Wellington Cricket Club

Wellington gave as good as they got in the quarter finals of the Baker Cup at Taunton Deane last Monday evening, but the WEPL Premier One side got over the line by six wickets with nine balls to spare in what was a good game of cup cricket.

Paul Short opted to bat first and it was he and Michael Gill who added 72 for Wellington’s opening wicket in 12 overs – using the fielding restrictions they ran the ball around the ground well and both played the cut shot well for boundaries, Short made 28.

Aks Latifi and Gill got Wellington past the hundred run mark and with a late salvo from Neil Hendy that was worth 18 the Red and Blacks had got to 128-3 in 20 overs with Gill making exactly 50no.

Taunton Deane A’s attack was steady – no more, no less.

The County Town side were always in the hunt for a game that would take them one step closer to defending the trophy they won in 2009, but they never got on top of Wellington until the very end of the game – Michael Gill had Shaikh caught behind and Rob Moysey got rid of Conway for 36 with his first ball of the game and at 97-4 in 15 overs Taunton Deane A had work to do and when ex Wellington player Dave Jones was run out for a well made 24 Wellington were back in the hunt for a win, but Reading with 23no and Thomas with 17no allayed any fears for the home side by adding 32 for the fifth wicket and that saw Taunton Deane A home and into the semi finals on Monday 7th June at Taunton CC against either Ilminster or Ashbrittle.

Wellington Sunday XI made it three wins in three in Division B of the Taunton and District Sunday League by completing the double over Somerset League Division Three side North Curry at home last weekend by winning this match by 27 runs and taking 24 points overall.

Paul Short opted to bat first on another good looking track and Wellington were dealt a blow early on as James Bath was forced to retire hurt with a hand injury in the second over of the game and he was unable to keep wicket later on too.

Wellington and North Curry were equally matched with the score at 85-4 in 18 overs as Bartlett with 3-29 was good value for North Curry as too was Rob Moysey for Wellington and it was from this point that Wellington took the game away from Curry as the Red and Blacks added 181 in 22 overs with Moysey making a fine 105 and Michael Gill hitting 65no.

Paul Short with a quick 20no added a gloss to his side’s innings that totalled 266-5 in 40 overs.

Although Wellington had runs on their side they did not reach the heights in the opening fifteen overs of the North Curry innings as Sharp (49) and Gray (44) added 97 fine runs for their side and this was troublesome for Wellington to say the least.

Through Paul Short a new sense of purpose was found as he claimed two wickets in the over after drinks and all told he took 5-24 in 7 overs.

Phelps with 47 and M.Golding with 57no added another good block of runs for Curry as they batted out their overs to make 239-8.

Sam Murdock got a hat-trick in taking 3-22 in seven good overs as Wellington ended with a win that will keep them in the kind of place they wish to be in.

Next up for the side is a friendly match at Axminster.

Wellington 2nd XI continued their unbeaten start to the 2010 season in Division Two of the Somerset League’s Reserves Competition when they returned from another long away trip with full points and have now won as many as they did in the whole of last season already and have dropped only one point in the process.

Temple Cloud opted to bat first and did not really use this to their advantage as their innings subsided to 126 all out in 35.2 overs.

Home skipper Newmarch with 28 was the only Temple player to really get to grips with the varied Wellington attack – George Coate and skipper Simon Rudd bowled tightly and true for Wellington before Richard Short joined as first change and let only nine runs go in seven overs.

Jake Nichol got a wicket in his five over burst and this laid the scene for Alex Troake to return the excellent figures of 4-21 in six overs as he and his skipper wrapped up the Temple Cloud innings some ten overs short of its natural conclusion.

Wellington’s innings was anchored by Trevor Brooks making 51 against his old Club and Thom Trott’s 31 as he made his first appearance of the season.

Richard Short with 18 added useful runs as Wellington brought up victory by four wickets with 13 overs left to complete a good day’s work.

The side host Winscombe 2nd XI this weekend.

Wellington lost for the first time in Division One of the Somerset League this season when they went down by just eighteen runs at home to old rivals Westlands last weekend as a peach of a batting track produced well over 500 runs in the day.

Westlands opted to bat first and through Davis and Harper they showed what a good track it was as they added 59 opening wicket runs for the Yeovil side – this was broken when Harper flashed at one and Aks Latifi was there to pouch the chance off of Tom Baycock.

Gundry – who had looked frail initially – broke the shackles to make 53 in a one hundred run stand with Davis who made a fine 110.

Westlands made hay by nearly doubling their score in the last fifteen overs as fielding become hard work as Michael Gill and Paul Short took two wickets each for Wellington.

Gill and Short added 40 for Wellington’s first wicket as they got away well before the partnership was broken by a run out for the second week running.

Alex Sparks joined his skipper and got the score up towards ninety with Short making 41 before he chipped one round the corner to the short fine leg.

