Double blow for Melksham

Sat. 9th July. Corsham CC – 3rd XI 220/9 (45). Melksham CC – 1st XI 145/All out (36) Corsham CC won by 75 runs Sat. 16th July. Melksham CC – 1st XI 224/7 (45). Wanborough CC – 1st XI 225/6 (40.3). Wanborough CC won by 4 wickets

THE 1st XI endured a double blow during the last fortnight, suffering back-to-back defeats to put the breaks on what was an impressive winning run.  

First off came a defeat away to a strong Corsham 3s side, with Melksham comfortably second best by a margin of 75 runs. The following week proved no better for Melksham’s fortunes, seeing them fall short by 4-wickets at home against league leaders Wanborough.  

The trip to Corsham started off strongly thanks to a well taken caught-and-bowled from opener Liam Merrett. Unfortunately, a strong Corsham batting line-up stifled Melksham’s attempts to push on, aided by a batting friendly wicket. Not until the 17th over did the visitors pick up a second wicket courtesy of Chris Long, with the score now reading 68-2.  

Mark Mullis picked up the next wicket a few overs later to ensure his side maintained momentum heading into the second half of the innings. Although Corsham enjoyed plenty of strong periods, at one point reaching a commanding position of 145-3, ultimately Melksham were able to contain their opponents just enough to prevent the contest from running away from them. Skipper Adam Mitchell led the way with figures of 4-38, with 2 sharp runouts from Merrett and Chris Long also helping to give Melksham a challenging but achievable total of 221.   

Their efforts to reach this total suffered a couple of early setbacks with the wickets of openers Simon Turner (13) and Mark Wiltshire (5). Thankfully for Melksham there was to be no further rot, with the 3rd wicket pairing of Mitchell and Chay Forester guiding their side to a score of 78-2 by 20 overs.  

It was from this point that the match would quickly go onto unravel. First Mitchell was caught for 39 after failing to properly deal with a full toss, before Lewie Simmons (1), Matt Hunt (0), and then Forester (35) were all dismissed in quick succession to leave Melksham in the mire on 97-6. Despite some counterattacking batting from Chris Singh (39*) late on, these blows from the Corsham bowlers proved to be too much for Melksham to recover from, in end collapsing to a score of 145 all out from 36 overs.  

The poor batting continued into the start of the match with Wanborough, with openers Hunt (10) and Dan Carpenter (8) both removed cheaply to leave Melksham 25-2. Thankfully the 3rd wicket partnership of Simmons (14) and Forester stabilized the innings for a time, helping the home side to reach a score of 66 by the 16th over before Simmons was then bowled.  

The paring of Forester and Mitchell now once again came to the fore, with the former reaching his fifty before being bowled soon after with the score now reading 116-4 off 29. From this point on Mitchell was take on the responsibility for getting his side to a competitive score. In the end he finished 79 not out, with Melksham reaching a score of 224-7 with other contributions coming from Joe Veacock (21) and Mark Mullis (16).  

Wanborough’s response got off to a solid, if not spectacular, start with a score of 39-1 off 10, with the wicket coming from opener Freddie Honeybone. Sadly, it would be the visitors who would have the better of the following overs, accelerating to a score of 98. Only interventions from Martha Honeybone, first a catch off the bowling of Mitchell and then a wicket thanks to a catch from Forester behind the stumps, allowed Melksham to maintain a foothold in the contest.   

Wanborough would continue to be the side in control though, scoring quickly enough to keep up with the run-rate whilst preserving enough wickets to stop Melksham gaining any much-needed momentum. Two wickets from Mullis and one from Veacock did give the hosts some brief hope, but in the end, it was Wanborough who would keep their calm and claim the spoils, completing a solid run-chase in the 41st over to move to the summit of the Division 4 table, with Melksham now sitting in 2nd place; 17 points behind but with a game in hand.    

It proved to be a much better week for the 2s though, who strengthened their grip at the top of the Division 8 table with a win away to Winsley 4ths. The 1st innings saw the visitors post a below-par total of 136, with Dave Light top scoring with 33. Winsley however were blown away in the 2nd innings, with an inspired Tom Watling claiming figures of 6-11 to reduce Winsley to a measly total of 43, gifting the 2s a 7th straight win as their promotion bid goes from strength to strength.