WILTSHIRE COUNTY SENIORS CRICKET CLUB
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CAPTAIN'S MATCH REPORTS 2017
Farley CC v Wiltshire 60/70+ Farley CC
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To end the season (maybe) a friendly was arranged between Farley and Wilts Seniors. With poor weather forecast for later in the afternoon a shortened game was planned followed by a barbeque. Wiltshire batted first and started well with Richard Guy and Adrian Jeffrey making good use of the pace on the ball which seldom happens in Senior’s cricket. Richard was particularly severe on anything short and made good use of the short square boundaries. The two of them took the score to 45 by the 9th over when Adrian was bowled by Sam Walters. Peter Robinson (28) then continued the acceleration and took the score to 120 in the 19th over when Pete was bowled by Harry Jenkins. Richard was finally out to a faint nick behind off John Burton (Yes- the Wilts 50s keeper who was demonstrating the full range of his skills.) Sean McClure then showed good aggression scoring 31 not out and Wilts finished on 177 for 8 at an early tea.
It then started to rain an hour and a half earlier than predicted as Farley went in to bat. Tom Churchill, famous for losing balls into the field at Farley, then tried to score all the runs in the first over hitting three fours and a six followed by a 4 and a 6 in the second. He was then out LBW to the vastly experienced Alan Stratford for 28 – more about Alan later. We then came off for rain and it looked as if that would be it for the day, but surprisingly the rain stopped so play resumed. This was so surprising that some people had already changed and were looking forward to more food. One was Brian Thompson, our president, who showed great speed getting his clothes on and off and on again as fast as a ‘Lady of the Night’ . Farley lost a couple of quick wickets and again had to rely on their Wilts Seniors players, myself (21) and in particular on John Burton who was finally out for 48 to a good diving catch by Pete Robinson. Once he had gone the last few wickets fell quickly with the evergreen Alan Stratford ending up with 7-52 off 11 overs. Great figures especially as his first one went for 18. Farley were all out for 121 and then finally we could get on to the main business of the day which was more eating, with the usual great beef burgers supplied by the farm next to the ground. It is possible at Farley to hit balls at the cows one year and then eat them the next. Check out the website if you want well reared beef. http://www.traditional-beef.co.uk/
Wales 60+ v Wiltshire 60+ Aberdare CC
Wiltshire won the toss and put Wales into bat. Again Wiltshire started well and after 29 overs Wales had only got 90 for 2 due to some good bowling and fielding. However as Wakes had wickets in hand they were able to accelerate and reached 213 - 4 after their 45 overs. John Williams again bowled well only going for 20 off his 9 overs. Tim Mynott got 2-33.
Wiltshire again batted badly with only Tim Mynott making 39. Wiltshire were all out for 86.
ECB Over 50s – Wiltshire v Australia Tourists
11th August 2017 – County Ground, Swindon CC
Result: Wiltshire 164 for 8, Australia won by 9 wickets
Wallabies Wallop Wiltshire!
Wiltshire were delighted to host the final match of the Australia’s over 50s tour of 19 matches. They have enjoyed
some success and were looking to finish the tour on a high; they did!
With rain forecasted for mid-afternoon, Captain Mo Beale won the toss and elected to bat on firm wicket. With Ian
Gould and Graham Chandler opening, the latter a late replacement for the injured Mark Hunt, the two were pinned
down by some excellent bowling from McGee (27 runs off 9) and Pellen (16 off 5). Chandler was eventually run out
for a perky 29 leaving Gould to remain as anchor as he was joined by Beale (5), Baden (14), Roynon (0), Rendell (4 –
though his LBW looked dubious!) and Haines (16). Gould was eventually caught having a slog for 53 off 108 balls. By
this time runs were short and the overs were running out. Boundaries were few and far between with only around
six coming off the bat. While the remaining Wiltshire batsmen tried to push the score along they, like those below
the order, they were hampered by all the Aussie bowlers who bowled remarkably tight considering their long tour.
