Stalbridge Cricket Club

Well, this is becoming something of a pattern! Juniors - excellent, Seniors - not so!

Last week began with the Under-11s as always. The Pirates fielded a very inexperienced team and almost pulled a victory out of the bag against a Shaftesbury team consisting of several Yr6 players. They showed good discipline when batting and improved running between the wickets to compile a score of 257-2, before bowling tightly, only to see the Panthers overtake their score in the last couple of overs as their main batter hit a couple of boundaries. Even then, Will Guppy, Billy Daniels and Joe Gartell bowled really well at the death and with a little more luck could have picked up the wickets that would have sealed a victory. It was not to be though..... The team should be proud of the way they are improving, especially as the match saw three players making their debuts. Star-of-the-week for an excellent debut with bat and ball was Will Guppy.

The U11 Outlaws also played Shaftesbury and were missing 5 regulars but the lads who played put in a lot of effort and played really well to continue the team's unbeaten run. Stalbridge posted a total of 258-3 with Will Collins (14) top scoring and Matt Crosby (11) supporting well. Then, all our bowlers stepped up, bowling only 4 wides and 2 no balls, though a few kamikaze runs and unnecessary overthrows brought the game to a thrilling climax. Will Collins bowled well for 2 for 9, but going into the penultimate over Shaftesbury needed 21 to win, until under-9 player Harrison-James Sweatland took 2-12 to swing the game back in Stalbridge's favour as Shaftesbury finished on 243-4. Star of the Week was Harrison for a great debut at U11 level.

The Under-13 Reds continued their unbeaten run in the league with a comprehensive victory against Milton Abbas. Some aggressive batting from the opening bats for Stalbridge got the Reds off to a great start with Todd Whichello, Ollie Legg and Thomas Cairns all retiring on reaching 30. With the middle order falling quite quickly however, the Reds finished on 138-4, still their highest total this season. Everyone got the opportunity to bowl, with Ollie Legg (4-3), Thomas Cairns (2-0) and Jack Bruton (2-0) all taking wickets. Man of the match for his all round performance and captaincy went to Thomas Cairns.

The Under-13 Blues also remain unbeaten run after a 5 wicket win over Blandford. Fielding first, the boys bowled and fielded well with Harry MaCleod-Ash taking 2-14, Max Nettley 2-8, Will Coleman 1-7 from his 4 overs and Joe Atkins 1-6 from 3. In reply George Coleman (16) and Henry Chant (13) made a solid start before the loss of 3 quick wickets brought Matt Longley to the crease who dispatched 3 consecutive boundaries to finish the game off

So to the biggest game of the year so far, as the undefeated Blues took on Parley CC in the Dorset County U13 Final at Shillingstone. With Parley chosing to bat, our opening bowlers Jasper Hodgson (2-6) and Max Nettley (1-7) set to work. A wicket in the first over settled any nerves and then some really tight bowling, including 2 maidens and 1 wicket maiden, and a fine catch from Joe Daniels, had Parley at 18-3 off 8 overs. A 4th wicket stand of 53 put Parley in a better position before a flurry of late wickets from Seb Carty (3-17) and Matt Longley (1-13) saw the innings finish on 75-7. Chasing 76 to win off 20 overs, early wickets fell before Max Nettley (30no) and Joe Daniels (17no) built a match winning partnership. Max retired with the team needing 8 runs off 4 overs, but Joe and Will Perkins steered the team to victory with 4 balls to spare in a very tense situation. Man of the Match for his superbly determined and controlled display with the bat went to Joe Daniels. Congratulations to all the boys who've played throughout the cup competition - they have made everyone involved very proud!! Next comes the regional round!

Neither the Under-9s or the Under-15s played games this week gone, but across the age-groups Star-of-the-Week Awards were presented to:

Under-7 - Charlie Sclater & Rupert Balmain
Under-9 - Lewis Wall
Under-11 - Will Guppy & Harrison-James Sweatland
Under-13 - Joe Daniels & Thomas Cairns
Under-15 - not presented

So, on to the bad news. Unfortunately the Seniors saw 3 losses from 3 games again this weekend gone - the winning weeks of the early season seem long gone! But, as Arnie once said (well, almost) "we'll be back..."!

The 1st XI entertained Parley on the flattest of pitches, and despite going down by 66 runs, provided one of the tougher challenges that the runaway league leaders have had this season. Parley rattled up an imposing 343-6, with Andy Dike's 3-69 being the most productive bowling return for Stalbridge. However the batsmen were undaunted as openers Rob Burfitt, who top scored with 74, and Matt Salisbury (29) put on 117 for the 1st wicket. Several useful partnerships followed as 37 from Chris Hedges, and 26 each from Ben Fryer and Mark Chant enabled the team to gain good batting points as well as confidence in reaching a very respectable 277 against the form team in the league. Losing the toss to Parley on a great batting track in The Park was always likely to provide the team with a mountain to climb and so it proved. 

It was the turn of the 2nd XI to provide this weeks performance about which the less said the better! The team actually bowled and fielded well to restrict Parley 2nd XI to 159-9, with Steve Forshaw (4 for 23) and Under-13 Max Nettley (3-18 in 5 overs) being the pick of the attack. This should have been a well achievable total against a young side on a decent batting track and fast outfield, but our strong batting line-up virtually all gave their wickets away to end on a very disappointing 134 all out.  

The 3rd XI put in a steady if unspectacular batting performance, with five players getting into double figures but nobody going on to a large score. Andy Balchin (33), Chris Calcott (26) and Ollie Dowding (22) were the main contributors in a total of 148-9. However, in recent weeks the opposition always seem to have had one player in their line up who can go onto a big score.....and Crewkerne were the same, with their top batter taking them to 152-1. His wicket could have led to a different outcome, but we'll never know!

The Sunday XI had no game this weekend gone, but will be back in action next week. A few Senior wins would be nice now June 2013 has disappeared forever.......well done to the Juniors though, at least they'll remember it fondly!!

Have a good week.