Wellington Cricket Club

Staplegrove need just five points from their last Somerset League Division One match to claim the title and promotion to the Somerset Division of the WEPL after this six wicket derby win completed the double over Wellington and with second placed North Petherton losing to Purnells it is almost all over for the season.

Wellington arrived at Manor Road and found the pitch affected by the previous day’s deluge and at 6-3 were in big trouble as Read knocked over three of the top four, but Charlie Davies played a mature knock of 35 as he and Rob Moysey added 56 precious fourth wicket runs for Wellington; Read had the final say as he took 4-24 in 12 overs when he bowled Moysey for 19.

Davies had made 35 when he done by a grubber and was LBW to Horton.

Paul Short and James Bath joined forces to add 47 fo the fifth Wellington wicket with knocks of 22 and 27 respectively, but run scoring was never easy on this deck; Luke Desave with 15 wielded the bat late on to get Wellington to 156-9 at tea.

Staplegrove reached their target with 2.1 overs left as they batted sensibly; Pantling with 18 and Sizer with 34 go things going with 37 first up and although Ali Bunce took a wonderful catch to get rid of Sizer the home side’s nerves were calmed through Bishop making 45 and Bird 36no as their 87 run fourth wicket stand saw the points come the way of the Grove and they are nearly there.

Please cast your vote for your choice of Players Player for the 2011 season for the 1st and 2nd XIs.

Votes should be sent to Duncan Short via e-mail to Duncan.Short@towergate.co.uk to arrive by Wednesday 14th September at the latest and need to specify what team each vote relates to.

Wellington moved back into third place in Division One of the Somerset League last weekend when they easily beat Watchet by 97 runs at home last weekend and will take on the two title contenders in their last two games of the season in good heart; Watchet won the toss and asked Wellington to bat first and they made no breakthrough until the 28th over as Paul Short and Alex Sparks added a capital 151 for the opening wicket as they cashed in on some wayward Watchet bowling – there were a lot of boundaries hit as Short hit 11 fours in his 62 and Sparks 16 in his 79.

151-0 became 160-3 and needed a response as Charlie Davies and Marc Holloway added 54 for the fourth Wellington wicket and it was then a case of getting as many runs as possible – Holloway with a crisp 40 and Davies with 21 started this work and Max Capaldi finished it to take Wellington to 257-8 at tea with Watchet having spent a long afternoon in the field.

Bowden with 3-41 was their best bowler.

Watchet required six an over to win and that was not going to happen and at 32-4 with Thom Trott and Luke Desave bowling fast and straight the seasiders were in trouble, but through M.Strong and J.Strong they edged towards three figures with a 62 run fifth wicket stand with M.Strong’s 38 been a good effort for his side.

Wellington tried all they could to get the 35 points on offer and wickets were claimed in the end, but they could not claim the tenth Watchet wicket and when stumps were drawn the Red and Blacks had third place back and now need to hang on to it.

It’s off to Staplegrove this weekend for a match that may see the title going a long way to being settled.

Paul Short (Capt), Thom Trott, Aks Latifi, Marc Holloway, Max Capaldi, James Bath, George Hooper, Luke Desave, Alex Sparks, Rob Moysey and Charlie Davies.

Meet at Pavilion at 11.45am for a 1.15pm start.

Details from Paul Short.

Paul Short (Capt), Thom Trott, James Bath (Wkt), Marc Holloway, Neil Hendy, Charlie Davies, Luke Desave, Ali Bunce, Rob Moysey, Alex Sparks and George Hooper.

Depart from Courtland Road Car Park at 11.45am for a 1.45pm start.

Contact Paul Short for details.

Andy Hill had opted to bat first in the local derby and saw Rob Hill and Luke Williams add a decent 42 in 11 overs first up before Hill sent Thom Trott a chance at mid on off of Ali Bunce who again was in decent form with the ball taking 2-36 in 12 good overs of off spin, but Wellington’s putting down of Williams three times cost them dearly as he advanced to 77 before being third out at 103; his was the telling factor in the Ashbrittle innings.

