Wellington Cricket Club

Sam Murdock, George Hooper, Toby Jenkins, Scott Davey, Sam Baycock, John Atyeo, Oli Buckingham, Nick Salter, Alex Troake, Aaron Chugg and James Bath

Meet at Pavilion at 9.30am, contact Mark Salter for further details.

Wellington Sunday XI were the first team to play at Devon League Division ‘A’ side Brixham’s fantastic new ground and came away with a third successive win against the South Devon side when they triumphed by fifty runs last weekend with a century – the first of 2009 – from Alex Sparks being the cornerstone of the success as the side made it three wins in a row.

Brixham put Wellington into bat and through Hyde and Orchard the home side had Wellington hopping about somewhat, but Alex Sparks and Max Capaldi weathered the storm and added 45 opening wicket runs before Capaldi was caught for twelve.

Thom Trott cover drove his first ball for four and was looking to continue his good early season form and it took a great boundary catch from Langan to remove him for 19.

All the time Alex Sparks was gaining in confidence and he was pulling the ball very well from the Brixham spin attack who – generally – bowled too short.

He batted through the innings for 132 not out – his first Wellington century – and was a pleasure to watch and the good sized crowd applauded when he reached three figures.

Trevor Brooks and Paul Short gave Sparks great support as Wellington totalled 201-3 in 40 overs at tea.

Rowan Varkevisser bowled with great pace and hostility once more for Wellington and he took 2-23 in 8 good overs and he seems to have settled into his new conditions.

Adrian Lee got good swing from the old ball and saw that Coulton did not trouble the scorers as he edged a perfect away swinger to Trevor Brooks behind the sticks.

Paul Short, Max Capaldi and Alex Troake gave Wellington good spin options on the day and they each got good turn from the wearing pitch.

Jake Nicol and Richard Henwood got a wicket apiece as Brixham struggled to keep up with the required rate despite Langan making a good 51 and Thomas making 34 not out.

Wellington did however – as was the case the previous day against Castle Cary – drop a few catches and they have one more practice session before the Somerset League season commences to iron out this aspect.

Club playing shirts are still available from Simon Rudd at £10 each.  These are the same shirts as last year, with club badge and sponsored by Tiverton Carpets and Furniture.   Sizes available as of 27/04/09 are:

3XL (3)

2XL (2)

XL (11, this is the size I have so you can judge what you might need)

Large (3)

Small (1)

X-Small (4)

Youth Medium (2)

Youth Small (4, suit smaller U11′s only).

Martin Ellacott also has a further supply for new U11 cricketers.

Youth caps are also available at £3 in two sizes.

Contact me on 07828 133223 to arrange collection.

Wellington Sunday XI continued the Club’s pre-season with a match with Somerset League Division Two side Castle Cary last Saturday and came out as 32 run winners in a match that was played at Bishops Lydeard due to the unavailability of either side’s own ground due to football.

Cary won the toss and asked Wellington to bat first in  showery, windy conditions, but this did not faze Mark Salter and Rob Moysey who added 98 good runs for Wellington’s first wicket.

Moysey with 38 (four fours) was first to go when he offered a chance to Henley (3-51) who took the ball on the follow-through from delivery.

Salter (59 with twelve fours) was next to go with the score on 100, but he had played very well with his trademark square cut coming to the fore.

Another wicket was lost on 101 and Wellington needed to consolidate if their good start was not to be lost, but Marc Holloway and Paul Short came up with the required response as they very nearly doubled Wellington’s score by adding 97 fourth wicket runs for the Red and Blacks.

Holloway made it to 59 with 8 fours and two sixes and Short realised 57 with eight fours in what were two very good and well timed innings.

The rest of the Wellington order concentrated on getting as many runs from the last few overs as was possible and Alec Short with 29no was assisted by David Derrick and Jake Nicol as these three added 30 good late runs to see the final Wellington score come in at 272-8 in 45 overs.

Rowan Varkevisser bowled with great speed and aggression and deserved more than the 1-53 in 12 overs he actually took as he beat the bat often and saw edged shots fly over the slips and gully region.

Jake Nicol shared the opening bowling responsibilities with Varkevisser and did a good job – he got a wicket for his efforts in his second spell.

Thom Trott took 3-33 in two spells and experimented with a short and long run.

Wellington could have had matters wrapped up sooner than they did as catches were dropped and this did not help the bowlers concerned – Josh Moysey toiled hard, but had no luck.

Paul Short bowled better than 2-69 in 11 overs suggests, but the Lydeard pitch was run laden and both sides prospered on the day as Cary batsmen Rushden (60) and Bright (55) added 84 third wicket runs.