Also, it helped that they rotated fielders with tired legs. Their keeper, like most keepers, appealed for everything and
was a factor for keeping his team on top for the first innings though some found this a slight irritant. Eventually,
Mynott (20 NO) ran out Gaunt (2), leaving himself and Mildenhall (7 NO) to complete the innings. Only Airwolf
McCure did not bat. A respectable total to defend would have been 225, it ended on just 164 for 8.
With a delicious tea taken under grey cloud and the threatening rain being just that, Wiltshire took to the field to
defend their slim total. After a Churchillian speech from the hoarse skipper, and Gould being replaced in the field by
Phil Jones due to a groin injury, the opening bowlers of Mynott and Gaunt did not make much impact in the field in
wickets taken and runs spared. The Aussie batsmen showed how to get on with it by taken 53 runs (excluding extras)
off 10 overs. Mo attempted to mix up the bowlers using nine in total, with only Mildenhall having success with the
single wicket taken in the second innings off 7 overs for 20 runs. The other bowlers were Haines (22/5), Rendell
(23/4), Beale himself (14/3 – no bouncers this time!), Baden (13/4), Chandler (21/5) and Roynon bowling the final
over.
Two tourist’s batsmen retired at 45 (as was their policy) and they reached their target with ease giving nothing away
to the Wiltshire bowlers and fielders.
Ian Gould was awarded the Man of the Match award from a generous opposition.
After the match, Swindon CC President Mr Randy Rose welcomed the visitors, all players and associates, to enjoy a
gravy covered cottage pie and chocolate pudding. The two teams exchanged gifts and later on Ian & Cath
entertained the visitors with cover versions on guitar and fiddle but, thankfully, no Rolf Harris tunes!
Several pints of ‘amber nectar’ were consumed and a little bit later on, Mo escorted several visitors staying in
Swindon to the infamous Kings Arms in Old Town (more affectionately known for its as ‘Grab a Granny’ reputation).
Apparently skipper Beale was the “Last man standing”. At least Wiltshire cricket beat the Australians at something!
Thanks to Jackkie for scoring and Messrs Read & Aitken for umpiring.
12th man
Somerset ECB 50+ v Wiltshire ECB 50+ Frome CC
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Halleluiah! A win at last for Wiltshire ECB 50+
This reporter is pleased to report that the ECB Wilts Seniors beat local rivals Somerset at Frome in a fine game of cricket with all the Wiltshire boys batting, bowling and fielding as if they were on trial for a major game! With cloud surrounding the expansive Frome ground, and a little detour thanks to some fun runners, Somerset hosted the Wiltshire lads in the last fixture – they needed a win to have a chance of progressing through to the knock out phase while Wiltshire needed to buck up their game plan after last week’s thrashing by Dorset.
Skipper Mo Beale duly won the toss and elected to bat with openers Hunt & Chandler. The pair seem to have found the run tap as they progressed to 40 off 12 overs before Chandler was out LBW for 14. Hunt was joined by fellow goatee Haines and the two continued to hit hard and making the cider boys run in the field. Their partnership of 69 (!) ended when Haines was bowled for 27. Hunt then began to struggle after damaging his one good knee and Baden entered at 4 made it worse (or maybe Hunt was just trying to fool everyone!)
Runs came quick and Wiltshire wickets fell slowly. After 20 overs they were 76 for 1. After 30 overs it was 120 for 2! Hunt began to use his bat to good effect with some excellent strikes to the boundaries including big sixes backed up by Baden who was caught for a quick
19. Hunt’s knee began to get worse as he saw Burton (The cheetah) join him at 5. Luckily for Hunt, Burton lasted just 4 balls. Enter at 6, Chris Liely, another whippet! Burton re-joined the scene as a runner for Hunt and following a ‘Yes, No, Yes, NOOOO!’ fiasco duly ran out Liely for 11. Hunt continued to bash out the boundaries and reached his ton in record time (Hunt’s record time that is!) He continued to score at a good rate until finally being bowled for 134 – a match winning innings. The remaining batsmen were Mo Beale (LBW for 9), Doc Gaunt (Golden duck) leaving Mynott (9no) and Jones (6no) completing the innings at 236 for 8 – an excellent target. The Somerset lads were a little quiet at lunch while their opposition gorged on sponge cake and sandwiches while watching the tennis. After tea, a rousing speech from skipper Beale (not dissimilar to Henry V’s) put the Wiltshire lads on the front foot with two excellent spells from Mynott and Gaunt. Both restricting the run rate and talking taking a wicket apiece. However, after 20 overs, Somerset were still in the game with 78 for 2.