Two more wickets fell to make Wellington 106-4 and with a lot of work to do, but Sparks who crafted an excellent 79 and Rob Moysey with 25 added 64 for the fifth wicket in eight overs to leave Wellington a target of just over one hundred in 13 overs and they gave it one almighty good go as Max Capaldi with 24 and latterly James Bath with 25no and Adrian Lee with 11no got the Red and Blacks to within 18 of the Westlands total – for them Lee with 5-55 in 12 overs was excellent on a day made for batting as Westlands took 34 points to Wellington’s 15.

Paul Short (Capt), Mark Salter, James Bath, Neil Hendy, Rob Moysey, Michael Gill, Adrian Lee, Tom Baycock, Alex Sparks, Max Capaldi and Aks Latifi (Wkt).

Meet at Pavilion at 12.35pm for a 1.45pm start.

Contact Paul Short for details.

Kian Gardner, Brad Rowlandson, Callum Vernon, Jacob Evans, Tom Doyle, Joe Fox, Sam Ogilvy and Jake Haskell.

Meet at Courtland Road Car Park at 5.00pm.

Contact Mark Salter for details.

Wellington Sunday XI added to the good start to the season the Club is enjoying in 2010 with a second win in two matches in Division B of the Taunton and District Sunday League at home last weekend when they beat North Petherton by 43 runs to secure a full 25 points from the game.
 
A quirk of the fixture list saw that Petherton played at Wellington twice in 24 hours with the respective 1st XIs having played the day before and this time it was North Petherton who started best as they reduced Wellington to 39-4 with T.Smith and Gudge doing much with the ball as well as keeping things tight for the visitors.
 
This was the cue for Rob Moysey and Tobi Jenkins to add 112 for the fifth wicket in fine style as Moysey showed all his qualities in anchoring the Wellington innings with a great knock of 67 that ensured the Red and Blacks recovered from their poor start, Jenkins was in swashbuckling form as he cracked 61, his debut half-century for Wellington, as he hit the ball with power and force when he could, but was also respectful when a good ball was bowled and this was a great knock to have had on offer from Wellington’s point of view.
 
Aks Latifi with 24, skipper Paul Short with 10 and others in the lower order got Wellington to 205 all out in the last over with Bunce following up his fine 12 over spell the day before with 4-32 in 7 overs this time round as North Petherton took full bowling points.
 
Through Roberston and Revans North Petherton added 53 solid opening partnership runs, but through Paul Short and Michael Gill they lost three wickets on that score for no addition as Wellington fought back into the game.
 
Alex Troake bowled well, getting the big wicket of O.Irish, who had made a fifty the day before in the 1st XI match for a duck, and generally using good flight to draw the batsman forward and then posing questions to get 2-39 in seven good overs.
 
Aaron Chugg enjoyed a couple of good spells as he pitched the ball up and let little go – 0-24 in 7 overs was good work from him and his medium pace.
 
At 83-7 North Petherton seemed well out of the game, but Bunce carried on his good weekend for his side at Courtland Road as he crafted 69no and always kept Petherton interested and Wellington wary, but Rob Moysey with 3-20 saw that the game was settled with an over to go and saw that Wellington took a full points allocation from the game and look forward to trying to make it three in three next Sunday when North Curry visit Courtland Road from 2.00pm.

Wellington are the only unbeaten side in Division One of the Somerset League following their third win in a row when they despatched North Petherton by a margin of 39 runs at home last weekend to collect 33 points and set up a 19 point gap over Taunton Outcasts.

Paul Short opted to bat first and it was he and Michael Gill who added a fine 71 run opening stand for Wellington’s first wicket as the pair latched on to some wayward Petherton bowling – Short played the cover drive with good timing and Gill played the square cut well, but a stand that had been untroubled generally was undone by the run out of Short for 25.

From this point Gill made it to an excellent 60, but Wellington’s middle struggled to match the opening stand as the score dipped to 112-6 as Bunce and away skipper Lewis Irish brought their side back into the game well with spells of 2-31 and 3-48 respectively.

Step forward Mark Salter (23) and Rob Moysey (35) to add a crucial 56 runs for the seventh wicket as they ran between the wickets well and wrong footed Petherton who had come back well after their initial profligacy with the ball.

Wellington closed on 177-9 at tea.

That North Petherton were less than forty runs short of victory with the best part of a dozen overs left shows that had someone dropped anchor for them it would have been a closer game, but they lost wickets too often to really challenge Wellington, although O.Irish with 56 and Bunce with 30 did give Wellington a few anxious moments.

Michael Gill and Adrian Lee made the initial breakthroughs as Wellington caught well and Rob Moysey with 3-45 and Paul Short with 4-26 completed the deal as Wellington’s good bowling strength and options shone once more.

The team have another big weekend this one coming as they entertain Westlands on Saturday in another crucial league match before a Baker Cup quarter final away to the holders – WEPL Premier One side Taunton Deane – on Monday.