Wellington Cricket Club

Wellington 2nd XI continued their impressive Somerset League Reserves Competition Division Two league run with another thumping victory, this time at the expense of Purnells 2nd XI writes team captain James Dyke.

Wellington lost the toss, but with the team’s impressive run chasing record over previous weeks they were not that disappointed to be asked to field first.

The first 20 overs of the Purnells innings would prove to be the key to Wellington’s eventual victory as the opening attack of Richard Henwood and Martin Short both bowled miserly spells. Henwood with a high action and good pace made the most of the new ball and with the help of a good lunging catch at mid wicket by Julian Jones took the first wicket of the game.
At the other end Martin Short gave the batsmen absolutely nothing as he dropped the ball on a perfect length over after over.
His eventual figures of 12 overs for only 18 runs pay testimony to the overall control he exerted during his spell.

The introduction of Andy Mitchell at the tennis court end brought about a wicket straight away as he accepted a very sharp catch in his follow through to get rid of the dangerous looking Brady.
Mitchell, who is fast becoming a wise exponent of the swinging ball, also accounted for Loveder with another caught and bowled dismissal.

Chris Rudd was brought into the attack in the 28th over and he too took a wicket in his first over when D.Redwood mistimed a drive to extra cover where Dyke was waiting to take a comfortable catch. Things got even better in Rudd’s second over as he snapped up two wickets in two balls – the first caught at a deepish mid off by Richard Henwood, the second LBW as Bull went back and across instead of forward. This left Purnells reeling at 80-6 but the key lay in the fact that 31 overs had already been bowled.
With Bob Trott getting through his overs quickly at the other end Purnells skipper Wenmoth knew that a change of tack was needed and went on the offensive.
His partnership with P.Redwood was the most positive point in their innings as they added 69 runs for the 8th wicket.
Wenmoth hit well through the line of the ball to end unbeaten on 50 and it was largely this knock that helped Purnells reach 159-8 at the end of their innings.

In reply Wellington’s opening pair of Julian Jones and Phil Nicholls got stuck into the run chase straight away with Jones in particular hitting the ball with real venom through the off side. His positive stroke play meant that Wellington had 60 on the board within 12 overs and were in control of the game. The dismissal of Nicholls who didn’t quite get over a drive and was caught in the covers didn’t quell the Wellington run rate as Richard Short carried on where he left off last week latching on to anything short with his trademark square cuts. Jones continued to time the ball superbly and his half century included shots all round the ground including a huge 6 over long off. With young leg spinner Nolan accounting for him shortly after he brought up his 50 Wellington were still looking good at 75-2. Nolan also bowled Chris Rudd round his legs with a good turning delivery in the next over and Wellington were facing a possible wobble with the score on 89-3. However Wellington skipper James Dyke immediately got into his stride, hitting Nolan for 12 runs in one over and ultimately hitting him out of the attack. Short and Dyke combined intelligent running with powerful stroke play and neither looked in any trouble against a Purnells attack who were starting to wilt in the heat of the July sun. Dyke latched onto anything full of a length and his 44 not out included 8 fours. His partnership of 70 with Short who also ended the match unbeaten on 26 not out ensured that Wellington romped to their 5th consecutive league win picking up 33 points to Purnells 10. The team are now up to third having completed their second double of the season and are one point off second placed Butleigh 2nd XI and now face a top of the table clash next week with leaders Bridgwater 3rd XI.

The match ball for this fixture was kindly sponsored by Nick Last Builders (01823 665711) and the club are very grateful for their support.

Wellington Midweek XI again took a 20/20 fixture to the limit in this match at West Somerset League Division One club Ashbrittle last Thursday evening when they claimed a seven wicket win off the last ball of the match to record their fourth win in five 20/20 matches so far this season.

Ashbrittle opted to bat first and were soon in trouble as Thom Trott removed both openers by the time the score had reached four and if you then add two run outs into the bargain the home side were in trouble, but Andy Hill with 45 and Rob Hill with 39 got their side back on track as they played a couple of good knocks.
George Coate and Simon Rudd eventually accounted for them as Ashbrittle closed their innings on 153-6 in 20 overs which represented a fine effort bearing in mind their start.

Wellington were soon into their stride as Mark Saunders and Alex Sparks added 29 for the first wicket.
This start was complemented by Rob Moysey who hit a pleasant 22 and he departed with the score on 70-2.
Saunders then launched the assault that got Wellington towards the 154 needed for victory as he and Julian Smit – back after injury – laid into the Ashbrittle attack with some venom.
Saunders was out with some thirty runs needed for a fine 60 and Smit carried through to 45no as he and Thom Trott saw the Red and Blacks home on the last ball.

An entertaining match all round and the reverse match takes place at Wellington on Thursday 20th July with a 6.00pm start.

The Sunday XI could not make it a hat-trick of wins for the club as they gave a disappointing collective batting performance against Axminster in this Three Counties Sunday League Division One fixture that resulted in a five wicket win for the 2004 champions.

