peck and, at 68-4, Street were rocking a little.

However a fifth wicket stand of 36 between Bartlett and Evely seemed to have snuffed out any hope Wellington had of further bonus points, but the re-introduction of John Paine into the attack changed the whole complexion of the game as he took 5-11 in this second spell, including a hat-trick as Keast, Wall and Farrow were all sent packing. Alec Short and Rob Moysey aided Paine to achieve his feat with excellent catching.

At the end of all these fireworks Street were 118-9 with only last man Higgs keeping Bartlett company, but he had enough about him to work the ball around for the winning runs to give the league leaders a very nervy one wicket win. Street took 33 points from the game and Wellington took 15, not a bad haul from a game that looked dead from their point of view at tea. This result will keep Wellington in mid-table.

Wellington 2nd XI bowlers took at pasting at Bridgwater to concede 279 runs in the allotted 45 overs. Bob Trott, who won the toss, made numerous changes to the bowling rota but to little avail. Wood showed his intentions immediately and slammed 7 fours in an opening stand of 80 in just 11 overs. He was bowled in Adrian Lee’s first over with a ball that cut in off the track.

The quick outfield and short boundaries contributed to the high scoring rate as Kit Barrington and Troman added further 108 in 18 overs. Wellington’s outfielding was sloppy and Troman was dropped off a sharp slip catch in the 4th over. He really made the visitors pay for the error as he followed up his 100 in his previous outing with a further 95.

Phil Nicholls caught Barrington at deep point for 47 with 7 boundaries and then Wellington grabbed 3 wickets for 17 runs. Lee, in his second spell had 2 wickets in his 6th over and followed up with a wicket in his next. Bob Trott who suffered 2 dropped catches in the deep was finally rewarded when Biddiscombe fell for 18.

Troman’s innings contained 11 fours and a six made from 38 overs at the crease. Cowley (14) and Devitt (13) were the not out batsmen at the close. Wellington conceded a total of 41 extras including 23 wides and no balls-a luxury no fielding team can give their opponents. Adrian lee returned a creditable 9-1-44-4 and the other wicket takers were Dave Hewitt, Roy Hutchings and Bob Trott

Wellington were soon in a dreadful state as they lost their top 3 batsmen with just 3 extras on the board. The pace of Biddiscombe, generated from a fast arm action rather than his run up presented considerable difficulty.

James Dyke (11) struck 2 fours and Dave Hewitt looked comfortable before being caught for 22.Wellington were reduced to 49 for 7 but some sensible hitting from Julian Jones gave the scoreline a more respectable look.

He added 33 with Nicholls (5) and 36 in a last wicket partnership with Hutchings (2). His innings contained 3 sixes and 7 fours as he finished on 57 not out. He enjoyed considerable good-natured banter with quick bowler Devitt. The Bridgwater man thanked Jones at the conclusion for giving him his best workout of the season! Wellington innings closed on 119 in the 31st over.

Biddiscombe returned 7-1-13-3 Dodden 5-2-9-1 Brimble 10-3-46-2 and Devitt 8.3-1-38-4.Bridgwater gained a maximum 35 points and Wellington 12.

Looking at the way that Exmouth started it would have seemed that Wellington would be lucky to be chasing anything under 250, but slowly and surely they clawed their way back into the game and in the end ran the Devon Premier League club as tight as it could possibly get as the game ended tied with the scores level after 40 overs each.

Exmouth opted to bat first on the best batting strip that a club can offer and racked up 64 runs without effort, Cavanaugh and Sampson hitting the ball hard and cleanly.
Andy Mitchell ended their merry spree with a good caught and bowled chance as Cavanaugh spooned one up.

However Lewis joined Sampson and carried the score to 138-1 before Rob Moysey bowled Sampson with a real brute of a leg-spinner and this certainly reigned Exmouth in despite their skipper Canning making 40no as his partners fell around him and saw that the home side were all out with over four overs left.

Moysey was on a hat-trick and bowled one of his best spells of the summer as he took 3-34 in 8 overs. Chris Kitto changed ends and impressed with 2-39 in 7 overs and Paul Short mopped up the tail to take 4-33 in 5.3 overs, all in all Wellington had come back excellently.

Thom Trott with a blistering 37 in 33 balls set the tone for a Wellington innings that kept up with the rate well enough, but with wickets falling regularly this seemed as if it would quell Wellington’s assault on victory. Stuart Currall, in contrast to the previous day, played a watchful knock of 30 that, in tandem with James Dyke, made inroads into the Exmouth total as both worked the ball around well and with a perfect outfield as well as wicket the ball did the work as such.

But 157-5 became 157-8 as Canning and Sampson seemed to end the Wellington charge, but Rob Moysey and Andy Mitchell had other ideas and a super unbeaten stand of 51 for the last wicket took Wellington to within shouting distance of the Exmouth total and with 15 needed from the last over and four from the last ball Moysey drove to long-off and with the fielder fumbling the ball mad it back for three and the game was tied.

The final decision on the points allocation from the game is awaited, but Wellington have at least fourteen points to carry forward in this competition. Their next game is away to Taunton on Sunday 15th August in what is a re-arranged game.

The day’s other game saw Knapp visit Courtland Road for a return friendly match and they just had enough in the tank to edge Wellington out by 29 runs.

Phil Nicholls struck early for Wellington as he and Adrian Lee kept it tight early on, but a stand of 134 between Indian player Ershad and Lee Denslow took the visitors to nearly 200 despite Adrian Hearn’s burst of 3-41.

Kevin Crout and Sam Cook put on 68 for Wellington’s first wicket and their was a steady contribution from Barry Salter as well, but Knapp took wickets regularly and despite Adrian Lee’s excellent 36 Wellington were all out for 166 and had lost narrowly.