West of England Wiltshire Division. Westbury beat Warminster bt 4 wickets. at Leighton Sports Ground Westbury on Saturday 28th August 2021
Westbury entertained the 2021 West of England League Wiltshire Division champions Warminster in the final game of the 2021 season hoping to end the season with a moral boosting win and put to bed the threat of relegation if there are two teams relegated.
Westbury made two changes from last week’s defeat against Devizes, with Clark Evans and Chris Thompson coming in for the unavailable Michael Cooper and James Clack.
Westbury won the toss in the final match that was captained by Richard Oakley. Warminster were inserted to bat first.
Warminster opened with Sam Loud and Nathan Bond but they made a bad start when, with the total at 4, Westbury struck; Oakley bowled Nathan Bond for 1.
Jake Small then joined Loud and they took the total to 48 with no alarms. With the total at 48 the Westbury captain brought on Clark Evans who struck by having Small caught by the ex-Warminster player Matt Greatley for 14.
Gareth Schreuder, the Warminster stand-in captain, then came to the wicket. They confidently took the Warminster score to 73 when the bowling of Faizal Faizey took two wickets in successive balls by having Schreuder (22) leg before and Sanjay Malik (0) bowled.
After these dismissals Westbury took control by bowling the opposition out for 106. Faizal Faizey (4-31 off 9 overs) had the best figures ably supported by Richard Oakley (3-22 off 9 overs).
When Westbury batted they made a bad start by losing two wickets for 13 with Thompson (2) and Gill (1) the batsman out. Scott was joined by Clark Evans and they weathered the storm and confidently took the total to 49 when Warminster took their third wicket with Scott was stumped by Schreuder off the bowling of the Warminster spinner Jake Small for a good 17.
Shortly after, Westbury lost another wicket when at 55 Evans was bowled by a ball that kept low for a fine 20. Jayden Edmunds (26*) playing his last game for Westbury then took Westbury home to a 4 wicket win despite the loss of two further wickets.
This was a fine win against the league champions and also made sure of Wiltshire League cricket next season. Also it gave a nice send off to the outgoing Westbury captain Richard Oakley who has led the team from the front.
As the season has ended the new captain and the club have now the chance to try and recruit some more players.
• Westbury second eleven team led by Ben Whiting may have sealed promotion from the Wiltshire County league Division 5 to Division 4.
Final Table
West of England League
Wiltshire Division
Season 2021
Warminster 233pts
Royal Wootton Bas 223pts
Swindon 212pts
Potterne 200pts
Trowbridge 200pts
Devizes 199pts
Westbury 183pts
Corsham 179pts
Avebury 178pts
Calne. 126pts Relegated
