Wiltshire CCC: Last season
Wiltshire v Herefordshire - 19 - 21 August
Wiltshire completed their programme in the Western Division of the Minor Counties Championship with their first win when they defeated Herefordshire at Brockhampton on Sunday/Monday and Tuesday by 9 wickets. This win takes Wiltshire off the bottom of the Division where they are replaced by Herefordshire.
Herefordshire won the toss on a day in which 40 overs were lost to the weather and had reached 239 for 5 at the close. On the 2nd day Wiltshire bowled their hosts out for 312 with Chris Boroughs scoring 64 and Ben Stebbings and David Exall both scoring 67. For Wiltshire James Hibberd took
4 for 69 and James Golding 3 for 61. Wiltshire started well with an opening partnership of 61 when Eddie Abel was run out at the bowlers end after a dropped catch was deflected onto the stumps. After 2 quick wickets, opener Jayden Levitt who made 89 and James Golding with 49 steadied the ship until an outstanding partnership for the 7th wicket of 140 between James Hayward who made his maiden county century (102) and Richard Bedbrook with a career best 71 took the match away from Herefordshire. Wiltshire declared on 408 for 9, a lead of 96 leaving Herefordshire 2 overs to bat on the 2nd day which they negotiated without loss.
On the third day Herefordshire had reached 46 without loss in the first hour before leg spinner Pat Turk struck and proceeded to destroy the home batting taking a career best 7 for 53 and they were bowled out for 146. James Hibberd took 2 for 11 off 10 overs in support. Wiltshire needed 51 to win which they achieved for the loss of one wicket finishing on 52 for 1.
Wiltshire Win by 9 wickets
Wiltshire v Shropshire - 5 - 7 August
Wiltshire's losing streak continued in the Minor Counties Championship with a 2 wicket defeat to second placed Shropshire at South Wilts on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday when the visitors won with just 4 balls remaining in the final over. This was by far Wiltshire's best performance of the season in the 3 day Championship, being the only match when they have been in a position where they might have won.
Batting first Wiltshire totalled a disappointing 200 all out with Richard Bedbrook scoring 47 and James Hayward 45. Andy Gray took 3 for 63 for Shropshire who also struggled when they batted being all out for 195 (Jono Whitney top scored with 60). For Wiltshire Alex Senneck took 3 for 61 and Adam Kelly 3 for 43. Wiltshire started their second innings with a 5 run lead and were reduced to 53 for 3 when a partnership of 54 between Eddie Abel (36) and James Hayward (60) took the score to 107. They then slumped to 150 for 7 until a partnership of 97 between Alex Senneck (81) and Naeem Khan (28) improved the position. Wiltshire were all out for 287 leaving Shropshire to score 293 to win. Stephen Taylor took 3 for 61 and Jack Shantry 3 for 39. Shropshire needed to score at just over 4 runs per over and were going along steadily when heavy showers caused an early tea to be taken. When the final 17 overs started they needed just over 100 to win when a further break for rain meant they required 63 off the last 7 overs with 5 wickets left. They went all out for victory and achieved their target of 293 losing 8 wickets. Jack Shantry scored 72 and Bruce Thomason 62.
Wiltshire's final match in the Championship is away to Herefordshire at Brockhampton on August 19/20/21st.
Wiltshire v Cheshire - 22 - 24 July
Wiltshire's disappointing form in the Western Division of the Minor Counties Championship continued with a defeat at the hands of Division leaders, Cheshire, at Alderley Edge on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in yet another rain affected match. The young Wiltshire team (average age 21) were no match for their far more experienced hosts who won by an innings and 68 runs.
