Wellington Cricket Club

Last weekend Wellington 1st XI were narrowly squeezed out of their match at Peasedown St John when they went down by two wickets, the 2nd XI suffered the bother of their league match been called off due to their intended opposition (Peasedown St John 2nd XI) withdrawing from the fixture on the Saturday morning and the Sunday XI recorded a first win in the Three Counties League Division One at Ilminster.

**Next Week’s Fixtures**

Friday 1st July
**Midweek XI** – Home to Holmbush Park in a friendly fixture **sponsored by The Cleve Hotel and Country Club** with **match ball sponsorship from CA Trott and Sons Ltd**.
Meet at Pavilion by 1.30pm for a 2.30pm start.
Please contact Rupert Green for the details of this fixture.

Saturday 2nd July
**1st XI** – Home to Butleigh in a Somerset League Division One fixture **sponsored by The Cleve Hotel and Country Club** with **match ball sponsorship from Abbey Garage (SW) Ltd of Street**.
Meet at Pavilion by 12.45pm for a 1.45pm start.

**2nd XI** – Away to Butleigh 2nd XI in a Somerset League Reserves Competition Division Two fixture.
Depart from Courtland Road Car Park at 12.15pm for a 2.00pm start.

Sunday 3rd July
**Sunday XI** – Away to Honiton in a friendly fixture.
Depart from Courtland Road Car Park at 1.00pm for a 2.30pm start.

The Sunday XI registered their first win in Division One of the Three Counties League with this five wicket success at WECCC Premier Two club Ilminster, but it was a nervy run chase by the Red and Blacks as Ilminster’s young side made Wellington work hard for every run.

Ilminster opted to bat first and the ball started to dart around alarmingly. Stuart Turner (1-31 in and Grant Davey (1-25 in shared the new ball for Wellington and did well as a partnership with Turner removing Ilminster 1st XI opening bat House for a duck as he was trapped in front of the stumps.
Davey made the ball do much up the hill and was unlucky not to get a wicket or two in his first spell. He was rewarded later on though.
He gave way to Thom Trott who bowled a good tight spell of 1-20 in seven overs as Ilminster struggled to get any real momentum going. Their South African import Alexander did try and inject something into what was becoming a fairly turgid affair by charging both the seamer and the spinners, but this did not really come off. As he was nearing a fifty he injured himself badly with a knee ligament injury been sustained, he had to retire hurt and took no further part in the game.
Richard Short bowled with a fair bit of pace and returned figures of 2-26 in 5 overs.
Spin then made the Ilminster innings fold on 128 as there wickets for both Richard Das Neves and Rob Moysey.

Wellington needed three an over to win and John Paine had scored six from the first over when he received a grubber and was bowled at the base of the off peg – nothing he could do at all about that one.
Chris Kitto too departed through the bowling of Vining who was causing more than a few problems for Wellington.
Danny Addicott and Richad Das Neves steadied things for the Red and Blacks as they added 68 for the third wicket and this was pretty much the base that saw Wellington home and to victory. Addicott played a useful innings of 18 as he supported Das Neves who made a glorious 75no with a wide array of great shots, particularly off his legs.
Wellington won with 18.4 overs to spare and took 18 points to Ilminster’s 9.

As had been the case back in August 1999 when these sides were last due to meet, Peasedown St John 2nd XI were unable to fulfil their Somerset League Reserves Competition Division Two fixture commitment at Wellington and thus are deducted 35 points and fined £25 by the Somerset Cricket League.
James Dyke’s side receive 28 points from the cancellation.

Peasedown St John made very heavy weather of reaching the required total of 187, having been 179-3 at one point, but Wellington’s batting line-up had not played to it’s potential and the Red and Blacks were indebted to their lower order for providing something to bowl at in this Somerset League Division One fixture near Bath last Saturday.

PSJ opted to ask Wellington to bat first on a slow green track that was still suffering from the almighty thunderstorms that had battered the north of the county the day before.
Two wickets were lost by the time the score had reached 27, Rob Moysey (39) passed 10,000 WCC runs during the course of this innings, and Marc Holloway (26) were looking good with both cutting and pulling the ball to good effect, but the introduction of the innocuous off-spinner Joyce put the skids under Wellington as he took wickets in two of his first three overs for no cost. Add to the fact that at other end Gullock was bowling a great line and length and ended his 12 over spell with two wickets in successive balls Wellington dipped from 73-2 to 81-7 and were staring down the barrel of a low score, but the fightback was led by Thom Trott who top scored with an excellent 42no, an innings that was thoughtful as well as good to watch. He added 25 eighth wicket runs with John Paine who creamed 24 in another good display of clean hitting.
Stands of 45 and 35 with Stuart Turner and Adrian Lee followed and these not only gave Wellington’s score a much needed boost, but demoralised the PSJ attack who had hoped for an early tea.

