Wellington Cricket Club

Wellington recorded their first win of the new league season with a determined six wicket victory over local rivals Staplegrove. 

After a disappointing opening defeat to North Newton, a motivated and disciplined Wellington side responded professionally with a vastly improved performance.

Surprisingly, Staplegrove elected to bat first on a lively May wicket offering unpredictable bounce and movement.  

This was duly exploited by South African apprentice Rowan Varkevisser, who bowled an explosive opening spell accounting for both openers – Sizer and Craggs.  Both batsmen were beaten ‘all ends up’ by late movement, the latter emphatically yorked by Varkevisser. 

Kevin Symons, unofficially the unluckiest bowler in the league, ably supported Varkevisser but his efforts went unrewarded. 

As Staplegrove attempted to rebuild, Thom Trott, introduced earlier into the attack, produced a lifter to remove Pantling with Marc Holloway taking an excellent catch at first slip.  Trott was a nuisance all afternoon, his height extracting awkward and at times unplayable bounce. 

Hodge (23) and Fitt (26) restored order to the Staplegrove innings with some lusty blows, before Wellington skipper Paul ‘never far from the action’ Short removed both with sharply spinning deliveries. 

Short was in good form and bowled 12 continuous overs finishing with deserved figures of 4-39. 

Jeans (34no) batted patiently under pressure for Staplegrove and added respectability to the innings before running out of partners. 

Varkevisser (5-29), buoyant from his opening spell, bowled with hostility at the death and returned with a further 3 wickets to restrict the home side to 143 all out off 40 overs.

This run chase was never going to be easy for Wellington, losing the talismanic Salter (8) early. 

Rob Moysey (41) grafted in ‘Boycottesque’ fashion and anchored the innings beautifully allowing the free flowing Alex Sparks (59) to play an array of classic cricket strokes. 

His innings was timed perfectly and he took the game away from Staplegrove launching 20 off one decisive over. 

A late flurry of wickets by Sizer and Miller failed to stop Wellington and Holloway (14no) saw that the Red and Blacks cantered home with five overs to spare to record their first victory of the season. 

A special mention goes to the WCC supporters club who were in full voice throughout.

Wellington Sunday XI took on Devon Premier League winners Sidmouth on their own track last weekend and came away from the seaside with an eight wicket defeat, but with plenty of positives to reflect on.

Wellington chose to take first dig on a perfect track and Max Capaldi and Marc Holloway added 40 opening wicket runs in good time indeed – this was broken when Capaldi was trapped LBW.

After losing a second wicket on 55 Holloway and Kevin Symons batted so well to add 116 for the third wicket as Symons cracked a fine 41 with some excellent square cuts on offer.

Holloway made a sublime 106 as he used the excellent playing surface fully as he drove the ball with excellent timing and power as the innings developed – he was out late on trying to push the rate on.

Rowan Varkevisser hit two almighty sixes and with Matt Weaver got Wellington to a decent 212-6 at tea.

Sidmouth had been somewhat lax in the field at times and Wellington had profited when they could.

If the home side had been a little loose in the field, they certainly were not with the bat as Griffiths and Williams timed the ball with grace and power as they charged away at a rate of over six runs per over.

Paul Short bowled the full allocation of eight overs and did a good job for his side as too did Jake Nicol and Kevin Symons, but it took a run-out to break the stand as Rowan Varkevisser threw on the turn from his gully position and broke the stumps and that saw Williams run out for 44.

Alex Troake bowled well once more and George Hooper again bowled with good pace, but Griffiths with 101 saw that the job was nearly done when he was dismissed by a Kevin Symons catch off of Matt Weaver.

Gingell with 42no and Murray with 7no saw that Sidmouth won with fully ten overs to spare, but it had been another good effort by a Wellington side with a fair dollop of youth against a strong home side.

The team host South Petherton next weekend.

Staplegrove 2nd XI secured their first win at Wellington since 2005 when they recorded an eight wicket win in Division One of the Somerset League’s Reserves competition.

The visitors opted to bowl first on winning the toss and got a wicket with the Wellington score on 12, but as was the case the week before Trevor Brooks and Richard Henwood bonded the Wellington innings expertly as they added 102 runs for the second wicket with Brooks making a capital 43 and his opening two knocks of the 2009 season have seen him bat for over 75 of the 90 overs that the team has faced.

