Wellington Cricket Club

Wellington 2nd XI virtually assured themselves of equalling their best ever Somerset League finish when they locked down fifth position in Division Four with this maximum points victory over fourth placed Wembdon 2nd XI last weekend as they won by 18 runs in a tense finish.

Wellington had a 114 run opening stand between Trevor Brooks and Julian Jones to thank for the bulk of their score as both made half centuries; Brooks made 58 and Jones made his fourth such score in his last five knocks for the side.

Mark Salter consolidated matters with 34 and a late cameo from Simon Rudd in making 26no saw Wellington make exactly 200 at tea; Phillips with 3-34 in 12 overs was Wembdon’s best bowler.

There was little on offer from Wembdon other than Phillips with 68 and Pope with 56, but they were so dangerous as 50-4 in 13 overs became 159-4 in 26 overs and the early inroads that Richard Henwood and Simon Rudd had made were gone, but Sam Baycock with 2-21 in 6 good overs of left arm spin got rid of Pope and then Wellington pounced as Rudd with 3-34 in 10.4 overs and Henwood with 5-30 in 12 demolished the tail and Wembdon were bundled out for 182 with 7.2 overs remaining and the old adage of batting your overs out and you will win the game was very true here.

Wellington entertain Staplegrove 2nd XI this weekend in their last home fixture of the season.

Wellington opted to bat first and did lose a wicket with the score on two, but that was the last luck that the home side saw for some time as Leo Goodman-Jones and Mark Salter got a 92 run second wicket stand for the Red and Blacks second string on the board with knocks of 40 and 55 respectively.

A slight wobble after their departure saw Wellington at 126-5 in 36 overs, but Richard Henwood with 28no saw that nine out of ten batting points were gathered by tea.

The home side were never in the game, although their skipper S.Neate with 20 played a good hand as Adrian Lee (2-35 in 10 overs) and Richard Henwood with 5-15 in 12 unbroken overs dismantled Belvedere in 24 overs and with Scott Davey weighing in with 3-8 this was an overwhelming Wellington win.

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

As with the 1st XI the breakthrough did not come early for Wellington who lost Ross Brayley with a recurrence of his hamstring injury and could only bowl three overs as C.Boundy and Symes added 56 first up, but spin did the trick for Wellington as nine of the ten Perrott wickets to fall did so to bowlers of this type; Sam Baycock got the first breakthrough as his left armers realised 1-29 in 7 good solid overs and then Scott Davey and Bob Trott offered off spin from both ends and took four wickets each while exerting exquisite control with Davey taking 4-28 in 10 overs and Trott 4-36 in 11 overs.

Perrott’s tail did wag a little as Munden with 17 and Best with 16 did well before Simon Rudd ended matters with 5.3 overs left.

Wellington lost a wicket at 4 and another at 20, but Julian Jones and Leo Goodman-Jones calmed home nerves with a third wicket stand of 94 that saw the score past 100 and Jones to a third fifty in his last four innings; he made 57 before been caught; Kevin Crout with 16no joined Goodman-Jones (41no) to see Wellington to 35 fine points with 11.3 overs left.

Wellington are now rising through the mid-table very nicely and travel to bottom side Belvedere – who have lost every game so far this season – this weekend looking for another win.

As had been the case at Wellington back in May Westlands did not slice through the Wellington line up, but made run scoring very hard for Wellington throughout as 143-6 was the final Red and Blacks second string score after winning the toss and opting to bat.

Julian Jones with 52 top scored for Wellington and had made more than half the runs when he was out with the score on 100; Kevin Crout with 25, Richard Henwood with 25no and Sam Murdock with 17no were the other batting highlights for Wellington.

Higgins with 2-29 in 12 overs demonstrated the nature of the Westlands accurate bowling.

Adrian Lee got rid of Millard in the opening over of the Westlands innings, but that was the sole success that Wellington enjoyed as Hallam with 94no and Ewens with 42no added 147 runs for the second Westlands wicket and took their side to 31 points and so pulled further ahead in the race for the divisional title.

Wellington entertain relegation threatened side North Perrott 2nd XI this weekend and will be looking to do the double.

There was better news to report from the 2nd XI’s home match in Somerset League Division Four when they completed the double over Cheddar and go to sixth in the division and are just one win off third.

This 40 run win was not easily obtained however as Wellington, put into bat after a late start due to rain, dipped to 49-4 as Willis with 3-38 did good work for Cheddar, but this was unpicked by a record fifth wicket stand for the side as Mark Salter and Richard Henwood broke a 29 year old record; they added 156 in dominant style with Salter making 83 and Henwood 73 and the Wellington score was in excess of 200 and good late runs in a 22 run eighth wicket stand between Liam Kubicki and Bob Trott completed the comeback for the Red and Blacks second string as they hit 233-7 at tea.

