Wellington Cricket Club

Wellington retained the Terry Mockridge Memorial Shield with this 22 run win over Taunton Outcasts at Staplegrove last Tuesday evening when they repeated their success of twelve months earlier over the same team.

Wellington’s total of 145 was built around a fine 67 from skipper Paul Short who was well assisted by Mark Salter and Alex Sparks at the top of the order – Short was eighth out with the score on 143.

Wellington had looked like getting around 160 as James Brown hammered 15 quick runs, but Outcasts rallied through Knight (4-30 in 5 overs) to leave the Red and Blacks at 145 all out from the last ball of their 20 overs.

Three stumpings in the innings from Alec Short – the first off of Max Capaldi and two from the left-arm spin of Ben Orr – were pivotal in Wellington securing the Shield as they fielded very well indeed and the run out of Lee for 33 was the wicket that probably secured the win.

Rowan Varkevisser produced a fast straight delivery to get the second wicket to fall.

Lee and Graddon had added 60 for the third Outcasts wicket and were looking very dangerous, but they were prized apart as Wellington kept up the pressure – chipping away and not allowing Outcasts to generate momentum.

Paul Short with 2-28 and James Brown with 1-9 finished the job and Wellington took the honours.

They must now use this as a springboard to push up the Somerset League in the second half of the season.

This was a disappointing end to June for Wellington Sunday XI as they lost out to WEPL Premier One side Taunton St Andrews at home last weekend by six wickets having made a decent enough total, but then not been able to take advantage of reducing the visitors to 93-4 as their fifth wicket pairing of J.Poole and P.Morrish got the runs with no further loss as they added 131 unbroken.

TSA won the toss and Alex Sparks and John Paine got Wellington’s innings going well until Paine edged one through to Wyatt at slip.

That was all that went to hand for the next 27 overs as Sparks and Rob Moysey added 170 for Wellington’s second wicket – this was an excellent partnership anyway, but bearing in mind that Moysey was suffering with a groin strain that he had suffered on 1st team duty at North Petherton the previous day to bat for as long as he did was a testament to his powers of concentration as he was restricted in terms of running capacity – he still found the time to hit seven fours and had made it to 49no when he retired at the thirty over mark.

Sparks played a majestic innings of 104 as he timed the ball superbly with seventeen fours and a couple of sixes until he was trapped LBW by Chandler who took a fine 5-33 in 10 overs. This was his second Sunday ton of the season and he is in good touch currently.

Adrian Lee made a brisk 25 and Jake Nicol contributed 10 at the end as Wellington closed on 223-8 at tea.

Two excellent teas were enjoyed over the weekend and thanks go to Lesley Derrick for serving the 2nd XI’s on Saturday and to Amanda Moysey for preparing and serving this game’s.

Adrian Lee got rid of T.Poole early, but through Burge (39) and R.Morrish (27) TSA got into the fifties and were well set until Jake Nicol found himself on a hat-trick.

Burge departed with the score on 93-4 as Alex Troake, who bowled some excellent leg-spin on the day, got the right amount of loop and flight and 1-26 in 8 overs was a good stint by the teenager.

Wellington tried all options available to them, but TSA – through J.Poole (76no) and P.Morrish (44no) – got home with seven balls to spare as they mixed good running between the wickets with boundaries when they could.

Adrian Lee returned for a second spell, but Wellington could not prevent their three match Sunday XI winning streak from going.

The side travel to Axminster this weekend.

On a glorious Glastonbury weekend, Wellington succumbed to yet another defeat losing away to North Petherton by 3 wickets.  Wellington’s failure to ‘kill off’ teams was again evident as indisciplined bowling and fielding in the closing stages allowed North Petherton to steal the initiative and seal, at one stage, an almost unlikely victory. 
 