Skipper Henwood made a great 82no and he has made 283 runs against the ‘Grove’s 2nd XI for once out in three innings against them – he played well through the leg-side and to the third man area – an area that was strangely left unattended for most of the Wellington innings – as he hit eleven fours.

George Coate and Graham Sparks assisted Henwood to get Wellington 2nd XI to 173-4 in 45 overs and this was a good effort on a pitch that offered bounce and movement.

Staplegrove bowled well with Matt Dunn’s 2-39 in 12 overs being of good value to them.

Wellington struggled to make a breakthrough and it took until the 36th over to break the Staplegrove opening stand of Dunn (88) and their skipper Gary Bishop (59) as they added 167 runs and nearly did all the work on their own.

Wellington tried all options open to them with the best offerings coming from Alex Troake whose leg spin was bowled well and Trevor Brooks who bowled some most tidy off-spin to take 2-35 in 9 overs as he took both wickets to fall through good catches by Richard Henwood and Steve Symons, but when Trump hit over the top for four Staplegrove had a 29 point win to their credit and Wellington a ten point loss.

Wellington 2nd XI travel to Bishops Lydeard 2nd XI next week.

The Midweek XI – captained by Steve Symons – will play Surrey side Ripley on Monday 6th July in a 20/20 match that will start at 6.00pm.

This is an extra match to those stated in the 2009 fixture card.

David Derrick, Max Capaldi, Paul Short, Marc Holloway, Rowan Varkevisser, Kevin Symons, Steve Symons, Alex Troake, George Hooper, Jake Nicol and Matt Weaver.

Depart from Courtland Road Car Park at 1.00pm for a 2.30pm start.

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

Depart from Courtland Road Car Park at 9.00am – contact Mark Salter for details.

A young Wellington Sunday XI gave a most resilient performance at WEPL (Somerset Division) side Street last weekend and, although losing by 106 runs to lose in this fixture either home or away for the first time since 2004, there was much to admire.

Wellington asked Street to bat first and when opener Cox was dropped in the first over Wellington had the chance to make early inroads, but Cox and K.Wall made them pay as they added 147 for Street’s first wicket.

Rowan Varkevisser bowled quick and deserved a wicket or two and his opening partner Jake Nicol bowled well in trying circumstances.

Max Capaldi bowled a fine spell of off-spin as he took 1-34 in 8 great overs and he broke the stand when he took a low caught and bowled chance to remove Cox for 66.

Wall was eventually run out when he slipped after been turned back whilst attempting a single.

Western hit the ball long and hard for a while at least until Dan Powell took a good catch to a high ball from Alex Troake who bowled his leg spin to good effect taking 1-64 in 8 overs.

George Hooper – on senior debut – bowled very well and worked up good pace too, a good start for the teenager.

J.Linter and Higgs came together at 201-3 and Wellington had restricted Street quite well at this point, but they tore away with a thunderous 95 run fourth wicket stand and this saw the Wellington heads go down a little, but they recovered well at the end.

Liam Kubicki kept wicket well once more.

Wellington lost a wicket in the second over and were keen on consolidating after this and Max Capaldi and Alex Sparks delivered in grand fashion as they added 145 for the second wicket with a marvellous stand.

Sparks made 84 with a flurry of fours and a six too – he timed the ball so well on a great batting surface and was out stumped trying to hit K.Wall over the top, but the job required of him was done.

Capaldi made a capital 51.

The departure of Sparks brought about a run of four wickets for one run, but David Derrick with a robust 16no and Rowan Varkevisser with a belligerent 31no saw that Wellington suffered no further loss as they added 44 runs for the sixth wicket without defeat.

A hard time in the field for Wellington, but one that the team did not shy away from and a top batting effort that saw that Street had to toil when they bowled and fielded.

The team travel to Sidmouth next weekend.

Wellington 2nd XI got their season in Division One of the Somerset League’s Reserves competition under way with a 24 run win against Glastonbury 3rd XI in a match that was played at Meare C.C. after The Thorns own secondary pitch had suffered pre-season vandalism and was under repair.

Wellington were greeted with a slow and dry pitch and whoever won the toss would opt to bowl first – Richard Henwood’s side were asked to take first knock and lost a wicket on five when Kevin Crout was caught and bowled by Taylor (3-48) when he took a good one handed personal effort.