Wellington’s hopes had risen with the heroics of their lower order, but they were soon deflated when Wilkinson and Ford lashed a 108 run opening partnership in 22 overs. Both played some hard hit shots and Wellington, despite changing the attack often, struggled to make an impression.
Rob Moysey’s pressed himself into action and nearly pulled off another match winning bowling performance along the lines of Minehead two weeks previously. His leg-spinners were like a spitting cobra at times as the Wellington skipper took 6-35 in 9.5 overs as PSJ collapsed like a pack of cards from 179-3 to 182-8 and Wellington felt that the tide was turning and when Stuart Turner too collected a wicket during this flurry of dismissals anything was possible, but an inglorious swat across the line from Lawrence sealed a nervy two wickets win for PSJ. They collected 35 points to Wellington’s 17.
Wellington still only have two wins from eight games this season and occupy seventh position in the division.
July is a pivotal month for them as they play five games, four of which are at Courtland Road, and they must make this advantage count – something they are patently aware of.

Wellington CC finished in credit over the weekend just passed as both the 2nd and Sunday XIs racked up huge totals and won by large margins. The 1st XI gave league favourites Ilton a real scare on their own patch, but ultimately could not deliver the killer blow.

Next Week’s Fixtures

Saturday 25th June
**1st XI** – Away to Peasedown St John in a Somerset League Division One fixture starting at 1.45pm.
Please contact Rob Moysey for exact details of the travelling arrangements for this fixture as it is intended to tie in watching the New Zealand v British and Irish Lions rugby union match before travelling to PSJ for the cricket match.

**2nd XI** – Home to Peasedown St John 2nd XI in a Somerset League Reserves Competition Division Two fixture **sponsored by The Cleve Hotel and Country Club** with **match ball sponsorship from Weatherbeaters**.
Meet at Pavilion by 1.00pm for a 2.00pm start.

Sunday 26th June
**Sunday XI** – Away to Ilminster in a Three Counties League Division One fixture.
Depart from Courtland Road Car Park at 1.00pm for a 2.30pm start.
Players are reminded thal Alec Short is WCC captain for this match and any enquires about this fixture should be directed to him.

An innings of awesome power and no lack of great shots was the highlight of Wellington Sunday XI’s visit to Bagborough when John Paine smashed 154no from his position at the top of the Wellington innings as the club who prop up Division Three of the Somerset League toiled on another hot day. This was the third century by a Wellington player in this fixture in three seasons – following in the footsteps of Dave Luxton in 2003 and Thom Trott in 2004.

David Derrick opted to bat on winning the toss and Thom Trott and Paine had 48 on the board in no time at all with Trott hitting a perfectly straight six, but he touched one to Hooper at gully and was gone for 14. This was off of the first ball that Springer bowled – at the end of his spell he had 1-79 in 6 overs.

Richard Das Neves joined Paine and the ball started to disappear to all parts of the ground as they added 157 for the second wicket.
Paine hit the ball hard and cleanly to such an effect that he hit nine sixes. Das Neves worked it around the park at will and made 87 when he was run out from a straight drive that Paine hit, it broke the stumps and with Das Neves having left his ground for a run the stump was pulled out of the ground as has to be done in this sort of circumstance and he had to go, but again he played with such time and composure – a pleasure to watch.

Another wicket fell soon after making Wellington 209-3, but this brought about an unbroken 97 run stand for the fourth wicket between Paine and David Derrick that saw that the 300 run mark was surpassed and with it was posted the second highest score for Wellington in friendly fixtures.
Paine made it to his maiden hundred and onwards to an eventual total of 154no. Derrick weighed in with a useful 25no with three fours as he too played a good hand. Wellington declared after 34 of their 40 overs with Paine having made the second highest individual score at both senior friendly and overall senior levels for Wellington CC.

Wellington two youngest players on the day shared the opening overs of the Bagborough innings and Grant Davey and Andy Mitchell bowled well in tandem.
Davey removed Bagborough keeper Bishop as he yorked him on leg-stump and Hooper padded up to one and was in front.
Davey took 2-17 in 5 overs.
Mitchell spurned a caught and bowled chance on the first ball of his first spell, but he passed the edge often and overall he had a good weekend with the ball.

Adrian Lee used the angles and undulations of Bagborough Park well as it seemed to suit his inswing mode of delivery.
He cleaned up Briggers for 1-16 in 5 overs.
Jason Paine bowled a better quality of bowling as his spell wore on, eventually taking 3-36 in 8 overs.
After cutting down on his pace and working on line and length he was a much better proposition.
There was a first bowl for the club for Andy Perry and his gentle off-spinners took 2-20 in 5 overs as Sam Cook pulled off a good stumping and John Paine took a one-handed catch at slip.

