The last two weekends have seen the Warminster Cricket Club 1st XI maintain their dominance of Division 1 of the Wiltshire Cricket League.
In a top of the league clash, Saturday 21st June saw the Warminster 1st XI record a convincing win over the second placed Royal Wootton Bassett 2nd XI.
Batting first, the Royal Wootton Bassett side never really came to terms with the Warminster bowling attack and were bowled out for 115 runs in the 30th over. The wickets were shared around by the excellent Warminster bowling attack and this ensured a very achievable target was set.
In response, the top order batsmen quickly reached their target in 19 overs, resulting in a comfortable eight-wicket victory.
The Warminster 2nd XI continued with their struggles this season against a competitive Winsley CC 2nd XI. Batting first, the Warminster 2nd XI battled to a total of 164 all out. Unfortunately, the total failed to trouble the Winsley team, and they reached the total for the loss of only two wickets.
The 3rd XI had a far more successful outing, with a resounding 159 run win over the Avebury CC 3rd XI. Batting first, Warminster scored 286 runs for seven wickets off their allocated 45 overs.
Stuart Waterland again led from the front, scoring 82 runs and was ably supported by a number of the other batsmen, especially Richard Ambler, who finished on 50 not out at the end of the innings. In reply, the Warminster bowlers quickly exerted their dominance and bowled the opposition out for 127 runs in 25 overs. Mark Evans returned the best bowling figures, taking five wickets for 32 runs off his six overs and remains the top wicket taker in the division.
The weekend of the 28th June saw a similar pattern of results across Warminster Cricket Club. The Warminster 1st XI completely dominated the Nationwide House XI and bowled them out for 116 runs in their 45 overs.
John Powell recorded superb bowling figures, taking three wickets for 18 runs off his nine overs and was only bettered by Brad Small who took four wickets for 26 runs and is now the leading wicket taker in Division 1.
In response, the Warminster opening batsmen quickly secured a comfortable victory with Anre Schutte, who is the leading run scorer in Division 1 and George Cansdale, who finished on 58 runs not out, guiding the team to the win.
In Division 4, the Warminster 2nd XI lost to Coastal Cobras by 122 runs. Coastal Cobras decided to bat first and recorded an impressive 276 runs off their 45 overs. Whilst Daniel Smith was the pick of the bowlers, the team found it difficult to regularly take wickets, resulting in the team facing a challenging total. The 2nd XI were finally bowled out for 154 runs in the 40th over.
The Warminster 3rd XI moved up to second place in Division 8, with another impressive win over the Marshfield 3rd XI.
The opposition batted first, recording a total of 184 runs and whilst all of the Warminster bowlers performed well, James Lane stood out, taking four wickets for 29 runs off his nine overs. In reply, Warminster scored the required runs for the loss of only five wickets. Stuart Waterland recorded his fourth half-century of the season with 56 runs and Callum Widdows rounded off his impressive match in scoring 55 runs.
Russell Collier