Mildenhall bowled a fine spell straight through for a wicket costing only 26 runs – though it could have been two wickets if he only learnt how to catch a simple ball of his own bowling! While Jones had 3 spells eventually taking 2 for 53 helped by some great catching in the field. J Haines continued the fine bowling taking 3 for 57. Following a change of keeper from Burton to Lailey, (the latter having pulled his groin) Burton went out to field and did some more running – he certainly had his monies worth with two spells at the crease and as keeper and
outfielder! After 40 overs Somerset were 174 for 8 and it looked like an early bath but the remaining batters were not finished and continued to plug away at the bowling with some fine tag wagging. The Wiltshire lads were, however, boosted by some loud disco music from a nearby establishment, and covered the field well to restrict the home side to 216 for 9 – 20 runs short! It would have finished
earlier if skipper Beale had been concentrating on the game and not boogieing to the music as he missed a dolly of Haines! It has been a long time since Wiltshire beat Somerset so spirits were high helped by some liquid spirits supplied by the doc and skipper Beale. A fine win,
well done Wilts.
Bring on the Aussies!
N Cardus
Wiltshire 60+ v Gloucester 60+ Malmesbury CC
Williams seeks opener’s spot with both ball and bat.
On a day when rain was forecast to arrive about 6.00pm Wilts won the toss and put Gloucester in to bat. Tight bowling in the first 10 overs by Mynott and Williams, supported by some good fielding, made life difficult for Gloucester. John Williams bowled tightly as usual going for just 26 runs off his 9 overs. Alan Stratford also bowled tightly conceding just 40 for one wicket off his 9 overs. However wickets did not fall and although only on 66-1 after 19 overs the wickets in hand enabled the Gloucester batmen and Keith Daniels in particular, well supported by Collison, to start accelerating. Daniels reached his 50 and finished on 114 no. Collison having been caught by Mynott off Pete Mathias for 63. At eh end of the 45 overs Gloucester reached 260-3 as the rain started to fall.
However the promised rain did not materialise and no time was lost as by the end of tea it had totally stopped. Ray Gerken (3-30) and Phil Thorne (1-25) bowled tightly as usual and made life difficult with a large total to chase. Wickets fell steadily unti la good partnership of 93 between Tim Mynott, 73, and Adrian Jeffery 28, made the score look more presentable. John Williams continued his good recent form with the bat coming in and hitting a positive 15. I am sure if he had been available next week he might well have found himself opening the batting as well as the bowling.
Hampshire 60+ v Wiltshire 60+ Hursley Park CC
Wiltshire come a good fourth despite the heat.
On one of the hottest days of the year so far I lost the toss for the first time this season and Hampshire surprisingly asked us to bat, obviously fancying 3 hours in the field with temperatures over 30C. We did not get off to the best of starts. I opened with Keith Redding and despite having batted together many times over the years for both club and county we managed to make a mess of things between us which led to me being run out off the first ball of the second over. Tim Mynott came to the wicket and succeeded in scoring his first 50 of the season being well supported by John Beckett making his debut who got a good 44 before succumbing to the heat. We wait with baited breath to see what he can do in normal temperatures!. Keith Redding was the only other person to reach double figures. Again we were not out at the end of the 45 overs but 141 never looked enough.
This proved to be all too true as Micky Swain (53) and Ian Britton (82) set about the small total with gusto achieving it with all 10 wickets intact in only the 21st over.
Ian Swain
Wiltshire 60+ v Somerset 60+ 13 June - Potterne CC
Wicketless Williams Wields the Willow.
