Ed Bartlett, George Corbin, Graham Corbin, Dan Hills, Robert Pilato, Adrian Prince*+, Harry Prince, Sam Prince, James Williams, Jim Williams, & Joe Williams.

Team: Dunk*, Bartlett, Collison, Cornish, Down, Jones.G, Nye, Ratcliffe, Tape, Wilton, Worpole

Wimborne & Colehill 1st XI line up prior to the opening DPL 2012 fixture

Skipper Andy Hayward names an unchanged side for the 3rd successive week however there are doubts over last weeks spin hero Joe Weld after his appearance out in the pubs & clubs of Wimborne last weekend. Weld is suffering from what is known as the “ Weatherspoons Wrist” an unfortunate injury that has ravaged many a side in recent years. Hayward is hopeful Weld will shake this off and take the field in what is sure to be another exciting DPL encounter. If Weld fails to make it new signing L. Castle will take his place for a 1st XI debut.

Team: A. Hayward *, B. Bridgen, G. Cole, M. Collins, F. Kerins, M. Kitson, J. Miller +, C. Randall, J. Weld, G. Will, S. Woodruff.

With so much rain around during the last few weeks it was great to see the sun shining on Colehill, as skipper Adrian Prince won the toss and put Stalbridge in. James Williams (5-2-13-1) and Graham Corbin (5-2-13-1) opened the bowling and were able to put the Stalbridge side under pressure from the start. Both bowlers hit a decent line and length and subsequently took an early wicket each.

Lewis Naylor showed enough during his bowling spell for those watching to know that with a little more control, he will challenge many a batting line up in the future with his away swing. In fact Lewis should have had the wicket of the Stalbridge overseas player / highest scorer, when he found his outside edge, only for the slip catch to be spilled.  Two overs later the same thing happened again and Lewis’ figures didn’t highlight the amount of tricky away swing he generated.

At the other end Ed Bartlett (6-1-11-3) bowled accurately and economically, taking 3 useful wickets – standard!

The Stalbridge innings was brought to an end when Mat Jones (6-2-17-2) bowled his trusty line and length and Dan Hills (4-0-31-2) enticed the Stalbridge tail into holing out.

Stalbridge 3rds 127 All Out.

The Wimborne and Colehill reply began with another J. Williams half-century, only this time it was supplied by James Williams (50). Whilst the other opener Robert Pilato (33 NO) helped to ensure the winning target was reached with ease. Joe Williams (10NO) coming in at 4, looked comfortable and with Robert, saw the 4ths to the victory in the 25 over.

Wimborne & Colehill 4ths 128 for 2.

A couple of early wickets sent back the openers, Bartlett and Cormack inside 7 overs and left the score at 18 for 2. Rebuilding was required and this was set about by Down and Collison who took the score up to 50. Unfortunately this had taken until drinks and the required rate  had crept rapidly to six an over. On a smaller ground or with a faster outfield this may have been on but when both Down (20) and Collison (11) were out in the same over the job became doubly hard. A 50 partnership in ten overs between Ratcliffe (34) and Wilton (13) gave  some hope but with the speedier Cranborne fielders now posted in the deep the midlle/lower order holed out attempting to keep up with the rate. The innings came to a close at 136 for 9 with the injured Fenner unable to take his place in the batting line-up. Another home game next week against Beaminster gives the opportunity to learn some lessons from Saturdays disappointment:

•  In a low scoring game giving the opposition an extra 5.5 overs and 33 runs can easily be the difference between winning and losing.
• Staying in touch with the run rate is important, especially where circumstances dictate it will be difficult to suddenly raise the tempo.
• Do not take all your catches in the warm up, save some for the game………….
• Do not expect to leave after 1 ball of the match and not pay your match-fee.

6 wicket match winner Joe Weld

Blue skies returned and the sun shone as Wimborne & Colehill 1st XI arrived at Dean Park to take on last year’s runners-up, Parley, in their second DPL fixture of the season. Once again skipper Andy Hayward lost the toss and the Parley captain, RoshanEmbalagama, inserted the visitors. Opener Colin Randall was quickly into his stride posting two fours in the first over and the score had reached 27 in the fifth when Hayward (5) was the first wicket to fall as he was bowled by Nippard. Randall, who looked to be in good nick displaying a number of attacking shots that kept the board moving, had been joined in the middle by vice-captain Ben Bridgen.

Together they moved the score to 80 in the twenty-fourth over before Randall (38) was caught at slip off Summerson. Bridgen watchfully built a score that was to be the mainstay of his team’s innings. The introduction of a joint spin attack made scoring difficult on a track that kept very low with the pace off the ball. Francis Kerins (0) struggled to get going before he was caught and bowled by Thomson with the score 89 for 3. Graham Cole (10) looked to be settling to the task when he was stumped by the alert Jacques off the bowling of Thomson. Mike Kitson (13) batted with confidence until he was trapped LBW by Naik with the board on 143 for 5 in the forty-third over. Bridgen (64) followed soon after with the score still at 143. His innings had been a disciplined effort with particularly good footwork against the spinners.