Trevor Brooks with a masterful 74 that saw that he batted for all but two balls of the Wellington innings and skipper Henwood added 77 second wicket runs for Wellington and this was the cornerstone of the Red and Blacks second string’s solid effort with the bat.

Henwood drove and pulled the ball well on his way to 34 before he picked out Wade in the deep from the bowling of Randall who bowled very well on the day to take 1-42 in 10 overs of finger spin.

Brooks and Richard Short added a crucial fifty-five runs for the third wicket and this saw Short make a fine 16.

Brooks made it to 74 with five fours and this shows the watchful nature of his innings – he bonded the Wellington effort and this was a great way for the former Temple Cloud man to start his second season in Wellington colours.

George Coate started 2009 as he had ended 2008 in that he cracked nearly thirty unbeaten runs in quick time to get Wellington to an even better total than they might have achieved – he ended 2008 taking 22 from the last over of the season and this offering of 28no was just what was required as he and Liam Kubicki – on league debut – got Wellington to 171-4 in 45 overs at tea.

Wellington had got some fifteen to twenty runs more than they had thought would be the case and these proved most vital in the end.

Adrian Lee got rid of Gould in the second over of the Glastonbury innings, but Lisk with 17 and Mason with 19 got going until a great catch by Jake Nicol off of George Coate saw the back of Lisk.

Wellington then chipped away and took wickets at regular intervals and this saw the demise of Glastonbury did occur in the end.

Lee with 3-33 in 10 overs and Coate with 4-28 in 10 overs bowled excellently and did the bulk of the work for Wellington.

Jake Nicol with 1-44 in seven overs bowled better than his figures suggest.

With Richard Henwood pulling up with a calf injury and only being able to bowl 4.3 overs on the day, the turn of the day goes to Richard Short who took 2-24 in 6.3 overs as he stood in for his skipper excellently.

Glastonbury skipper Odam with 40 threatened to spoil the party, but when he was out it was a matter of when and not if for Wellington.

Alex Troake got some good turn in his short spell and Wellington got the last two wickets in the fortieth over to win by 24 runs with five overs left and take 33 points to Glastonbury’s eleven.

Kevin Crout took two catches and Liam Kubicki took a hat-trick of catches behind the sticks and did so well on his league debut and with David Derrick and Steve Symons putting in good effort in the field this was a good team performance.

The team host Staplegrove 2^nd XI next weekend.

Wellington were rudely awakened to the new Somerset League Division One season as they lost at home for the first time since August 2007 when they were despatched for just 59 by North Newton last weekend and thus lost by 49 runs in what was an incredible match and avoided by just three runs the ‘highest’ of their lowest ever totals in a league match dating back to when they entered the Somerset League back in 1974.

North Newton – who finished in a relegation position last season, but were not relegated due to technical considerations – opted to bat first and got to 38-3 in 22 good Wellington overs as Thom Trott let only ten runs go in six overs and Rowan Varkevisser strained for pace in taking 2-27 in 10 overs  as the Red and Blacks kept a tight rein on things.

Kevin Symons bowled a dozen overs for only 23 runs and got a wicket for his efforts as Newton’s choice to bat first did not appear to be working.

Simon Rudd with 3-9 in 10 excellent overs saw that North Newton went from 60-3 to 68-7 and all was going to plan for Wellington and even though J.Stone with 15no and P.Jenkins with a lusty 23 added 34 eighth wicket runs a final visiting team total of 108-9 in 45 overs was well within Wellington’s capacity and with skipper Paul Short taking 3-32 in seven overs all of the home side’s attack had done well.

Wellington were faced with a required run rate of just over two an over to win, but were soon under the cosh as they fell away to the tune of 38-7 as Sellick with 3-22 and A.Jenkins with 3-14 in nine overs each ran riot.

Barrington with 3-2 in six overs completed the rout as only Rob Moysey with 18 made it to double figures and his departure summed up Wellington’s time with the bat as Simon Rudd slammed an overpitched ball for what looked like four only for a Newton fielder to see the ball cannon off his leg and run Moysey out as he was backing up.

Wellington were dismissed in 30 overs and took eleven points to Newton’s thirty.

The team travel to Staplegrove next weekend.