It was a late tea as the match had not started until 2.30pm due to wet conditions, but the two teams had shown good endeavour to get a game on and Wellington were further into the ascendancy as Cheddar were reduced to 30-4 through Adrian Lee and Ross Brayley doing as all good opening bowling pairs do by backing each other up with Lee taking 2-32 in 11 overs all told and Brayley 3-41 in 7.2 overs before he suffered a leg injury that will see him out of action for a couple of weeks.

Tinton with 42 in under 20 balls added some gloss to the Cheddar total as he lashed a quick knock, but he was never going to be able to keep this up all innings and Richard Henwood got him; one of three wickets for the all rounder in taking 3-44 in 12 overs as he continued to have an influence on the game.

Cheddar skipper R.Kent with 44 and double figure offerings from the last three visiting batsmen saw that Wellington were kept in the field until 8.30pm, but with seven balls remaining in the game Bob Trott got one to grip and turn past the advancing S.Kent and Liam Kubicki made a smart stumping and Wellington had 35 points in the bag and will travel to top dogs Westlands 2nd XI next weekend hoping to take advantage of their loss to Wembdon.

Having started the day as leaders of Somerset League Division Four and being named as SCL Team of the Month for June Weston Super Mare 3rd XI could have been forgiven for thinking it would be easy going against Wellington 2nd XI last weekend and having won by eight wickets at Courtland Road in May all seemed set for a the home team to celebrate, but it was anything like that as the Red and Blacks second string romped to a 66 run win and a full bag of points came back down the M5.

Wellington were put into bat, but were not daunted by this as Trevor Brooks and new signing Leo Goodman-Jones added 44 quality runs first up; Brooks made a robust 22 before been caught, but Goodman-Jones, who also plays for Nynehead, made a debut fifty for Wellington as he and acting skipper Mark Salter added 55 second wicket runs as Wellington dominated against the side who had everything going for them. Salter made another solid knock of 32 and he is doing so week in and week out for the side.

Goodman-Jones made 60 and was second out with the score at 164; it was at this point that Julian Jones ratcheted up the scoring rate as he lashed 57no with three sixes and he was at the crease for the rest of the innings as Wellington totalled a fine 205-7 at tea with no Weston bowler taking more than two wickets.
Wellington ran riot as Weston dipped to 23-4 as Adrian Lee and Ross Brayley were rewarded for some tight and controlled swing bowling that realised 3-18 in 7.2 overs and 2-23 respectively.

Although Harris with 26 and Lee with 22 did some repair work the score limped to 89-7 as Richard Henwood and Bob Trott did good work for Wellington – Henwood with 4-27 in 10 fine overs saw the game through for Wellington and to fine, if unexpected, 66 run win that sees them take sixth place around thirty points behind third place and with a visit from Cheddar 2nd XI to come this weekend.

Wellington 2nd XI slipped to another narrow Somerset League Division Four defeat last weekend when Frome won with just seven balls left in the game and having shelled Frome’s top scorer five times the team had a hand in the defeat.

Frome asked Wellington to bat first and Trevor Brooks and Kevin Crout got 21 on the board in eight overs before Prince (3-26 in 12 overs) got Crout for 15.

Mark Salter joined Brooks and this saw the Wellington score rise well as Brooks made a fine 41 and Salter continued his good current form with 29 as the Red and Blacks second string approached 100.

Simon Rudd and Tom Baycock added 47 for the fourth wicket in a solid stand, making 29 and 13 respectively and good late runs from Scott Davey (14) took Wellington to 185-8 at tea.

Frome’s top scorer was L.Dredge with 88 – a great knock, but he was given too many lives as Wellington dropped him several times and he made them pay, he was supported by Simpson with 17no and Prince with 22no as Frome got over the line and to 33 points with Wellington taking 14.

Wicket takers for Wellington were Adrian Lee, Ross Brayley, Tom Baycock, Bob Trott and Scott Davey, but the chances offered to L.Dredge changed the game.

The season now enters the second half and the team are away to Weston Super Mare 3rd XI this weekend.

Choosing to bat first Wellington were indebted to Julian Jones with 49 and Mark Salter with a superb 94no as they made 214-7 in their 45 overs; they added 80 runs for the second wicket as three figures came up before Jones was out agonisingly one short of a deserved half century.

Salter also pulled up just short of a landmark when overs ran out on him as he hit 16 fours in his capital knock.

For Staplegrove Dean with 4-43 in 12 overs bowled well.

George Hooper whipped out both Staplegrove openers with just five on the board, but through Dean (53) and Trump (88) a massive third wicket stand of 137 rather dampened Wellington’s initial fervour, but the dismissal of both by the time the score had reached 150 as Sam Murdock took 3-19 in seven and with Aaron Chugg chipping in with a wicket too saw the game came back towards Wellington and through good outplay the home side were reduced to 206-9 still needing nine to win, but they had enough to get over the line and take 32 points to Wellington’s decent enough haul of 19.

Wellington stay in mid table, but if their last two losses – by four runs and one wicket – had gone their way they would be right amongst the divisional pace setters.

Frome 2nd XI are the visitors to Courtland Road this weekend for a match that starts at 2.00pm.