Melksham CC’s 2026 season has now come to a close, with the club able to celebrate another fantastic league campaign which has seen their 1st XI finish third and both the 2nd and 3rd XI’s finish as league champions.
Unfortunately, the weather proved to be the decisive factor during the final weekend of the season, meaning that the 1st XI were denied the opportunity to go one better and seal a historic promotion to the West of England Premier League.
They headed into the final weekend, sitting in third place and just seven points off top spot, all set for a four-team shoot out from which only the top two would be able to claim promotion. The heavy rain however emphatically put an end to Melksham’s hopes, cancelling all fixtures in Division 1 and meaning that it was Bishops Cannings and Winsley who would end the day celebrating promotion.
The 2nd XI meanwhile, having already stormed to the league title with two games to spare, saw their final day clash with Avebury 3s also fall victim to the weather.
They finished their campaign with an emphatic 74-point lead at top of the Division 9 table, meaning they bounce straight back from the disappointment of relegation in 2025 and hopefully will be kicking on to even better things in 2027.
And finally, the 3rd XI proved to be beneficiaries of the wet weather, with a rain-off in their final day fixture meaning they finished 2026 as league champions of Division 11. Despite having lost the previous week’s fixture at home to Westbury 3s, the 3rd team headed into the weekend’s clash with main title rivals Sherston Magna 2s with a healthy 25-point lead. Still requiring a few more bonus points to be absolutely certain of title success, as it happens no play was necessary, with the showdown against Sherston being amongst the many fixtures across Wiltshire falling victim to the wet weather.
With the curtain now firmly down on the 2026 league season, the club has every reason to be satisfied with the summer just gone, with the 2s and 3s title wins meaning that all three league team’s have now won silverware over the last 12 months.
Focus will now turn to the upcoming 2027 season, where the 1s will no doubt be eager to take the extra step towards promotion next season, whilst the 2s and 3s will be looking to build on the momentum of this year’s title winning campaigns.
Report: Dan Carpenter
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