Three Cirencester 2nd XI cricketers aid first team victory over Down Hatherley (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Three Cirencester 2nd XI cricketers aid first team victory over Down Hatherley

THREE members of the high flying Seconds made a first appearance of the season for Cirences-ter 1st XI on Saturday and all played their part in a conclusive home win over Down Hatherley.

Tom Burgess (55) continued his rich vein of form with the bat, 16-year-old James Constable had a fine match in notching 3-13 with his left-arm pace bowling and hitting 22 belligerent runs while Rich Hudson shared in an opening stand of 55 as well as taking a sharp catch at point.

Donny Rodrigues got Town off to a great start with 51 off 31 balls and Richard Graham, back to form with 55, led a good, all round batting performance by the middle order.

With all the Town attack performing well, Down Hatherley were always struggling to match an imposing total of 262-9. The hosts clinched a victory that should confirm third place in the table with five overs to spare.

The 2nd XI produced a solid bowling and fielding display to restrict King's Stanley to 123 with Carl McQueen returning figures of 3-15 from seven overs.

But their batsmen struggled against the home team's opening attack to go down by 72 runs while the Thirds lost at Avening and Cherington by 44 runs.

On Sunday, the promised rain failed to arrive and thus did not disrupt a busy and competitive afternoon at the Park.

The seniors welcomed Lord Apsley's XI for the annual match and were struggling on 67-5 against the accurate bowling of youngsters Dan Horton (2-17) and Tom Putney (2-20).

However, a stand of 68 between Tom Burgess (59) and Dominic Jeffcott (47no) enabled the club to declare on 167-7 at tea.

Although David Gardner (20) and Graham Clarke (14) put together a stand of 30 for the second wicket, Lord Apsley's XI found scoring difficult against tight bowling that included a spell of three wickets for seven runs off four overs by Town 1st XI skipper Andy Reynolds.

The Lord Apsley's XI's eighth wicket pair then batted well to bring the final score to 102-7, delivering an honourable draw in a highly enjoyable match.

The U13s played Stroud in the North Gloucestershire League and, batting first, scored a useful 152-7 off their 35 overs with good contributions from Will Jackson (36) and James Gilchriest (30).

In the Stroud reply, they found the Cirencester bowling too tight. Alex Vickery took two wickets for four runs in his opening spell, to be followed by Hugo Price's four wickets for ten.

Stroud were bowled out for 80 with only Jack Batten providing any sound resistance.

Cirencester fixtures for this Bank Holiday weekend as follows: Saturday - 1sts away to Shurdington; 2nds home to Shurdington, start at 2pm at the Park; 3rds away to Poulton. Sunday XI away to Chalford; Monday XI home to Old Bristolians, start at 2pm at the Park.