Batsman Ben Bridgen in action bowling his Medium Pies (picture courtesy of an old man)

There followed a flurry of wickets with ‘young guns’ James Miller (1), Simon Woodruff (2) and Joe Weld (9) all bowled when trying play the big shot when perhaps they should have been looking to push the ball into the ever increasing spaces in the field and accumulate the ones and twos. The score was now 156 for 9 and twenty balls left. Parley old boy Max Collins (7*) was joined in the middle by the experienced Gavin Will (7*) and these two managed a further 14 runs by hitting the gaps. The innings closed at 170 for 9 and the Minstermen knew that they would have to be at their best to get a result.

The Parley openers put on 41 for the first wicket before Will trapped Price (19) LBW in the fourteenth over. Will (10-2-36-1) bowled with control and could have had a further two wickets had catchable chances been bagged. His opening bowling partner Kitson (6-0-37-0) worked up a good pace but without success. Woodruff (8-0-21-0) was introduced to the attack and he bowled an economic spell beating the outside of the bat on a number of occasions with no luck. Collins and Jacques took the score to 75 before Collins (23) was caught by Hayward at backward point off Bridgen. Naik(1) was then expertly stumped by Miller down the leg side off the miserly Bridgen (9-2-11-2) with the board showing 84 for 3 in the twenty-sixth over. After a spell of off-spin from Collins (5-0-22-0) Weld joined the attack. He started nervously but eventually settled and had Embalagama (19) caught by Cole low down at cover – a considerably harder chance than the one that got away from Jacques!

It was now 127 for 4 in the thirty-seventh over. Jacques (60) had batted sensibly with a number of good shots but was enticed into a return catch by Weld at 146 for 5 in the forty-first over. Morley (5) became Weld’s third victim when he holed out to the safe hands of Randall at mid-on, 154 for 6. Action man Weld then ran out Thomson (0) with a sharp throw from cover, 156 for 7! The field was kept tight as pressure built on the remaining batsmen. Weld then had Gunn (4) stumped by Miller, 156 for 8 in the forty fifth over. In his next over Weld encouraged Nippard (1) into ‘safe hands’ Randall and then Summerson(0) ‘chopped on’ and Parley were all out for 157 in 46.3 overs. Weld finished with the remarkable figures of 8.3 overs, 2 maidens, 6 for 26, which along with his run out led to him proudly leading his team mates off the field having secured a 13 run victory.

James Miller had an inspiring afternoon with the gloves on a difficult track

Skipper Hayward commented “To win for the 2nd week running the hard way after losing the toss and to also be succesful after shelling 4 catches is a great testament to the character, belief and spirit of the 11 men out there today. With the bat Gav & Max’s 10th wicket partnership at the end proved vital in what was initially a great start from Bridge and Colin. With the ball Joey rose to the occasion under pressure and there were also some very influential tight spells from the rest of the bowling unit backed up by a wicket-keeping masterclass by James Miller. There’s plenty of areas to improve on however if we are to maintain our decent start to the season.”

The team is: Adrian Prince*,  Dan Hills, Jim Williams, Harry Prince+, Joe Williams, Robert Pilato, Lewis Naylor, James Williams, Graham Corbin, Mathew Jones, Ed Bartlett and George Corbin.

After last weeks washout the 2nd XI host Cranborne who i am told come from “Yonder” and normally have a lot of players with the same surname. Captain Chris Dunk returns after his efforts to tempt New York Yankee Joe Posada out of retirement failed, leaving the team to rely on Wimborne’s own “maximum” man Jon Wilton. Dunk and Wilton come in for Major Nye who is on manoeuvres in Belgium and Neil Tape who has been called in for detention at work. Rob Down attempts, again, to make his Club debut whilst Jack Worpole will be looking for a good performance against his old teammates.

Team: C.Dunk *, G.Bartlett, T.Butcher, A.Collison, G.Cormack, R.Down, R.Fenner, G.Jones, B.Ratcliffe, J.Wilton, J.Worpole

However, the nets and cricket equipment will be available if anyone wants to get some practice in. Please feel free to ask Adrian or George for anything you need.

Minstermen skipper Andy Hayward has only one fitness concern this week with last week’s star batter Francis Kerins suffering from a swollen face following an allergic reaction to his latest round of botox jabs. If FK fails to make the field Hayward will give a 1st XI debut to Portugese International batsman Jose Pipebano, who received international clearance early this week.  If Kerins recovers in time the Minstermen will line up unchanged from their 92 run victory.

Francis Kerins & Graham Cole discuss Saturday night television during their 130 run partnership last weekend (picture courtesy of Harris Sporting Life Images)

For those that can’t make it down to Dean Park on Saturday please check into the website for Hugh Mungus’ match report, although he’s not as funny as myself he is still a decent writer all the same.

Team: A. Hayward*, B. Bridgen, G. Cole, M. Collins, F. Kerins, M. Kitson, J. Miller +, C. Randall, J. Weld, G. Will, S. Woodruff.