Wellington opted to bat on winning the toss, but were 2-2 in 2 overs and looking for some stability. Skipper Thom Trott and Alex Sparks provided it as they got the score to 37 before Trott speared one high in the air for Lopez to take a catch off of his own bowling.
James Dyke joined Sparks and they added 34 runs for Wellington’s fifth wicket and this seemed to have got Wellington through their early tribulations, but Dyke (13) was a victim of Fragel (3-27) and his dismissal started another collapse as the score dipped from 83-4 to 93-8.
Phil Nicholls tried to marshal the tail and use up the overs, but Wellington were all out for a poor 108 in 35.1 overs.
Axminster had put in a good bowling performance, but Wellington had contributed to their own downfall.

Axminster openers Allsop and Mudane made steady progress towards the 109 they needed for victory. Thom Trott bowled a good line and length and got some exotic bounce from the pitch. Guy Murray bowled a spell that was at times quick.
Phil Nicholls got the breakthrough when he got Allsop to fence at one down the leg-side and James Dyke took a good catch.
Grant Davey bowled a good pacy spell and was unlucky not to get a breakthrough of his own.

The sting in the tail came from Rob Moysey who took 4-9 in 4.3 over as Warminster’s middle-order could not cope with his leg-spinners and they finish became rather tense and maybe had Wellington had thirty or forty more runs to play with then the outcome may have been different, but Administer skipper TO.Weakly and Seward saw that their team got home by five wickets with 9.3 over to spare.

Administer took 18 points to Wellington’s eight.

Wellington 2nd XI made it four wins in a row with only one point dropped and with this run of results are right in the promotion mix in Division Two of the Somerset League’s Reserves Competition following this thumping nine wicket over bottom side Barrington 2nd XI last Saturday.

James Dyke won the toss and asked Barrington to bat first and he was rewarded with a good tight spell from Richard Henwood and Martin Short.
Patterson was first to go when he looped a tame pull shot straight to Richard Short at mid-wicket off of Henwood and Wellington were up and running.
Aplin played a great straight drive and then thumped one to the cover area where James Dyke made a sensational stop and returned the ball to keeper Chris Nicholls who coolly ran him out with Aplin having bolted up the pitch thinking that the ball was through the Wellington skipper.
Brister with 26 looked like he could guide the Barrington innings, but he fenced at one and was caught behind to give Andy Mitchell his first wicket on the day – Mitchell bowled as good a spell as he has for Wellington 2nd XI this season as he bowled a great line and length that saw him go for only 12 runs in his seven overs. He later accounted for Whitfield who speared one high into the air where Phil Nicholls accepted the chance.
Bob Trott tied one end up and ensured that the Barrington tail would not see the 45 overs out and deny Wellington some valuable bonus points, he took 2-18 in 10 accurate overs.
Richard Short will bowl better for sure, but he accounted for Barrington skipper Wellman who could have made a real difference had he hung around.
Wellington dismissed Barrington for 132 on the last ball of the innings.

Phil Nicholls and Julian Jones did not hang around as they started Wellington’s pursuit of the 133 needed for the double to be completed, Jones hit four fours and a six in his rapid 26 before he was caught.
Richard Short joined Nicholls and they added a virtually flawless unbroken 79 second wicket runs that carried Wellington to victory.
Nicholls made 77no as he combined deft leg-glances that took full advantage of the fact that Barrington did not employ a fine leg for large portions of the Wellington. He still found time to launch the ball out of the ground four times as well as he played another excellent for the Red and Blacks second string.
Short was an excellent foil for Nicholls and his 25no was no less valuable than his partner’s effort.
Wellington won with 15 overs to spare and are certainly going to have a say in who goes up to the top 2nd XI division.
Wellington took 35 points to Barrington’s seven.

Wellington once again found themselves in a nail-biting conclusion as they overcame newly promoted Wedmore by a narrow one wicket margin at the Playing Fields last Saturday writes Mark Saunders.

Wedmore were asked to bar first and soon found themselves in trouble as the Wellington new ball partnership of Thom Trott and Kevin Symons reduced them to 36-6 through a combination of a steady line and length combined with safe catching and some rather exotic shots from the Wedmore batsmen. Trott finished with 3-29 in 12 overs and Symons 3-39 in 8 in what was probably the best opening burst with the ball of the league campaign so far.
The change bowlers made further inroads and at 93-8 it seemed as though Wellington would be enjoying an early tea.
However Wedmore’s ninth wicket pairing of M & S.Bowley had other ideas as they added 69 through both steadfast defence and judicious hitting.
Eventually Rob Moysey took the final wicket thanks to a good catch at short fine leg by Alex Sparks and Wedmore were 170 all out in 42.5 overs. Moysey’s leg-spin proved effective to the tune of 3-31 in 9.5 overs.

