Wellington Cricket Club

The 1st XI – following their win over Fitzhead on Tuesday 26th May – will play the winners of the Ashbrittle and Watchet tie in the semi-finals of the Baker Cup Shield (Terry Mockridge Memorial Shield).

If Ashbrittle are victorious then we will travel to Appley Cross and if Watchet are the winners we will be the hosts as Watchet are barred from playing home fixtures as they are outside of the radius of the Competition’s geographical limit.

Either way this match will be played on the evening of Monday 8th June with a 6.15pm start.

Further details to follow on this site.

David Derrick, Max Capaldi, Paul Short, Alex Sparks, Rob Moysey, Josh Moysey, Rowan Varkevisser, Jake Nicol, George Hooper, Alex Troake, Steve Symons

There is no match for the Under 15s this Sunday (31st May).

Matches re-commence with a home league game with Chard on Sunday 7th June.

The Midweek XI’s match with Linden Park CC will now be an evening affair after all after resolving matters.

With a full weekend of fixtures and now a Baker Cup Shield semi-final to play beforehand, finding enough players to play an all-afternoon match was proving to be problematical, so agreement has been achieved to make the match an evening affair.

Steve Symons is your contact for this match and will be happy to accept availability for this match from now.

Paul Short and Rob Moysey created a new 1st XI opening stand partnership in this Terry Mockridge Memorial Shield quarter-final match against Somerset League Division Two side Fitzhead last Tuesday evening as they sculpted the holder’s passage into the semi-finals with this 65 run win.

Moysey and Short equalled the sixteen year old record set by Bryan Churchill and James Clist, but by remaining unbeaten it is technically deemed superior.

Fitzhead asked Wellington to bat first and found Moysey and Short batting in a controlled and dominant manner with the ball being glided around the field expertly and being placed along the ground for boundary fours before an explosive show of hitting took Wellington to 183-0 in 20 overs.

Short made 85no and Moysey 82no with two sixes and four sixes respectively as neither player gave a chance.

Fitzhead did not bowl badly and with Laurence Burns only letting 34 runs go in his five overs and Maurice Burns 38 in his five, this is a measure of how well Short and Moysey played.

Fitzhead needed over nine an over to win and were in danger of being routed as they fell away to 20-5 and 26-6 as Richard Henwood with 3-15 in 3 overs bowled straight and true and Rowan Varkevisser found himself on a hat-trick.

Laurence Burns with 17 and Maurice Burns with 35 got Fitzhead to over 100 with a couple of good late stands, but Wellington were never in danger of losing as Thom Trott and Marc Holloway saw that the Shield holders made it through to a semi-final on Monday 8th June with late wickets.

The down side of the game were the injuries suffered by both wicket keepers – Wellington’s Alec Short endured a dislocated little finger whilst keeping in Fitzhead’s innings and Fitzhead’s Bill Townsend edged the ball into his face and suffered a facial injury whilst playing a sweep shot – both players are wished speedy recoveries.

Wellington’s disastrous start to the new season continued with a 35 run defeat to in-form Westlands. 

Unbeaten at home in 2008, this is now a distant memory for the Red and Blacks and have now lost all three home games this season. 

Losing the toss, Wellington struggled to contain Westlands early in their innings and lacked penetration with the away side establishing a useful first wicket partnership of 48.  Wellington, awaking belatedly, removed Davis (25) thanks to a smart caught and bowled by South African Varkevisser.  Brought into the attack early, captain P Short (1-24) bowled with control and was rewarded with the wicket of danger man Boucher (27).  Wellington rallied from this point, fielding and bowling well as a team stifling the Westlands innings which was well set at 85-2.  Capaldi (5-40) bowled intelligently and deceived the opposition, varying his pace and flight effectively, accounting for top scorer Harper (33).  Late lower order hitting from Westlands, ensured a respectable and challenging total of 155.

Chasing 156 to win on a slow pitch, only Moysey (41), Salter (28) and R Short (14) reached double figures. 

The middle order, lacking confidence from previous defeats, broke down too easily playing with little composure and thought. 

Spinner Dyer, 7-37, bowled well, but poor stroke selection was the main reason for his haul of wickets. 

Wellington collapsed from 78-1 to 120 all out.  This was particularly hard on Moysey, who batted superbly and deserved to be on the winning side. 

Wellington need to bounce back quickly from this run of results and travel to Purnells next weekend.

Rob celebrates his 40th birthday in July and Rob, Amanda and Josh wish to invite the Club membership to a barbecue and party evening to be held at 15 George Street, Wellington on Friday 17th July.

Please advise of your attendance via e-mail to robmoysey@googlemail.com so that accurate numbers can be planned for.

Wellington Midweek XI so very nearly pulled off a great win over Kent touring side Newington on Friday evening when they lost by four runs in a pulsating 20/20 match.

Rowan Varkevisser – who was to play a prominent role with the bat later in the game – got rid of Edwards for 13 before a second-wicket stand of 94 between Khan (45) and Overbury (50) got the tourists to 117-1 before some of Wellington’s younger players got in on the act as there were wickets for Alex Troake and Sam Murdock and best figures of 3-5 for Josh Moysey as Wellington found themselves needing 150 to win.

The tourists bowled an excellent opening spell as Doncaster and Creasy let only 24 runs go in eight overs and Wellington found them hard to get away.

But George Coate with 16 got the wheels turning for the Red and Blacks and this was followed up with Rowan Varkevisser launching a spectacular display of hitting as he creamed 63 with six sixes as he got great support from skipper Steve Symons, Jake Nicol and Sam Murdock.

What turned out to be the last two balls of the game were vital as Wellington needed 12 from them and when what was the last ball of the game was called a no-ball and was hit for six by Varkevisser he had the chance for glory, but the extra delivery could not quite be deposited over the line and was caught on the boundary’s edge to leave Newington as four run victors.

A great game of cricket all round.

Wellington 2nd XI were despatched by league leaders Chard to the tune of ten wickets last weekend as the home side made it four maximum point wins out of four in Division One of the Somerset League Reserves competition and sent the Red and Blacks second string to ninth place in the division.

The toss was lost for the fourth time this season and Wellington were asked to take first knock and against as good a reserve team attack as you will get Gray (1-16 in 10 overs) and A.Cleal (3-24 in 12 overs) did a fine job for Chard.

Wellington needed to survive and did a good enough job in testing circumstances as skipper Richard Henwood held firm for 23 overs for a gritty 25 – he was out caught in the covers to the only bad shot he played.

Martin Short hit the ball crisply on his way to 30 and was doing great work, but he was run out when a call for a single went wrong and from 80-5 Wellington lost five wickets for one run to be all out for 81 in 37.1 overs.

Dening with 2-13 and Chard skipper Wyatt with 3-16 bowled some excellent left-arm and off spin to compliment the seam bowling of earlier.

Chard had ten overs before tea was taken to start the pursuit of the 82 needed to win and got half of them or so by the interval.

Durrance with 29no and McVey with 46no did the job for the home side as Wellington strived for a breakthrough, but could not make one.

Chard took 35 points and look very, very strong title contenders and Wellington only four and need to get back on track at home to Street next weekend.

Playing personnel are asked to consider their availability for a match on Tuesday 9th June at the earliest opportunity.

If any player is able to play in an afternoon match with Kent touring side Linden Park then please notify Steve Symons via e-mail to obes2007@btinternet.com as soon as possible.