After a patient opening partnership of 53 between Bere (44) and Williams (15) was broken, Wellington capitalised removing the home side’s middle order in quick succession with young Capaldi taking 3-36.  Struggling at 89-5, North Pertherton required a further 85 runs at more than six an over before the superb T.Williams (54n.o) took the game away from Wellington’s grasp.  Having seen off danger man P Short (2-27), Williams was unfazed by the task in hand, and helped by lacklustre fielding, batted with remarkable ease.  Lewis Irish (29) was also a major benefactor as crucial chances were missed in the field.  Wellington took late wickets, but Williams saw North Pertherton recorded their fifth win of the season.
 
Earlier in the day, Wellington set a challenging total of 174-7 with thanks to Alex Sparks top scoring with 69.  After a patient start, Sparks accelerated with two sixes and a flurry of hard run twos.  Sparks was ably supported by Moysey (29) and P Short (26) who both made good starts. 
 
After a difficult and turbulent start to the season, Wellington, threatened by the prospect of relegation in both teams, need to pull together as a playing squad to ensure a quick turnaround in the club’s current fortunes. 

The 1st XI face a relegation battle away to fellow strugglers North Newton next Saturday with the 2nd XI at home to Glastonbury 3rd XI.

Wellington 2nd XI should have won this Somerset League Reserves Competition Division One fixture last weekend, but they let Bridgwater off the hook having had them 31-4 and then having batted themselves into contention at 157-2.

Adrian Lee won the toss and asked Bridgwater to bat first and it was Lee and Martin Short who ran the show as they both obtained good swing and seam movement and removed the visitors top order with some assistance from George Coate who put in a bullet of a throw to directly run out Epps.

But Wellington let Bridgwater get away as Berry with 27, Cowley (35), Boobyer (49) and Davies (24) cashed in on some wayward bowling that saw Wellington let 28 wides and no-balls be sent down and these extra runs and deliveries were critical in the end and represented 50 overs in the field in hot conditions for Wellington.

Adrian Lee with 5-24 in 8.2 overs was the pick of the Wellington attack with Martin Short (1-35 in 12) being of good value too. There were wickets for Richard Henwood and George Coate too as Bridgwater were finally out in the last over and it had been a testing time for Wellington’s second string.

Kevin Crout and Liam Kubicki got Wellington’s reply under way in confident mood with Kubicki playing well off of the back foot, but he tried to pull a ball from Turner that wasn’t really there for the shot and was bowled.

Richard Henwood  joined Crout and added 77 second wicket runs and this was when Wellington were at their most dominant with Henwood making 36 and launching the ball out of the ground twice – he fell to a good one handed catch by Bridgwater skipper Cowley.

Graham Sparks made a vibrant 19 as Kevin Crout’s elegant innings of 77 was the mainstay of the Wellington batting effort with nine fours, but Wellington got bogged down and Crout lost the strike at crucial times and with the rate rising the bat was started to be flung in all directions and this cost Wellington wickets – Jake Viney and George Coate fell going for big shots.

Crout was eventually run out for 77 as Wellington went for all runs possible and although Martin Short, David Derrick and George Hooper tried valiantly to get Wellington to the 205 required they fell an agonisingly seven runs short.

Wellington 2nd XI took 19 points from this match and are one point and one place ahead of Glastonbury 3rd XI who they entertain this weekend in what is going to be a crucial fixture for both sides as they attempt to gain the points they need to stay in the division.

George Hooper, Aaron Chugg, Will Hinchcliffe, Oli Buckingham, Nick Salter, Alex Troake, Scott Davey, Sam Murdock, James Bath, Liam Carey and Sam Baycock.

Depart from Courtland Road Car Park at 9.15am for a 10.00am start.

Contact Mark Salter for details.

Wednesday 29^th July at Wellington Arts Centre, Eight Acre Lane, Wellington from 8.15pm

David Derrick, Alex Troake, Adrian Lee, Alex Sparks, Steve Symons, Rob Moysey, Josh Moysey, John Paine, Sam Murdock, George Hooper and Jake Nicol.

Meet at Pavilion at 1.30pm for a 2.30pm start.