Wellington started badly as they were reduced to 8-3 and things then took a further turn for the worse as the score rapidly descended to 44-6, but things improved through Mark Salter and Simon Rudd who gradually started chipping away at what seemed like a insurmountable target through sensible batting. Salter, as usual, was savage on anything short of a length as he cut and pulled the ball to the boundary as he made a nice 34 before he dragged a wide ball onto his stumps. This brought Kevin Symons to the crease and with Rudd a further 36 were added to take Wellington to 121-8 before Rudd lost sight of a looping full toss from M.Bowley which ended up crashing into the base of the stumps.
With seven overs left Wellington still needed 48 to win with only two wickets in hand and this was the cue for Symons to get the bit between his teeth as he tore into the Wedmore attack crashing the ball to the boundary on a regular basis and clearing it once when he lifted the ball out of the ground over long-on.
Together with good support from Gary Tillett Wellington required just two runs from the last over, but the drama was far from over as three dot balls were followed by Tillett been run out going for a run that would have brought the scores level. This brought Symons back on strike as they had crossed, but he as unable to work the fifth ball away and two were needed from the last ball of the match for a Wellington win.
The ceiling that crashed in on Wedmore as Stokes sent down a head high full toss and this was hit for four by Symons much to the delight of Wellington’s players and supporters who had gathered outside of the pavilion to witness the drama.
Symons secured 34 points for his side with his 66no and see the Red and Blacks rise to fifth in Division One of the Somerset League. Wedmore took 17 points and this was an ideal way for Wellington to react to the nine wicket defeat that they suffered in te Mendips on the opening day of the season back in May.

Wellington now travel to Evercreech and will look to go on from this fourth win in five matches at a ground where they have won only once since 1990.

The match ball for this fixture was kindly sponsored by Ablelec Ltd (01823 443875).

At the half way point of the season both the 1st XI and 2nd XI are floating around the middle of their respective tables.

The 1st’s are doing slightly worse, currently sat at 7th of 10.
1st XI Division 1 tables
With less than 20 points seperating 3rd from 8th though, they will be looking to improve on that position, starting with Wedmore at the weekend.

The 2nd’s currently lie 5th after gaining 104 points from a possible 105 in recent weeks.
2nd XI Division 2 tables
Again, with 10 points seperating them from 3rd, a good performance against strugglers Barrington at the weekend could see them move higher.

Club scorer David Derrick ensures that new overseas player Julian Smit pledges his allegiance to Wellington Cricket Club for ever and ever.

This fine body of men were able to tie a 3 counties league match with top Devon club Sidmouth CC Kevin Symons, Grant Davey, Kev Crout, James Dyke, Chris Kitto, Bob Trott Guy Murray, Julian Smit, Tom Trott(capt.), Mark Holloway, Ben Green

Butleigh’s internal selection issues were shown up by the fact that their 2nd XI fielded six under 19s and though they tried hard Wellington 2nd XI won at a canter by seven wickets with 20 overs to spare.
Butleigh opted to bat first and Foyne and S.Edmondson put together a steady if slow-going opening stand of 38 that took nearly 20 overs to compile.
The breakthrough came through Andy Mitchell who bowled Foyne round his legs for 16.
Greenwood joined the game and made a big hitting 35, but he became one of two wickets for Adrian Lee (4-27 in 9 overs) at the start of his second spell and with his departure the rot set in as Butleigh slid from 91-1 to 144 all out.
Richard Henwood showed good line and length on only his second appearance for Wellington as his figures of 2-25 in 12 overs show – a great effort in the high heat of the day.
Chris Rudd helped wrap up the Butleigh innings with 2-10 and Phil Nicholls did so by trapping the last man LBW for figures of 1-28 in 7.1 overs.
With regular openers Kevin Crout (knee operation) and Julian Jones (unavailable) absent Wellington’s innings was opened by Phil Nicholls and Richard Short and they added a fine 84 for the first wicket.
Neither looked in any bother against the Butleigh attack and it seemed as if they might win the game on their own, but Short was LBW for 39 and Nicholls was caught behind for 39, but the job was done.
Chris Rudd made a big-hitting 42 and he was out with six needed and these runs were obtained easily enough to give Wellington 2nd XI a full 35 points to Butleigh 2nd XI’s ten in this Somerset League Reserves Competition Division Two fixture.

Wellington lost a Somerset League Division One match for the first time in a month when they were soundly beaten by Butleigh at Courtland Road last Saturday by a margin of seven wickets.
Rob Moysey opted to bat first and Wellington found themselves in a spot of bother at 45-5 as Hooper with 2-29 in 12 overs did some damage.
Mark Salter with 26 was the shining light at the top of the Wellington innings with only one other double figure score to keep his company.
Mark Saunders and Simon Rudd got Wellington out of trouble with two excellent knocks of 60 and 41 respectively.
These innings, along with a late 18 from Sam Cook, got Wellington to 175-8 which was a good recovery from their earlier plight, but as someway short of what they were looking for when they opted to bat on winning the toss.

Butleigh never really looked like not getting the runs as all who batted for them contributed double figure scores.
Wellington tried all options available and Gary Tillett claimed two of the three wickets taken by Wellington (2-51 in 11 overs).
Rob Moysey (1-29 in 8 overs) also claimed a scalp, but Wellington were well beaten by a side who had suffered as a result of the World Cup football and were several players down.
The second half of the season begins with next week’s home match with Wedmore and the team will be keen to erase the memory of the nine wicket loss suffered in the Mendips back in May.
Wellington took eleven points to Butleigh’s 34.

The match ball for this fixture was kindly sponsored by Ablelec Ltd (01823 443875).