On the first day on which no one wore a slipover I won the toss yet again (6 on the bounce now) and elected to bat on a hard Potterne wicket. Wellman bowled well for Somerset, but runs were more easily available from the other end due to Somerset having a few of their usual players missing. However wickets fell as Wellman trapped me LBW with one that kept low and Tim Mynott (Posh Boy 1 from the England tour of Australia , aka ‘The Duke’ ) was caught at first slip. We also found out that Norman Botton, the Somerset captain was ‘Posh Boy 2’ on the tour. Keith Redding showed good determination, but wickets fell at the other end as Michael Rawlinson making his debut, edged one to the keeper. Richard Guy also showed determination, as did Andy Church, but the run rate still stayed about 3 an over until Randy Roze hit a quick 24 with only 5 ‘dot balls’ which put the upper order to shame. This was made even worse when ‘Wicket-less’ of all people, hit an equally brisk 25 no, including an enormous 6 off the last ball of our innings. We ended on 167-9 from 45 overs.
Graham Paulton started as we all thought he might, driving powerfully through the off side until LBW to Pete Mathias, the pick of the Wiltshire bowlers (1-33 off 9 overs) for 43. Hopkinson and Richards continued steadily and on a small ground with a modest total to chase, never needed to take chances and hence the result was never in doubt with Somerset reaching it with 10 overs to spare.
Gloucestershire 60+ v Wiltshire 60+ 30 May - Cirencester CC
For the fifth time running I won the toss. This time as the pitch was damp I elected to bowl. The decision seemed to be a good one as after nine over Gloucestershire were 29-4 with one man off injured for the rest of the afternoon. Tim Mynott 3-28 and Pete Mathias 1-24 bowled very tightly. Gloucestershire recovered slightly although the rest of the Wilts bowlers all performed well with John Wicketless Williams 18-0 off 9 overs, Andy Clinning 0-32 off 9 and Alan Stratford 3-33 off seven all performing well. We had hoped to keep them to less than that but again nothing quite went our way. We still felt hopeful of making the runs as we went in for tea.
However making good use of a difficult pitch Gloucestershire also bowled very well and we soon realised that after all 161-7 was not a bad score of such a pitch. Ray Gerken bowled particularly well 9-4-9-2 as did Keith Daniels 9-2-21-3. They soon had us in trouble and no one was able to get on top of them or any of the other Gloucestershire bowlers. As a result we were all out for 70 in the 35th over. Surely we have to start batting a bit better in the near future.
Ian Swain
Wiltshire 70+ v Somerset 70+ 1 June - Swindon CC
On a sunny day at County Ground, Wiltshire won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first.
With clear instructions to wear down the Somerset opposition by taking quick singles and with a target of 200 in their sights, Redding and Moore-Colyer wore down some accurate bowling from Foster and Pearson, with M-C inadvertently treading on his wicket in the 18th over with the score on 68. This brought Mike Brind to the crease on his return to the cricket arena after a break of 2 years: rather as Washbrook was recalled to the England side in 1956, Mike did not disappoint: he and Keith Redding displayed a maturity far beyond their years (!), not needing to hit out wildly on quite a slow track, the score steadily rose from 79 at the half-way mark to 191 after the allotted 40 overs; the only disappointment was a case of jug avoidance by Keith, who ended up on 96 not out, ably matched in a 2nd wicket stand of 123, by Mike’s 53 not out.
In reply, Somerset struggled against our accurate opening bowlers (Andy Clinning conceding 17 in his 8 overs and taking the first wicket in the 15 over with the score on 36) and Alan Stratford conceding 11 in his first, 4 over, stint. At the halfway mark Somerset were 61 for 1, 18 short of our total at that stage, but still just about in contention. The acceleration never materialised with an tight spell by David Gibson (2 for 20 in his 8 overs); with the score on 99 for 4 after 31 overs, Cyril York joined the bowling line-up with his own particular style of slow bowling: after expensive 2 overs settling to take a good caught and bowled . . . . . and also another catch at slip off David Hobden who claimed 2 wickets. Overall Wiltshire fielded well with only a few instances reflecting the proximity of Swindon Town Football Club. Of particular note was an amazing attempt at a catch by David Hobden, moving at pace, holding the ball, which only became dislodged when David hit the ground. Overall a great effort by our senior players, ably assisted by 3 players fulfilling Wiltshire’s Youth Opportunities Policy!