Batting first the league leaders scored 168 being all out off the last ball of the innings. For Ilton the top scorer was Raj Shaffique, batting at number nine who hit an unbeaten 46, with Des Price making 21. The pick of the home attack was skipper Paul Short who took 4 for 20, while Adrian Lee ended with two for 17. In reply Wellington reached 152 for nine, Rob Moysey top scoring with 34 and Alex Sparks making 31. The pick of the Ilton bowlers were Raj Shaffique who ended with two for 30, while captain Ricky Selway ended with two for 51.

Wellington Sunday XI put in a good all-round performance when they entertained Chard last weekend as they got home by four wickets with 4.3 overs left.

Chard were asked to bat first and got away well enough with a 33 run opening stand, but a great diving catch from Max Capaldi got rid of Chard skipper C.Scott for 26 and this was to signal the start of a great effort in the field by the Red and Blacks.

Sam Murdock was the successful bowler on this occasion and he took 3-16 in seven very good overs, his opening partner Jake Nicol bowled better than his figures suggest.

Rob Moysey got through all the tricks of the leg-spinner’s trade as he took 1-15 in seven very good overs and was hard to get away.

Max Capaldi with 3-27 in seven overs of off-spin was also in business as Wellington caught and fielded well – there were two catches apiece for Alex Sparks, Rowan Varkevisser and Capaldi himself and a good catch standing up to the stumps by Josh Moysey.

Alex Troake with 3-16 wrapped up the Chard innings with the only major contributor being the 52no by their 1st XI skipper J.Scott.

Wellington departed for tea (grateful thanks to Dennis Fullstone and Amanda Moysey for this) in good spirit.

The Red and Blacks reply was a staged affair with Alex Sparks and Adrian Lee getting 19 on the board for the first wicket, but both were out within four runs of each other and Wellington were faced with having to rebuild.

Rowan Varkevisser and Steve Symons did this and their 24 run third wicket stand came at the right time with Varkevisser making 38 in the end and Symons keeping Chard occupied.

David Derrick carried on his good weekend with a breezy knock of ten, but when the Wellington skipper was dismissed at 84-6 Wellington still had much to do, but the calmness and assurity of Rob Moysey (24no) and Max Capaldi (18no) saw the 39 runs that were needed were gathered with no further loss being incurred.

Wellington 2nd XI’s good recent run that had seen two maximum points wins garnered came to a shuddering and abrupt halt at Cheddar on Saturday when they were thumped by a massive 180 runs and lost ground on the side immediately above them in Division One of the Somerset League’s Reserves competition.

Wellington were greeted with a poor looking pitch and one that promoted Richard Henwood to ask Cheddar to bat first when he won the toss and to start with his side did a good job as Cheddar’s openers Parfitt (27) and B.Stacey (43) led charmed lives, but the Red and Blacks second string shelled several chances and were made to pay for these later on.

Jake Nicol got rid of Parfitt when he tried to throw the kitchen sink at one and the game was balanced nicely, but D.Stacey with 120no played a punishing innings as he took advantage of some ragged Wellington play in the latter stages and with his skipper Kent (74) they took Cheddar to the brink of 300.

Alex Troake with 2-18 got a couple of late wickets and George Coate was also successful, but by one run Cheddar had failed to equal the highest ever score conceded by Wellington 2nd XI in a league match.

Wellington’s day was about to get a whole lot worse when they lost a wicket to the first ball of their reply, but a gritty 45 run second wicket stand between Kevin Crout (14) and George Coate (22) repaired the damage somewhat.

Coate was dismissed when he stopped the shot and looped one back to the bowler.

Wellington’s innings then subsided although Jake Viney and Sam Murdock hit scores of ten each and they found themselves at 73-9 and staring down the barrel of a large loss, but through a last wicket stand of 40 between David Derrick (31no) and Alex Troake (5) Wellington did keep Cheddar at bay.

Derrick hit five fours in his knock and was top score on the day for Wellington and Troake gave him great support as they – in effect – got Wellington two batting bonus points, but when Russett got one through Troake’s defences the game was over and Wellington had a 180 run loss and just nine points to take home.

For Cheddar Tullett with 5-15 did the bulk of the damage.