The game drifted to a close with Cary seeing out their 45 over allocation and the match concluded in semi-darkness at 8.20pm.

Paul Short won a good toss at Somerset League Division Two club Burnham-on-Sea on Sunday and asked the home side to bat and his side were able to control things for the whole of their forty overs in the field.

Adrian Lee and Lee Nicol let just 27 runs go in their combined ten over burst before giving way to Max Capaldi who got the breakthrough for Wellington when he took a great caught-and-bowled chance to remove Gaylard for 13.

Ashfold and Bloodworth added 52 for Burnham’s second wicket and they looked settled even if the run rate was not searing – Alex Troake got his first wicket of the season when he bowled Bloodworth for 46 and when Max Capaldi got his second wicket of the game through Alec Short stumping Ashfold for 32 Burnham struggled to get to a testing total as Wellington’s bowlers kept the pressure on.

Rowan Varkevisser conceded only six runs in his five overs and with Jake Nicol letting only 12 go in the same amount and Paul Short realising four from four with a wicket, Wellington were doing well in the field.

Burnham-on-Sea totalled 135-7 in their 40 overs at tea.

Thom Trott’s excellent 81 was the cornerstone of Wellington’s reply as he hit 11 fours before falling to a good catch by A.Birkett.

Max Capaldi with 15 gave Trott excellent support as they added 60 for the first wicket.

Richard Short played a good knock of 11 as he too supported Trott well.

Alec Short and Paul Short were at the crease to bring up Wellington’s seven wicket win with 12 overs to spare.

The team now moves on to two more matches next weekend – the team will play Castle Cary at Bishops Lydeard on Saturday 25th April (details behind this from David Derrick) and will travel to Brixham on Sunday 26th April – details for both matches from Paul Short.

Bishops Lydeard 226-6 Wellington Sunday XI 118

Lydeard opted to bat on winning the toss and got away to a good start as Clarke (38) and Contreras (33) added 72 for the first wicket in 16 overs before Thom Trott split things up by removing both openers in the space of three overs as he returned the best Wellington figures on the day of 2-26 in 8 overs.

Kevin Symons and Rowan Varkevisser had opened up well for Wellington, but had not got the luck they deserved.

Steady middle order batting from Lydeard – who were runners-up in the division above Wellington last time out – saw that they were well placed to push on, but Wellington had done a good job in the middle portion of their time in the field and had kept Lydeard to 112-4 in 28 overs with Paul Short bowling with great control, but the home side scored 114 runs in the last 12 overs as former Wellington player Dave Proctor with 40 and Clift with 49no swung hard and collected eight sixes between them in this passage of play to dent Wellington’s control of matters – thus Lydeard ended on 226-6 in 40 overs.

Paul Short took 2-45 and there was a wicket apiece for Rowan Varkevisser and Max Capaldi.

Wellington’s innings never truly got going as no-one played the long lasting innings that was required to chase down the 227 required.

Rob Moysey with 16 steadied things early on, but wickets were always falling on a pitch that was taking spin – useful middle order contributions from Thom Trott (22), Max Capaldi (10), Kevin Crout (21) and Alec Short (18) kept Lydeard at bay and the hundred was posted with five wickets down, but Wookey (4-23) saw that the last five wickets were lost for only 20 runs and Bishops Lydeard had a 108 run win to their credit.

The first senior net session of the new season was held this evening and saw a good enough attendance, but we want to see more attendees.

Put next Wednesday (22nd April) from 6.15pm in your diary and make your way to Courtland Road and join in a session that comprises batting, bowling, fielding, agility and reaction work.

Senior fixtures at Bishops Lydeard and Burnham-on-Sea this weekend are followed by matches at Castle Cary and Brixham next weekend.

The 1st XI will host WEPL (Somerset Division) side Chard in the first round of the 2009 Baker Cup.

The draw was made at Taunton Deane C.C. on Tuesday 14th April.

The match will be played on Monday 11th May with a 6.15pm start time.

A big thank you to everyone who attended Rowan’s welcoming evening on Easter Sunday – the attendance was excellent, the atmosphere top notch and everyone was most warm towards our Overseas Player for the coming season.

As a Club we have had a good Easter with the Good Friday ground works session being well attended and much good work having been performed.

Now it is time to hit the ground running and start the season as we mean to!

The first senior net session is on Wednesday 15th April at 6.15pm – weather permitting as always.

The Chairman would like to pass on his thanks to everyone who attended and took part in this morning’s groundworks session.

A high quality of work was performed to get things ready for the new season and the ground, pavilion and score box have all been attended to.

Membership forms and fees that still need to be submitted to the Membership Secretary Marc Holloway need to be given a high priority.

Contact Alec Short for matters concerning sweaters and caps.