Play could not start until mid afternoon on the first day due to the saturated pitch and outfield and Wiltshire won the toss and asked Cheshire to bat. Only 19 overs were possible before rain brought an early finish during which time Cheshire had scored 50 without loss. On the second day, Wiltshire's bowlers performed better and from a position of 112 for 1, Cheshire were reduced to 178 for 9, with Richard Bedbrook taking 5 for 54 and Jayden Levitt 3 for 34. At this stage Cheshire's last pair played the decisive partnership of the match with Danny Woods (42) and Adam Syddall (22 not out) putting on 66 to take Cheshire to 244 all out.
Wiltshire were unable to cope with the Cheshire opening bowlers as Jason Whittaker (4 for 29) and Adam Syddall (3 for 30) proved too much for them on a pitch starting to dry out and now with more unpredictable and at times alarming bounce and only James Vince with 42 making any worthwhile score.
Nathan Dumelow finished the innings with 2 for 3 as Wiltshire were all out for 84. Following on, with 6 overs remaining on the second evening, Wiltshire lost 2 more wickets, one each to Dumelow and Danny Woods. On the 3rd day Wiltshire were all out for 92 by 12.30pm with Nathan Dumelow taking all the wickets to fall and finishing with 9 for 37 off 14 overs with his off spin.
Wiltshire's next match is against Shropshire at South Wilts C C, Salisbury on August 5/6/7th.
Wiltshire v Cornwall - 8 - 10 July
Wiltshire's disappointing championship season continued with an 83 run defeat to Cornwall on Sunday/Monday/Tuesday at Corsham. Cornwall won the toss and batted and were soon in trouble at 31 for 4 with 2 wickets for Alex Senneck and 1 each for Adam Kelly and James Golding. They then staged a fine recovery with partnerships of 149 for the 5th wicket between Chris Hunkin (76) and A Smeeth (79) and then 127 for the 7th wicket between Arthur Pearce (78 not out) and M Jenkin (51 not out) finishing with 331 for 6 wickets off their 90 overs. Wiltshire started steadily with Eddie Abel and Damian Shirazi putting on 28 for the first wicket when Shirazi was out prompting a major collapse in the last 20 minutes of the day when 5 wickets fell for 6 runs leaving Abel 19 not out. On the 2nd day Abel was out for 27 at 54 when James Golding (36) was joined by skipper James Hibberd and these
2 put on 109 for the 7th wicket with Hibberd completing a fine century before lunch in 93 balls. He was out just after lunch for 104 and Wiltshire having saved the follow on finished all out for 204. For Cornwall Rob Harrison took 4 for 58, Kelvin Snell 3 for 43 and Tom Sharp 3 for 44.
With a lead of 127 on first innings, Cornwall batted steadily and had reached 237 for 9 at the close of play with Tom Sharp scoring 61. They continued batting for 3 overs on the third day when they declared at 267 for 9. For Wiltshire Tom Hankins took 4 for 43 and Pat Turk 2 for 70. On the 2nd evening skipper James Hibberd badly dislocated and fractured his finger while fielding. Wiltshire were set 395 to win in a minimum of 96 overs and after losing Damian Shirazi with the score at 15 there was a good partnership of 110 between Eddie Abel (53) and Tom Morton (57) before Abel was out just before lunch. Shortly after lunch with the score at 136 Wiltshire proceeded to lose 6 wickets for 10 runs including 4 with the score at 146. Rob Harrison took 3 wickets in one over. At this stage James Golding was 7 not out and was joined by Pat Turk with only the injured James Hibberd to bat. In the period before tea these two put on 133 for the 9th wicket with Golding reaching a fine century in 120 balls and was finally out for 107. Hibberd then came in to enable Turk to complete a maiden half century for Wiltshire and he was finally out for 58 after they put on 32 for the last wicket. Wiltshire were all out for 311. Rob Harrison took 7 for 90 for Cornwall.
Wiltshire's next match is against Cheshire at Alderley Edge on July 22/23/24th.
