WESTBURY and District Cricket Club entertained Rockhampton Cricket Club on 2nd September, in their final West of England Premier League fixture for the season.
On a sunny afternoon, with the conditions favouring the batsmen, the Westbury Captain uncharacteristically won the toss and quickly decided that the home side would bat first.
Early on in the Westbury innings this proved to be a wise decision as the openers, Coles and Varley, unleashed a powerful display of hitting, tucking into the Rockhampton offerings. Varley was particularly destructive and set about his business with a great deal of commitment and purpose, with Coles providing the support act as he looked on from the non-strikers end.
In trying to up his own tempo, Coles was the first wicket to fall, when with the score on 47, he hit a wide half volley straight to the cover fielder to the delight of the Rockhampton fielders. Mills joined the free flowing Varley, who had clearly decided that he was going to make the most of his last innings of the season and continued to flay the bowling.
A change was needed and the Rockhampton Captain turned to McCabe to change the pace of the game and hopefully their fortunes. With Varley on 70 from just 45 balls he was bamboozled by a slower ball and was duly caught and bowled to send the Westbury opener on his way.
What then followed was a swift reversal of fortune of the opposition as the Westbury middle order fell apart as McCabe cast his spell over them, after Dickinson had been quickly dismissed by Brisco. Gill and Hudson departed and after a fast start, Westbury were shackled and soon found themselves having to rebuild from 141-6 after the impressive Mills had surrendered to the bowling of Willoughby. Scott, who was in the midst of an unfortunate run of poor form with the bat and the Westbury Captain, Senneck were together able to rebuild the innings in order to drag the score past 200 and provide the bowlers with a decent score to defend. After a final couple of wickets falling, Westbury were able to post a total of 226, after 50 overs with Senneck remaining on 37 not out.
Brimming with confidence after bowling performances, Westbury felt that there were enough runs on the board to finish the league season with another win. With the score on just 6 this confidence seemed well placed when Oakley had Brothwood caught behind by Scott.
This brought the Rockhampton overseas player to the crease, who with an injured leg, decided that he was only going to play one way and that was to attack from ball one. With the fielders close in due to the powerplay, De Beer took full advantage and made the most of the circumstances as he flayed the Westbury bowling. He gave an early chance off of the bowling of Oakley, when, with Dickinson expertly placed by the Westbury skipper it seemed that the plan had worked to perfection. Under the high catch Dickinson looked to have the situation under control, but he misjudged the opportunity, came in too far, then tried to adjust his position and slipped over, only to watch the ball sail over his head for 4 runs. This came as a great disappointment to the bowler and his team mates and great embarrassment to the fielder Dickinson. This proved to be a match defining incident and as the wicket got even better, the Westbury bowlers were practically powerless to alleviate the impressive batting display from De Beer, ably supported by Tyler. Just one wicket followed and Rockhampton swept to an impressive victory by 8 wickets in just 39 overs with De Beer finishing on 156 not out off just 114 balls.
On reflection, Westbury will be satisfied with their first season back in the second tier of the West of England Premier League structure, finishing 3rd in the league. The club is in a strong position with both the 2nd and 3rd XI having gained promotion out of their leagues and credit goes to these teams for their successes during 2017.
Thanks must be offered to all those who make the club function and for the matches to go ahead, the club would not exist without the efforts of the groundsman, the scorers and most importantly the tea ladies who keep us fuelled on a weekly basis.
Lt Col A Senneck | SO1 Policy HQ R SIGNALS
Griffin House, Blandford Camp, Blandford. Dorset. DT11 8RH.
Work tel: 94371 2014
Civ tel: 01258 482014
Mob: 07969671473
