Match Report
Following the torrential rain of last weekend (which saw every league fixture abandoned without a ball being bowled), Wilcot ventured over Salisbury Plain to the village of Sutton Veny in a bid to avenge their defeat from earlier in the season. Thankfully, fair weather was on the cards, and with the England batsmen making a more effective use of their Bazball tactic, the captain went out to the middle to survey the pitch. The wicket looked reasonable and had produced plenty of runs the previous season. Knowing that Wilcot have traditionally been a ‘bat first’ team, the captain called correctly and decided to take up the opportunity to put runs on the board.
Once again Mark W and Tim H were asked to get things underway against a youthful opening pair. Tim was quick to latch on to any wayward deliveries, but it was clear from the start that the strip was a little sticky in parts. The score had moved to 9 before the vicar missed a straight one; given out lbw for 2. This brought Ed Mardon to the crease, and despite suffering from a bout of man-flu, Ed played himself in and struck a few fluid boundaries. However, Tim was next to fall after Wagstaff Jnr bowled a jaffa of an in-seamer to send the opener back for 10. Shane got himself off the mark with a sliced cut for 4, but he was also heading back to the pavilion shortly afterwards, as Wagstaff senior claimed his first wicket to make it 35-3.
Despite the flurry of wickets, Ed continued to attack, but subsequently played around a straight delivery as he fell for a promising 25 (46-4). Sadly, Wilcot were unable to stem the flow of wickets as Ash, Wilson and MFG all fell cheaply, in a pattern that has now become all too familiar. Despite a slog-sweep for 4, Billy could only tamely nudge the canny Edward Read to slip as Wilcot looked to fall desperately short of their first batting point. As the captain watched helplessly from the other end, the returning Luke Flippance decided that attack was the best form of defence, and played what was arguably the shot of the day with a clean drive back over the bowler’s head, which raced away to the boundary. It was at this point that the excitement got to Luke and another lofted drive was caught at mid-off to leave Wilcot 9 down. As Andy Smith walked out in full ‘red inker’ mode, the captain finally lost patience and another loose shot enabled Read to claim his fourth wicket, as Wilcot petered out for a paltry 62; another worryingly low score, where the majority of our dismissals were simply down to Batsmen error rather than the skill of the bowlers.
After a short innings break, Wilcot took to the field knowing that a near miracle was required if they were to claim the ten wickets needed for victory. The reliable duo of Ash and Billy were asked to get things underway and bowled consistently well throughout the opening overs. Having scored 154 in last year’s match, Wagstaff Snr was clearly looking to end things early and after missing out on a short delivery, he was promptly sent packing for 0 as Billy produced a fantastic ball to clean up the opener’s stumps. Ash was classic Ash once again, as the Heytesbury batsmen treated his nagging deliveries with great respect. After 13 overs, the opposition had crept to 22-1 off 13 overs, and were clearly very wary in their approach. However, a tight economy was not going to be enough, so the captain mixed things up by introducing the spin of Luke Flippance. After having a chance put down at slip, Luke made the second breakthrough to leave Heytesbury 52-2. However, it was sadly too little too late, as Heytesbury crossed the finishing line at the end of the 22nd over.
Once again, it was a depressingly familiar batting performance, which is a world away from where we were back in June. Perhaps a couple of sessions with the mobile net are in order before we welcome Beckington next weekend!