Wiltshire v Devon - 24 - 26 June
Wiltshire's 3 day Minor Counties Championship match against Devon was reduced to a one day match after heavy rain in Devon forced the match to be moved from Bovey Tracey to Exmouth for the 3rd day of the game where the groundsman performed miracles to have a pitch ready for the Tuesday, particulalry considering how wet it was on the Monday. This was the second match in a row where Wiltshire's championship match had been reduced to a one innings match on the third day.
On a very wet wicket, Wiltshire chose to bat and had no answer to the excellent bowling of Ian Bishop (6 for 23 off 16.3 overs) and Arwyn Jones (4 for 22 off 13 overs). Only Eddie Abel (18) and James Golding (10) scored over 5 as Wiltshire were all out for 50 in 32 overs.
Devon reached their target (scoring 52 for 5) in 16 overs losing 5 wickets in the process with a top score of 12. For Wiltshire James Hibberd took 2 for 11 off 8.2 overs and Adam Kelly 3 for 33 off 8 overs.
Wiltshire's next Championship match is against Cornwall at Corsham on Sunday/Monday/Tuesday July 8/9/10th.
Wiltshire v Oxfordshire - Sunday 3 June
Wiltshire narrowly failed in their bid to reach their fourth semi-final in a row in the MCCA Trophy when they beat Oxfordshire at Radley College on Sunday by 1 wicket. Oxfordshire won the toss and batted scoring 264 for 7 wickets in their 50 overs. They were indebted to Richard Kaufman who scored an excellent 111. For Wiltshire Michael Coles took 2 for 44 and Tom Hankins 2 for 56. Liam Dawson bowled his 10 overs for 38.
In order to win the group, Wiltshire had to win the match in 36 overs and 3 balls. They got off to an excellent start with an opening stand of 55 between Peter Dennett (23 off 27 balls) and Tom Morton (51 off 58 balls). Michael Coles carried on the good work scoring 33 off 20 balls including 3 sixes before Wiltshire's middle order , in the quest of quick runs subsided to 165 for 8 wickets off 24 overs. James Hayward was joined by Adam Kelly and these two transformed the game putting on 63 in 9 overs before Kelly was brilliantly caught by Adam Cook on the boundary. Wiltshire still needed 37 off 4 overs when Adam Miles joined Hayward and at the end of the 36th over they needed 12 off three balls, but when they scored only 5 off the first 2 balls they settled to win the match which they did in 38 overs and 2 balls. Hayward playing all his shots both orthodox and unorthodox scored 61 not out in 52 balls with Miles 9 not out.
Wiltshire had won the match to end level with Oxfordshire on points but with an inferior run rate by just 0.21. This was a tremendous effort by Wiltshire to get so close. Oxfordshire are at home to Suffolk in the semi-final.
Wiltshire now have a 3 week break before their next 3-day match against Minor Counties Champions, Devon, at Bovey Tracey on June 24-26.
Wiltshire v Wales - 3 Day Championship - 27-29 May
Wiltshire's first 3-day Championship match against Wales Minor Counties at Trowbridge was reduced to a single innings match after the heavy rain on the first 2 days. Wiltshire won the toss and put Wales in to bat on a wet wicket and started well reducing the visitors to 22 for 3 where upon Tom Maynard with an aggressive 83 took control of the innings assisted by skipper Andrew Jones (38) as they put on 82 for the 4th wicket. Wales totalled 198. For Wiltshire Adam Kelly took 3 for 34, James Hibberd 2 for 32 and Pat Turk 3 for 49. Wiltshire were left 45 overs to score the runs but soon subsided to 43 for 5 and they were all out for 109 runs leaving Wales winners by 89 runs. Only James Vince (36) on his debut, James Hibberd (20) and Liam Dawson (17) reached double figures.
Next Sunday (3 June), Wiltshire play their final group match in the MCCA Trophy against Oxfordshire at Radley College. To win the group and qualify for the semi final, Wiltshire need to beat Oxfordshire by sufficient to take their run rate above Oxfordshire's rate and hope Hertfordshire do not beat Cambridgeshire by an even bigger amount to overtake both counties. A win for Oxfordshire will ensure them the group title. Wiltshire have selected a squad of 12 for the match and await the result of a fitness test by Alex Senneck.
