After the summer seemed to have returned on the Saturday, it was ‘back to normal’ the next day as the Sunday XI’s Three Counties League match at Devon League Division Two side Axminster was abandoned as a draw after the third of three heavy rain storms washed away any chance of completing a match that had already been curtailed to 35 overs per side.
Wellington arrived at Axminster to find a good pitch that had not suffered as much through the recent rain as it probably should have and the home side opted to bat first as David Derrick – standing in for Thom Trott – called wrongly.
No sooner had the players got changed and a heavy shower had the ground awash and Axminster’s decision to bat first looked as if it could have played into Wellington’s hands.
A start was made at 3.00pm and Phil Nicholls and Kevin Symons were soon into their stride as they reduced Axminster to 11-4.
Nicholls exploited the damp wicket to get the ball to come through well to brother Chris behind the sticks. He took 2-6 in 7 class overs as he beat the bat at will and claimed two corking LBW shouts to see the back of Mudane and Axminster’s Indian import Subasinghe.
Symons was in irrepressible form as he had been for the 1st XI the previous day and he bowled in the same style – wicket to wicket and letting the damp conditions do the work, he surely had Subasinghe caught behind, but the appeal was not upheld, but he struck soon after as R.Seward hit one to Andy Perry at point and he held on to one and then the dismissal of the season in terms of photo appeal as he sent Axminster skipper J.Seward’s middle peg cartwheeling back many metres.
At this stage Axminster were 11-4 and in all sorts of trouble.
Allsop with a cultured 26 stabilised the home side’s innings as he and Beer added 38 runs for the fifth wicket, but David Marshall ended this stand by making Beer play on for 8.
When Rob Moysey got Allsop well caught on the boundary by Marc Holloway Wellington were back in vogue again, but Axminster’s young guns of Prior (36) and Marshall (33no) got their side out of corner as they doubled the score with a feisty partnership for the seventh wicket.
Josh Hancock ended this merry spree when Kevin Symons accepted a catch at cover.
David Marshall and James Dyke each took a wicket late on as Axminster ended their 35 overs on 153-9.

No sooner had the players taken tea then another heavy downpour took further time out of the game and prevented Wellington from commencing their innings until 6.15pm and by the rules of the league twenty overs have to be bowled in the second innings of a match for batting, bowling and youth bonus points to be allocated.
This fact and the situation that there was more wet weather on the horizon meant that Wellington needed to get off to a quick start and this was not lost on Marc Holloway and Chris Nicholls who had 32 on the board in 5 overs with Holloway having cracked a sublime 30 with six fours and looking well set for a big score, but Hayball got to one hold up and Holloway could only offer a return catch back to the bowler.
Holloway was particularly severe on Fragel as he took twenty runs from his first over.
Nicholls and James Dyke took Wellington’s score into the fifties, but Subashinge removed both when they had made 14 and 12 respectivley.
Rob Moysey cracked three fours in one over and Andy Perry was giving good support at the other end, but after 17.3 overs of the Wellington innings the rain drove the players off once more and with time getting on as well the captains decided to call the game off as a draw and each side claimed ten points.

Wellington remain unbeaten in Three Counties League action so far this season with one win and two draws with three matches to play.