Difficult opener leaves Norton beat
Midsomer Norton’s opening game of their West of England Prem 2 Bristol/Som campaign proved a difficult one as they were comfortably beaten by eight wickets at home to Downend.
With the conditions not conducive to batting, Norton were inserted by their visitors and actually made a solid start with an opening partnership of 24 before Alex Lear (7) fell. After wicketkeeper Finn Kelsey (11) departed with Norton on 49, wickets began to fall with more regularity as they slipped from 54-3 to 98 all out.
Only opener Paul Robbins (25) managed to better the 20 extras conceded by Downend as Norton’s innings last 33 and a half overs.
In no mood to hang around, Downend reached their target in 19 overs, only losing two wickets along the way. Callum Harvey caught Downend captain Callum Loud off the bowling of Robbins, before Harvey then bowled Ben Ford. Norton claimed just one point from the contest.
■ Newly-promoted Temple Cloud began life in the West of England Premier League with maximum points at North Petherton.
Despite being asked to bat in their Somerset Division opener, Cloud produced a second-wicket partnership of 46 to set a good foundation. Courtney Forrest (27) and captain Kevin Curtis (29) both contributed well, before Reece Croker (40) pushed the innings on despite limited support around him.
After reaching 100-3, Cloud were all out for 179 with the final ball of the innings - setting a defendable total given the conditions.
Pethy made a good start to their reply, reaching 55 before Croker finally trapped his man lbw.
Croker also accounted for the other opener as the hosts were now sat on 68-3, which largely set about a collapse as Pethy were dismissed for 105 a ball shy of 40 overs.
Croker continued to work his way through the order to claim a fantastic 5-13, while Gary Filer claimed three wickets himself as Cloud won by 74 runs.
■ In contrast, Frome could only take a single point from their eightwicket defeat at Wembdon. The conditions reverted to form as Frome were inserted and then skittled for only 55 a ball into the 37th over - with joint top-scorers Richard Potter and Arthur Harman both contributing with 12.
Wembdon took only 14.4 overs to complete the relative rout, with Harman taking both of the wickets to fall in a decent enough all-round performance from him.
■ SOMERSET LEAGUE Newlypromoted Cranmore got their Division One campaign off to a losing start at newly-relegated Shapwick & Polden 2nd. Opting to field, Cranmore took wickets steadily throughout the Shapwick innings to dismiss their hosts for 151 in the 39th over. Brad Angell, Joe Weare and Jack Williams all claimed a couple of wickets apiece.
A steady start to the reply saw captain Williams (21) and Weare (11) put on 29 for the first wicket, however Cranmore were soon reduced to 29-3 and then 54-5. With no other batter reaching double figures, Cranmore were grateful for the 19 extras Shapwick conceded as their stubborn innings eventually came to an end after 31 overs for just 79. Cranmore took 13 points from the contest.
Fellow newly-relegated side Frome 2nd also tasted defeat, by 25 runs, at home to Wembdon 2nd to earn 16 points.
Continuing the trend, Frome asked their visitors to bat and faced chasing a challenging 194-8 from their 45 overs. After making 37 for the first wicket, Wembdon were struggling on 50-3 before partnerships of 41 and 39 for the sixth and eighth wickets proved crucial. Oliver Brook did the most damage with 4-28, while Shane Ford and Joe Smart took a couple of wickets each.
Purnell were a wicket away from maximum points in their Division Four opener at home to Taunton Indian. Asking their visitors to bat, Purnell were guilty of conceding 30 extras as Indian amassed 170-9 from their 40 overs despite a couple of wickets apiece for Freddie Lenihan and Dec Redwood.
Indian’s innings hard largely revolved around one large score, and Purnell’s response followed suit with Redwood striking 73 from 91 balls - including two fours and two sixes. Although Indian only conceded 14 extras, the rest of Purnell chipped in enough with Lenihan helping Purnell over the line halfway through the 36th over with an unbeaten 27. Purnell winning by three wickets.
Temple Cloud 2nd were a point off a maximum in their 68-run victory over Butleigh 2nd in Division Five South East. Having been put into bat, opener Stef McHale (66) and Patrick Hamilton (51) proved the mainstays of the innings with their half-centuries, after fellow opener Alex Comer had added 29, as Cloud reached 200-8 from their 40 overs.
Although they were unable to bowl their visitors out, Cloud were always seemingly in control as Butleigh clung on before eventually running out of time on 132-9. Joe Doel claimed 4-20, while Dan Raisbeck also picked up a couple of wickets.
Cranmore 2nd failed to chase down 138 as they succumbed to a 32-run defeat at home to Wedmore 2nd in Division Six East. Opting to field, Cranmore were able to bowl their visitors out a ball into the 37th over as Harvey Millard, Mickey Keene, Harvey Stewart and Darren Butt all managed two wickets apiece.
The reply though never really took off as only Paul Sealey (31) and Richard Stone (30*) bettered 20 runs, leaving Cranmore short on 106-9 by the time their innings came to an end.
The 15 league points accrued was matched by Frome 3rd in their loss at Kilmington & Stourton. Choosing to field once again, Frome were faced with a difficult looking target of 223-8 despite two wickets each for Steve Baldwin and Chris Bottomley. Kilmington & Stourton had sat on 25-2 before their innings was propelled with a 52-run partnership for the third wicket, and a 57-run combination for the sixth.
Despite receiving 37 extras from their hosts, only Dean Evans (42) and wicket-keeper Ben Cooper (20) managed to reach 20 runs as Frome ultimately ran out of time on 148-9 to lose by 75 runs.
Bear Flat 2nd 154-8
Harptree Villages 135-9
Harptree Village’s first game since being elevated into Division Six East was on a slow wicket no doubt affected by recent rain. This made scoring difficult and, across the full 80 overs, there was only an overall run rate of 2.36.
In Bear’s 154-8, Simon Brocklebank (29) was the pick of the batsmen, ably supported by Peter Hodson-Thomas (19). An aggressive knock late on by Damien Cull (36*) boosted the total which had looked unlikely at 87-5 off 30 overs.
Harptree’s opening bowlers Harry Stride (1-21) and Dan Smith (1-31) bowled tightly, while Riyaz Sheikh (1-24) kept control of the mid-innings.
Tom Arrowsmith (4-26) bowled an accurate spell at the death, which could have proven more profitable had it not been for a couple of missed chances.
The visitors’ reply was one of starts punctuated by wickets. Seven batsmen got into double figures, however no-one managed to reach
20. Sheikh hit a boisterous 19, but thereafter it was accumulation as the score inched to 53-3 and then 87-5 off 30 overs.
Yash Anvekar (17) and Tom Houlton (14) played a watchful innings as Bear’s seamers bowled tightly.
Arrowsmith (11), Dan Smith (12), Mike Hanson (13) and Phil Hogarth (15*) added 48 from the final ten overs as Harptree ultimately fell 20 runs short on 135-9.
Whilst Bear’s seamers were economical, spinners Simon Briffett (3-21) and Richard Bahadoor (3-24) were the most profitable towards the end.
■ WILTSHIRE LEAGUE After seeing their opening game of the season rained off last week, Beckington suffered a 52-run defeat at home to Avebury 2nd in Division Five.
Dan Restorick managed 3-26, alongside John Bocking’s 2-24, as Beckington were set 175-9 to chase in 45 overs. A poor start saw only Ben Tollworthy (10) reach double figures from the top four, before Bocking (18) and Restorick (16) combined to try and steady the ship.
Alex Keevil (51) struck a good half-century, but the damage had already been done as Beckington were dismissed for 141 a ball into the penultimate over.