MINEHEAD made the trip up to Winscombe last weekend, searching for a fourth successive win in the Premier Division of the Somerset Cricket League. On a glorious day, skipper Ian Buchanan lost the toss for the fourth time in as many games, as Winscombe captain Jack Fraser had no hesitation in opting to bat first.

Minehead missed an early chance to remove the Winscombe captain when he was dropped by his opposite number at slip, and he made the Pirates pay as he hammered anything loose to the fence. The score was flying along, and soon the Minehead bowlers began to toil in the heat as Winscombe reached 96 before the spin of Bowditch castled Fraser for an impressive 63.

Winscombe number three Tom Hall looked comfortable at the crease as he and opener Robert Bradley kept the scoreboard ticking over. The Minehead bowling unit fought back though as the Taylors, Braden (4-63) and Ellis (1-42) made inroads into the Winscombe middle order. James Davis was introduced and took a wicket in his first over, but Hall stood firm as other batters made contributions, and it was clear that Winscombe would be posting a competitive score on a wicket that provided indifferent bounce. Gary Bennett picked up a late wicket, as Winscombe reached 264-8 from their 45 overs, Minehead ruing a number of missed chances in the field.

Minehead’s run chase was off to a strong start as 12 were taken from the first over, and in the blink of an eye the scoreboard had reached 50 as Buchanan and Gregg Howard made use of a the lightning fast outfield. The score reached 79 before a mix-up between the openers saw the end of Howard as he was run out at the wicket-keepers end for 22.

Buchanan passed 6000 league runs for Minehead, but was soon back in the pavilion with Howard as he was bowled one run short of a half-century for 49. With 170 runs needed with 30 overs in the tank, Minehead felt sensible batting of the allotted overs would take the game deep, but sadly Dan Bowditch (9) and Charlie Payne (10) couldn’t push on from positive starts as the score read 126-4.

A batting collapse followed as Chris James (0), Braden Taylor (5), Gary Bennett (1) and Ellis Taylor (0) all came and went in quick succession. Archie Marsh looked in good form once again, before he was trapped LBW for 21, and the innings was wrapped up when James Davis was stumped for 0 as Winscombe completed a 109 run win as Minehead were all out for 155.

A day to forget, but The Pirates will look to put things right tomorrow (Sat) when hosting bottom side Lympsham and Belvedere. The game gets underway at 1pm and all support would be appreciated as the boys look to wrestle back the top of the league spot. Bar open from 11am, all supporters are welcome in what promises to be a hot and sunny day at the biggest beer garden in town.