Swindon Travel Well with A Tense Win vs Warminster

Williamson’s team travelled the long journey down to Warminster with the determination of getting their first win on the board for the 2019 season in what was expected to be a strongly contested game.

Swindon won the toss and chose to bat on a used pitch that offered something for everyone. Swindon’s openers worked hard against a good opening Warminster attack, picking up boundaries but also being beaten by good deliveries. This hard work not losing early wickets was only going to help the team later on.

Williamson was disappointed not to capitalise on his determined knock, falling eventually for 3 with the score on 24. Chris Aubrey was growing into his innings though and with the support of Conor Taylor, pushed the score on to 65.

Aubrey was given out caught behind after reaching 50, when he believed he hadn’t hit the ball to break the partnership. when Kill was found wanting to a good delivery only 4 balls later, Swindon has been pegged back.

Adam Tucker helped to rebuild, and along side Taylor the pair pushed the score past 100. Tucker was eventually caught by the bowler by a sharp return catch for 13. Liam Tucker continued with Taylor and together they looked confident, both running well between the wickets.

Taylor also made it to 50, before being bowled with the score on 133. Alex Bowles picked up where Taylor left of though, pushing ones and twos with Tucker. Tucker (13) fell with the score on 155, and Dean Williamson was undone with only one more run added to the score.

Bowles pushed on though before being bowled for 20. This left Swindon on 172-8 and hoping for a bit of assistance from the tail to get them to a good score.

And boy did they do just that, some sensible batting to ensure they completed the overs. On top of this were some highlight shots, including a gorgeous one bounce four over cover from Scott McNeill (9) as well as a hook shot from Cam Baden (11) that we will hear about for years to come. Swindon ended on 195-5.

With memories of the previous week still in the mind, and knowing how important every run could be, the lads threw themselves around in the field at the start of the second innings. A stalemate with bat and ball meant that while the ball beat the bat on occasion, the ball also found its way to the boundary.

It was a full pitched delivery from Scott McNeill (9.4-1-45.3) that broke the deadlock though with the score on 36. The introduction of Dean Williamson (5-1-20-1), who quickly found his length, looked like a smart choice as he beat the bat time after time.

His efforts were rewarded with a wicket, leaving Warminster on 53-2. Spin was soon introduced, and soon made an impact, as Adam Tucker (10-2-20-4) took 2 in 2 balls to put Swindon in the driving seat. Warminster were in need of a partnership and found one, as the score moved from 59 to 111.

Nelson was working in Swindon’s favour though as Connor O’Shea (10-0-40-2) found the edge. A sharp take from Bowles meant the partnership was broken, but the game was certainly still in the balance.

Another partnership began to form, and after some loose bowling was punished, momentum started to shift again. The return of Tucker into the attack proved vital, as he took a wicket straight away to reduce Warminster to 148-6. When Aubrey took a great low catch in the deep off O’Shea without another run scored, to leave 2 new batsmen at the crease, Swindon had moved into favourites for victory.

Tucker picked up his final wicket with only 7 more runs added to the total. The two openers returned and bowled tight spells, increasing the pressure as the overs remaining started to fall.

As Warminster’s had to start taking risks, the wickets came, as two more catches off the bowling of McNeill meant that Swindon came away victors by 28 runs.

Chris Aubrey – “It felt great to get the first win on the road under our belts.

The lads put everything we had into the game so was brilliant to come away with the victory
The conditions were tricky playing on a used pitch with the up and down bounce, but we batted well to get to a total we thought was defendable. The big moments in the game was our tail end scored us some vital runs to reach 195 and the 2 wickets from Connor O’Shea to get out their captain and keeper as they were set and ticking along nicely.

All in all, the whole team where nothing short of fantastic all day everyone contributed in one way or another. This win will give us plenty of confidence going into the rest of the season as we have our sights set on that top spot.”

Conor Taylor – “I found batting very hard on the pitch. It wasn’t a pitch you ever felt in on. And it was very easy to get drawn into playing shots when you had Chris at the other end making it look so easy. But he kept me calm and took all the pressure off me.

Once I faced a few overs I released this is a pitch I am going to have to sit and wait for the bad ball. I tried not to throw it away as it was extremely hard for new batsmen to come in and score straight away.

The lower order batted extremely well, it is something we need to work more on. 20-30 runs from them will be the difference in winning and losing the important games. They need to take a lot of confidence from that and take it into every game. It was brilliant to watch, it got the team going and that showed in the second innings.

I thought we bowled very well as a team, but we have to be looking to take more wickets with the new ball and hit the stumps more. We have a very good bowling attack and I am really looking forward to seeing what this season brings for us.

Our spin is the glue for our team and Connor is stepping up this year and bowling really well. I’m really happy for him as he has put in some hard work and it’s showing. But it is important he looks to improve every game. We are very lucky to have Tucks in our team he ties up one end and make them takes risks against Kill and Connor. If they both keep bowling the way they have for the last year they will take a lot of wickets at the other end. Tucks is the best spinner in the league and we need to make sure we use him right and get him bowling at the middle order. We will be bowling teams out for 70 with our three spinners bowling when they are 3 down in the first 15 overs.

My side strain is getting better every day and I can’t wait to be bowling again. I am hoping to be fit again in a couple of weeks, but we will just take each day as it comes. I am desperate to bowl in every game. I want to be a game changer with the bat ball and in the field.”