The 2009 Season So Far

Four games into the season and we are coming to terms with the standards demanded in the top division but despite some early season turmoil, the true spirit of the Club has shone through and, with the drive and commitment of Neil Spearing inspiring us, we are determined to win through.

By a fortunate twist of fate, our first game of the season brought old rivals and friends Ilchester to Chetnole in the mid Wessex League and a fine afternoon and balanced youth policy by both teams resulted in a cracking game.  Ilchester scoring a challenging 178 in their allotted overs and Chetnole coming up just short by 11 runs as the light faded.  The highlight of the day being a fine innings of 75 from new recruit Richard Parker, a goweresque left hander with huge potential.

Broadwindsor away was always going to be a tough proposition, and so it proved.  A solid bowling performance kept them to a reasonable 166 but their tight bowling, allied to some poor shot selection, saw Chetnole skittled out for 64. A result which looks worse on paper than it was on the pitch with positive captaincy and fiery bowling from Stacey Hawes and an encouraging first match for new opening bat Phil Speighway, even last years skipper Stan Kemp managed to trouble the scorers with 4 wickets.

Some light relief came with our first friendly fixture, away at Thornford, where a stuttering start was recovered by an excellent stand between long serving members Rodney Yeatman and Robin Barker to set a target, albeit of only 63, which hardly seemed enough.  However, Skipper for the day Stuart Beasley kept focus and belief, leading from the front to bowl the opposition out for 31.  The return to action of Steve Bown was extremely welcome and, hopefully he’ll be available more this season.

After the enjoyment of Thornford, availability problems made the long journey to Middlezoy somewhat daunting, and so it transpired as, on a baking Levels afternoon the Middlezoy batsmen tore into the Chetnole bowling, smashing an unprecedented 367, the highest total ever made against us.  This included a magnificent 226 not out by their left handed opener.  In reply Chetnole batted gamely to reach 106 with returnee Richard Trickey, Kev Johnson and Rich Parker all contributing sound efforts.  Remarkably, amongst this carnage, Neil Spearing produced an outstanding performance, bowling his 8 overs for only 20 runs and taking 2 wickets in the process.

Not an inspiring start to the season you may think but the character of the team has been exceptional, particularly the young players coming into the side, 5 under 17 played against Middlezoy, and heads never went down, and we’re looking forward to the return fixture this Sunday at home.

Second update: 17June 2009

The much anticipated return fixture against Middlezoy at home was destined to offer a chance to recover some pride following the trouncing of the previous week as the Middlezoy first team were due to play in the National Village Knock Out.  Unfortunately the weather had other ideas and, despite frantic efforts on the part of the ground staff, Dai, Stan, Rodney and Kev, nothing could be done to prevent the rain on the day and the points were, reluctantly, shared.  An early decision saved the visitors a long and unnecessary journey.

The disappointing league form continued at Middle and West Chinnock, always a tough fixture, and made more difficult by a challenging wicket capitalised on by some excellent Chinnock bowlers.  Bowled out for 41 with only Richard Parker making double figures, the Chinnock batsmen saw them home for the loss of only one wicket despite a stalwart effort by Neil Spearing and Stuart Beasley.  I doubt they’ll find it as easy at Chetnole especially if they lose the toss!

A welcome break from the league saw old friends Cerne Valley visit the Oval for what turned out to be an outstanding afternoons cricket.  Opting to bat first, Chetnole’s batsmen finally got to grips with the art, as Dai Maude, Phil Spurway and Rich Trickey all made solid contributions at the top of the order.  A belligerent cameo innings from Kev Johnson held the tail together to reach a very respectable 151 for 8 off the allotted 40 overs.

In reply Cerne made a sound, if somewhat pedestrian, start anchored by a solid 33 from veteran skipper Mark Green.  However a middle order surge resulted in Cerne requiring just 5 runs to win with 7 balls and 1 wicket remaining. Wily skipper Stan Kemp saved the disappointment with his 3^rd victim of the innings to see Chetnole home.

The icing on the cake for such a top day was to have the first beer of the season in the Chetnole Inn.  Great stuff.

Inspired by the previous weeks performance, Chetnole welcomed a strong Wincanton side in the league on a showery afternoon.  Another good start built around a stylish 31 from Phil Spurway and supported by double figures from Rodney and Neil resulted in  Wincanton being set a target of 141.

Neil Spearing and Tom James took the opportunity of a decent total to bend their backs and came up trumps with 5 wickets and, but for an unbeaten 50 by Tremlett, well supported by the tail end, Chetnole could well have given the league a shake up.  As it was Wincanton came home with 2 wickets to spare in 33 overs. It was a fine effort by the home side and a good debut for new boy Veron Shampa, hopefully we’ll see more of him.

The team was starting to take shape, due to the unstinting efforts of Neil Spearing, after a stuttering start; hopes were high for the annual Crusader Twenty20 to be held at East Coker this year.  Unfortunately, Saturday availabilities were not good and Chetnole entered the first game at 0900 against Powerstock with just 9 players.  However, some fine bowling from Neil Spearing, Stuart Beasley and the impressive Andy Spearing saw the opposition bowled out in 18 overs for 106.  A reasonable, but not unassailable, target kept that way not only by excellent bowling but supported by a great effort in the field.  Opening with Phil Spurway and Stuart Beasley, it soon became clear that the result was never going to be in doubt as Phil anchored the innings to enable Stuart to blast his way to an explosive 67 not out, passing the Powerstock total in just 16 overs.

An excellent second match saw Coker just squeeze home against Thornford to set up their 4th final in a row, this time against Chetnole.  Once again Neil had worked his magic and by the 6 pm start, Chetnole had a full complement, albeit without the talent of Stuart Beasley.  So, 9 hours after arriving at the ground, the final commenced and it soon became clear that Chetnole would struggle against a strong Coker side, and so it proved.  Runs proved extremely hard to come by and, despite excellent contributions from Phil Spurway, who is really starting to show his class, and Rich Trickey, 87 for 7 was never going to be enough.  Confident from the start, Coker were made to think twice as Neil and Andy, the Spearing spearhead tore into the openers.  A few more runs, and Stuart Beasley, and who knows what might have happened.  As it was, Coker passed the Chetnole total for 5 wickets and, deservedly, retained the Crusader trophy.  Next year at Thornford it’ll be a different story.  Great to see Mark Spearing back on the scene and keen to play regularly. 

The team for next week against Champions Combe St Nicholas looks good on paper, let’s hope we can pull off a surprise. Whatever happens, the team is really starting to take shape and has a good balance to it with batting well into the middle order and a strong bowling attack the future’s bright.

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