Wiltshire v Hertfordshire - Sunday 20 May
Wiltshire kept alive their hopes of a fourth semi-final appearance in a row in the MCCA Trophy by beating Hertfordshire by 38 runs at Trowbridge on Sunday. They must now beat Oxfordshire on June 3rd at Radley College by sufficient to take their run rate above Oxfordshire's rate and hope Hertfordshire do not have an even larger win against Cambridgeshire on the same day.
Hertfordshire put Wiltshire in to bat in damp conditions. The Wiltshire batsmen scored steadily and although five players scored over 20, no one reached 30 and they were all out for 184 off the last ball of the innings. Hertfordshire were immediately put on the back foot when Adam Kelly dismissed both openers for ducks, one of which was the former Surrey player, David Ward. Thomas Jenkins played the major innings of the day, scoring 74 for Hertfordshire, but Liam Dawson produced the outstanding figures of 10 overs 14 runs and 3 wickets. Adam Kelly took 2 for 17 with 2 wickets each for Peter Hickerton and James Hayward. Hertfordshire were all out for 146 with 13 balls remaining.
Wiltshire v Cambridgeshire - Sunday 6 May
Wiltshire began their MCCA Trophy campaign with a 29 run defeat to Cambridgeshire at Devizes on Sunday in the first of their four group matches. They were forced to make two changes from the selected side with captain, Richard Bedbrook dislocating a finger playing for the MCC at Lords and Damian Shirazi being unavailable. Their positions were taken by Pat Turk and Adam Miles, the latter making his senior debut for the county. Vice captain James Hibberd took over the captaincy.
Cambridgeshire won the toss and chose to bat and after Alex Senneck had taken a wicket with the third ball of the match, Wiltshire were subjected to a stand of 248 for the second wicket by Thomas Harvey (101) and Nicholas Ferraby (123). After they were out with 5 overs remaining, Cambridge progressed to 280 for 4 wickets off their 50 overs. For Wiltshire Alex Senneck took 1 for 32, Adam Kelly 2 for 60 and James Hibberd 1 for 41.
Wiltshire needed to good start but after 15 overs they had subsided to 53 for 4 wickets. There followed a partnership of 70 between James Golding (32) and James Hibberd. Hibberd proceeded to play a true captain's innings scoring a superb 100 off 83 balls and with assistance from Peter Hickerton, Adam Miles and Adam Kelly put Wiltshire in a position to challenge the total needed. However once Kelly had been forced to retire hurt with a bad cut over the eye when the ball went through to gap between the helmet and the visor, Wiltshire were all out for 251 off 47.3 overs. For Cambridgeshire A. G. Clarke took 3 for 17 off 9 overs.
Wiltshire v Berkshire - Sunday 22 April
Wiltshire put in a convincing performance in their final friendly match on Sunday when they retained the Marlborough Cup by beating Berkshire at Henley-on-Thames by 89 runs. Put into bat in perfect batting conditions, Wiltshire's batsmen made the most of the opportunity scoring 313 for 7 wickets in their 50 overs. Damien Shirazi started the innings with 48 off 53 balls but the main partnership was for the 5th wicket between Michael Coles and James Hibberd. Coles scored a superb 106 and Hibberd made 58 as they put on 119. The innings finished with Alex Senneck scoring 37 off 13 balls and putting on 47 with Peter Hickerton (23 not out) for the 7th wicket.
In reply Berkshire were always behind the run rate and were all out in the 48th over for 224. (Paul Carter scored 57). For Wiltshire Alex Senneck took 3 for 32 and James Golding 2 for 23 with one wicket each for Richard Bedbrook, Adam Kelly, Liam Dawson and Pat Turk.