Wiltshire 60+ v Devon 60+ 23 May - Swindon CC
Wiltshire’s batting failed again. Winning the fourth toss on the trot I elected to bat first on an overcast day. The Devon bowlers bowled accurately and the top order Wiltshire batmen, with the exception of Tim Lerwill who got a good 40, all got themselves out having played themselves in. As a result the score did not increase quickly, although the scoreboard itself did change alarmingly and often and usually randomly much to the consternation or both teams and the scorers. Indeed it was so random that on one occasion a spectator shouted out 'House'. It seems there were technical problems that were not solved until when Devon were battling when one of their side went and stood next to it to change the score. At the end of the 45 overs Wiltshire's score was only 143-8. Mountford kept very well with 4 stumpings and a catch. The sun came out as Devon went out to bat and Newing and Ashplant set about the score with some powerful, well controlled shots. Wiltshire bowled and fielded well and although not taking many wickets did make it difficult for the Devon batsmen to score. After the openers were out Bell and Flicker also batted sensibly so that Devon won the game with just over 6 overs left for the loss of only two wickets. John Williams 1-27 and Pete Mathias 1-31 off their 9 overs both bowled well.
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Wales 70+ v Wiltshire 70+ - 20 May - Monmouth CC
Wiltshire won by 40 runs
Wiltshire 163 for 5- Redding 67. Capps 39. Iles 28 no. Llewellyn 2-17
Wales 123 for 6 - Howe 32.Llewellyn 19. Iles 2 for 18.Williams 2 for 20
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Somerset 60+ v Wiltshire 60+ - 2 May - Midsomer Norton
With the sun shining but with still a cool breeze Wiltshire won the toss and put Somerset in on a wicket that looked a bit green. Tim Mynott and Pete Matthias bowled well with no luck at and failed to get an edge despite beating the bat a number of times. Somerset’s experience opening partnership of Stephenson and Poulton progressed steadily putting on 58 for the first wicket before Stephenson was caught and bowled by Stratford. Graham Poulton was now well into his stride and hit powerfully through the covers and progressed smoothly to 50 and then to 100. He was well supported by Richards who also scored 50. Somerset lost a few wickets at the end as they accelerated finishing on 239 – 6. All the bowlers did well with Pete Matthias being the pick of them. The fielding was good with no dropped catches and very few mis-fields.
In response Wiltshire made a steady start getting to 0 before losing the first wicket in the 12th over. However two more quick wickets to Locke saw Wiltshire in trouble. Locke bowled an excellent spell finishing with figures of 9-3-12-4. Wickets continues to fall until Pete Matthias hit a positive 23 (Wilts top score of the season so far) . We did however frustrate the Somerset bowlers and at the end were 129 – 8.
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Wiltshire 60+ v Wales 25 April - A cold start to the season
Despite the sunshine and the recent warm weather, the teams arrived at the ground in bright sunshine, but with the temperature in single figures accompanied by a stiff northerly breeze. Certainly a two pullover + day. Wales lost the toss and were put in to bat by me (this was as good as my day was going to get) as rain was forecast in the afternoon. They got off to a steady start losing one early wicket but reaching 66-1 after 20 overs. They accelerated smoothly throughout the 45 overs with Price scoring 59 making the most of me dropping him at second slip when he was in single figures. Godwin was the main cause of the acceleration hitting a quick 27 including a big 6 off me. (not a good day) which went through the club house window. Mynott 2-17 off 9 was the pick of the Wiltshire bowlers. Wales finished on 199. I also dropped a catch off the last ball of their innings, hurting my back in the process, but succeeded in running the batsman out. (Really not a good day for me)
Wiltshire lost wickets steadily with both Godwin 9 overs 1-10 and the ever youthful and accurate Walton 6 overs 2-7 bowling tightly, only Redding, Mynott and Lerwill making double figures. I scored 3 (Getting worse all the time) Wiltshire were finally all out for 90 in the 33rd over. I then drove home across the plain with snow settling on the road. At least next week, Somerset away, can’t be any worse – can it?
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