Wellington continued to chip away at the Ashbrittle side as Luke Desave with 2-39 in 10 overs rolled over the tail and Rob Moysey and Paul Short with five wickets combined saw that Ashbrittle made 188-9 at tea with Rob Williams making a punchy 28.

Wellington opened with Paul Short and Alex Sparks and they negotiated the early overs to get 24 on the board before Jerry Bradbury with 4-26 in 12 overs got his teeth into Wellington as he saw the Red and Blacks totter to 67-6 in 24 overs and be in trouble.

A spirited and technically sound stand of 83 for the seventh wicket from Rob Moysey and Thom Trott got Wellington to an ace of winning as they took to the Ashbrittle second string attack with vigour; Alfie Venner-Woodcock joined the attack with Trott closing in on a fifty and got him bowled for 43 and this was crucial for both sides for differing reasons.

Luke Desave and Ali Bunce added 34 runs with Moysey who hit 50no and with the last over coming around Wellington needed 7 to win, but Rob Hill was equal to it and bowled Desave leaving George Hooper to get four to tie and five to win off the last ball, but he could only get two and the gap between Ashbrittle and Wellington had narrowed in respect of securing third place this season.

Please note that the last three matches of the Somerset League season for both the 1st and 2nd XIs will all begin 30 minutes earlier than usual due to daylight considerations.

Thus 1st XI matches at home to Watchet and North Petherton and away to Staplegrove and 2nd XI matches at Wembdon and Frome and at home to Staplegrove will all begin at 1.15pm and 1.30pm respectivley

Paul Short (Capt), Thom Trott, Ali Bunce, Luke Desave, Max Capaldi, Aks Latifi (Wkt), George Hooper, Charlie Davies, Neil Hendy, Alex Sparks and Rob Moysey.

Meet at Pavilion at 12.15pm for a 1.45pm start.

Details from Paul Short.

It was a dream day at North Perrott for Wellington skipper Paul Short last Saturday when he shone with both bat and ball as his side completed the double over the Somerset League Division One’s bottom side at their exquisite ground.

Short took four wickets in his time with the ball before making an unbeaten 100no as his side swept to victory with 11.1 overs to spare and claimed 31 good points.
North Perrott – who are enduring another tough season after two successive relegations from the WEPL structure – opted to bat first on a hard, flat track and saw Kennis with 83 be the main operator during their innings as he cover drove with aplomb and Wellington had not made a breakthrough in 24 overs in the field, but when Ali Bunce got Clarke to edge behind to Aks Latifi Wellington were on their way; they did not slice through the Perrott line up, but run scoring was tough and the nominal 200 required to have a chance of defending a set total on this ground was not even close.

Bunce, Rob Moysey and Neil Hendy all kept their nerve when challenged with bowling at the death and they did so well for Wellington as they bowled 22 overs combined and let only 71 runs go; this allowed skipper Short to attack at the other end and his haul of 4-50 saw that North Perrott made 167-6 at tea – well short of a competitive total, although Rowlands with 21no had played well late on.

Wellington lost Alex Sparks in the second over, but Charlie Davies and Short reacted to this by adding 128 for the second wicket as they dominated the play; Short hit a dozen fours and a six in his first league ton for the Red and Blacks and was a joy to watch and Davies played a resolute knock of 38 that was the perfect foil for Short.

Aks Latifi joined Short to see Wellington over the line and their time at the crease together saw Short’s ton come up and Latifi won the game with a six to complete an excellent day for Wellington.

Ashbrittle visit Courtland Road this weekend for what is sure to be a keenly contested local derby.

Paul Short (Capt), Thom Trott, Ali Bunce, Max Capaldi, Marc Holloway, Alex Sparks, Charlie Davies, Neil Hendy, George Hooper, Aks Latifi (Wkt) and Rob Moysey.

Depart from Courtland Road Car Park at noon for a 1.45pm start.

Details from Paul Short.