Richard Das Neves rounded things off for Wellington with 2-8 in 2.3 overs late on as Bagborough were dismissed for 124 in 32.3 overs to leave Wellington as winners by a margin of 182 runs.
Their best offerings with the bat were twentysomethings from each of Evans, Coulson and Springer.

The 2nd XI did as they should and saw off bottom side Temple Cloud 2nd XI in Division Two of the Somerset League Reserves Competition, collecting 35 good points as their run of three successive defeats was halted.
James Dyke won the toss for the sixth time this season and opted to bat on a hard track in hot conditions.

But the Red and Blacks second string did not have things all their own way as the score dipped to 52-3 as Temple Cloud – promoted out of 2nd XI Division Three (North East) as last season’s runners-up – were applying pressure.
But Matt Colman and Paul Saunders snuffed out any thoughts of a Wellington collapse as they added 155 for the fourth wicket.
Colman was last out for 102, his fourth Wellington century, this was a knock that steadied and eventually blossomed the Wellington innings. Saunders made a career best 88 as he made hay on what was only his second appearance of the 2005 season.
Julian Jones added a typically pugnacious 24 as Wellington topped 250 with Chris Rudd and Gary Tillett were in at the end of the Red and Blacks time at the crease.

It was hard going for bottom side Temple Cloud, but Stevens with 3-55 in 10 overs did a sterling job for his side.

Wellington knew that they had to work hard for their rewards in hot, humid conditions, but the breakthrough came early on as Andy Mitchell and Richard Short made inroads into the Temple Cloud line-up. R.Appleyard and James were back in the hutch for ducks before Trescothick (not Marcus your correspondent hastens to add!!) and I.Appleyard consolidated for the visitors.
But Chris Rudd saw that this improvement was not to last too long as he ran through the Temple Cloud middle and lower order to the tune of 4-35 in 8 overs as he intriguing mix of off-spinners and leg-cutters worked well.
Gary Tillett wheeled away for 12 overs taking 1-48 and vice-captain Bob Trott took 1-14 in 5 overs.
Temple Cloud 2nd XI were all out for 136 in 36 overs giving Wellington 2nd XI a comfortable 120 run win and meaning that the mid-table place that they occupy is further made their own with the team looking upwards now and in the future.

Wellington 2nd XI took 35 points and Temple Cloud 2nd XI 12.

The match ball for this **match was kindly sponsored by Phillip Hummel Plumbing Ltd**.
The club are extremely grateful to them for their kind gesture.

When Wellington reduced Ilton’s star-studded line up to 76-6 in 22 overs 86 were still needed and the Red and Blacks were in a good placing to take another massive scalp after the win over Minehead the previous week, but Leish and Shaffique played not one false shot and saw their side home in style.

Rob Moysey had opted to bat first and Mark Salter looked in ominous form again as he planted the pacy Masood into the next field with an imperious flick over mid-wicket for six, but he perished for 16 going for the same shot. At 22-2 Wellington needed some consolidation and it came from a 56 run partnership for the third wicket from Richard Das Neves and Marc Holloway.
Das Neves took on the spinners and won the duel pretty much as he cracked two sixes – one from Shaffique’s left-armers and one from Lee Denslow’s leg-spinners.
He was timing the ball very well before he fenced at one and was caught behind by keeper Leish off of the extra pace that Mason generated.
Holloway ground out 14 in 81 balls and gave good support to Das Neves, he was eventually stumped off of Denslow who battled back well from an expensive opening to his spell to end up with 4-66 in 11.5 overs. Rob Moysey – back down to the middle order – lashed 18 with two sixes in no time at all. he now needs just six runs to bring up 10,000 career runs for WCC.
After this juncture only Stuart Currall and Thom Trott prospered for Wellington with Currall making 29 studious and well made runs.
Trott gave the Wellington innings a late spurt with 22 in 23 balls as he took 14 from Mason’s last over, but he was caught at short third man going for a reverse sweep and this ended Wellington’s innings on 161 with seven balls left unused.
Shaffique with 3-32 in 12 overs bowled a controlled spell of left-arm spin.

