THE 1st XI county cricket team returned to Westbury for the first time in 20 years last month as Westbury and District Cricket Club hosted this year’s Marlborough Cup at the Frampton and Babel Oval.
Wiltshire County Cricket Club took on Berkshire Country Cricket Club in a T20 doubleheader.
On what was a sunny, but cold morning, Berkshire won the toss and elected to field for the opening game. Despite the inclement weather in the weeks and months leading up to the day, the grounds team at the club had prepared a perfect pitch for the encounter.
The opening Wiltshire batsmen made a steady start, but the strike rate was restricted until skipper Ed Young started a comeback with 38 not out from 32 balls, but it was all-rounder Jake Lintott who really accelerated the innings, hitting 43 not out from just 18 balls. This enabled Wiltshire to finish with a respectable 155 for four. Berkshire’s Sturgess (2-23) and Lahkani (2-34) took the wickets.
The Berkshire reply was relentless with wicket-keeper captain Dan Lincoln in exceptionally fine form, hitting a belligerent 99 from just 52 balls. His opening partner Johnny Connell was run out to a superb piece of fielding from bowler Will Naish. Berkshire reached their target in the 14th over for two wickets in a convincing eight wicket victory.
Berkshire came out to bat again for the second game of the doubleheader, after a break for a two-course lunch provided by Westbury, with Dan Lincoln scoring 63 from just 29 balls, including seven sixes. Johnny Connell, his opening partner once again, hit 54 from 23. It was looking bleak for Wiltshire, but they had a great comeback when Ed Young came back in for his second over where he took three wickets in four balls. Bennett-Thomas, Godsal, Johnson, Lintott and Cheater took a wicket each as Wiltshire recovered to bowl Berkshire out for 177 with only five balls to spare.
Wiltshire’s reply could not match up to Berkshire’s innings, with opener Jake Goodwin 35 from 37 balls and Archie Fairfax-Ross 36 from 28 balls being the most successful. Alfie Johnson showed some spirit coming in at number 11, when all looked lost. He hit a defiant 14 from just seven balls including two big sixes. Berkshire’s Tommy Sturgess did most damage with a splendid five wickets for 26. This was backed up by Sully Akhtar (3-21) and Josh Lincoln (2-32) as Wiltshire were eventually bowled out for 155, falling 26 runs short, resulting in Berkshire claiming the Marlborough Cup for 2024.
Commenting on the day, Matt Greatley, chairman of Westbury and District Cricket Club, said, “It’s been fantastic to see such high-quality cricket being played by both teams. It was great to get such positive feedback from both players and spectators, which gives us as a club the confidence that we could host more of these games in the future and that we won’t have to wait another 20 years for the county to return.”