Ilton’s innings was high-octane stuff from the off as Selway hit six in four balls before cutting one to gully where Rob Moysey took a reflex catch – one of three for Wellington’s skipper on the day – off of Matt Coleman.
Thom Trott conjured up a double wicket maiden that saw him york Lee and the Ilton skipper Oliver edged to Moysey and Ilton were teetering.
Masood and Leish doubled the score before another super slip cordon catch – this time from Richard Das Neves, who scooped the ball up off his boot – removed Masood and Trott had 3-13 in 6 overs.
Paul Short and Das Neves then made up a dual spin attack for Wellington and on a dry pitch this was the right way to go.
Short went for only 32 runs in his 12 overs and claimed Lee Denslow’s wicket LBW, Ilton 75-6.
This became 76-6 when Satter misjudged a sweep shot and Moysey took his third catch from Das Neves.
At this point Ilton were on the ropes and Wellington had to finish them off. They never got the chance as Leish with a match-winning knock of 58no and Shaffique with 51no saw Ilton through the difficult times and out of the woods with some excellent shots.
Leish had held the innings together and was pretty much unnoticed at the time when the wickets were all falling, but his doggedness paid off and with Shaffique’s power play Wellington went down by four wickets with a couple of overs left.
The relief of the Ilton team and their supporters when the winning runs were hit was palpable showing what a scare Wellington had given the team that many think are destined to be crowned Somerset Cricket League champions for 2005.
Wellington took 14 points to Ilton’s 35.

Wellington’s senior sides had an overall good weekend where results and performances were concerned with the 1st XI beating league leaders Minehead, the 2nd XI fell just short in chasing a large total at Watchet, but still came away with a good haul of points and the Sunday XI prevailed in a low scoring home encounter with Knapp.
The only down side to the weekend was the atmosphere that was endured at the 2nd XI’s match at Watchet when the spirit of the game was tested to it’s limit.

**Next Week’s Fixtures**

Saturday 18th June
**1st XI** – Away to Ilton in a Somerset League Division One fixture.
Depart from Courtland Road at 12.15pm for a 1.45pm start.

**2nd XI** – Home to Temple Cloud 2nd XI in a Somerset League Reserves Competition Division Two fixture **sponsored by The Cleve Hotel and Country Club with match ball sponsorship from Philip Hummel Plumbing Ltd.**
Meet at Pavilion by 1.00pm for a 2.00pm start.

Sunday 19th June
**Sunday XI** – Away to Bagborough in a friendly fixture.
Depart from Courtland Road Car Park at 1.15pm for a 2.30pm start.

Tuesday 21st June
**Midweek XI** – Away to Nynehead in a friendly fixture starting at 6.15pm.
For details of this fixture please contact Adrian Lee (see WCC fixture card for contact phone numbers).

The Sunday XI entertained West Somerset League Division One side Knapp and shaded a low scoring contest as the ball won the day.
Wellington opted to bat and soon Thom Trott and Marc Holloway were into their stride as they put on a scintillating 94 run opening partnership. Trott pulled the ball with venomous power and Holloway drove the ball sweetly both on the straight and through the covers, making 47 and 51 respectively.
But Knapp’s Indian player Gurban trapped them both LBW and from then on the Wellington innings collapsed spectacularly with eight wickets going down for 27 runs after Trott and Holloway had gone.
The match was played on the same strip as the 1st XI had used the previous day and with spin being the decisive factor in that game so it came to be the same here as father and son combo of John and Sam Wadham tied Wellington up in knots. Wadham Snr with his clever variety of off-spin snared 6-42 in 8.1 overs and the left-arm spin coming from the other end realised 2-3 in 4 overs as Wellington were shot out for only 133 some 7.5 overs short of their allocation.

However Wellington were mindful of the spinning qualities that the pitch was offering and that Knapp had been struggling in their league cricket with cohesive run-scoring being their Achilles’ heel as such and so it came to be that Wellington took the spin option from the off as Richard Das Neves bowled ten quality overs from the Football Club end for only 11 runs, but as he got the ball to spit and turn close fielders were put in place and in the end Knapp succumbed.
But it was not all spin that did the job for Wellington as Adrian Lee took 2-12 in 5 overs as he bowled a tight wicket-to-wicket line that brought his natural swing into action. The crucial wicket of Sam Wadham came through a good catch by Andy Perry at mid-off and Wellington were glad to have taken this one.
Grant Davey bowled a useful spell and he gave way to Thom Trott who bowled a great spell of fast-medium pace bowling that saw that Knapp had no room for manoeuvre as the run rate steadily rose. Trott took 4-12 in 8 overs.
Chris Kitto kept the spin going from the Football Club end and he bowled a tidy six over spell that saw him take the wickets of A.Coles who played on and he took a steepling chance off of his own bowling to see the back of Knapp skipper Bentley for 33 – the top score of their innings.
Andy Mitchell needed just two balls to wrap things up as a James Dyke catch gave Wellington a handsome 60 run win and so keep up the Sunday XI’s unbeaten record in friendlies in 2005.

Match ball sponsorship for this match came from Webber’s Estate Agents – The club are extremely grateful for their support.