Weekly Digest: U11s lose to Winsley, U13s beat Brislington then lose to Chippenham next night in the

Phew, what a week. By the end of it I was seeing children in white on green grass every time I closed my eyes. Still, I kept telling myself (and my fiancee) that it was the busiest week of the cricketing year. Ahem. We'll see...

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Bathford U11s vs Winsley Wizards Winsley win by a wicket

Wow, what a weird match this was. Winsley were wizards all right, somehow managing to cast a spell over our players that stopped them from being able to bat. We should have known something was amiss when their coach raised his arms to the heavens at half time and screamed "EXPELLIBATTUS" at the top of his voice and the skies suddenly darkened.

Winsley batted first, and a standard Bathford (ie really, really good!) fielding and bowling performance restricted them to just 73 runs. With par on our ground at about 100 or so we all felt that was a pretty comfortable target. Freddie, Roan, Olly, Luke Demeige, Adam, Sam, Zac and Rufus all bowled well, with Luke Wilkins the pick with a maiden in his first over, and two wickets in his second. Addy kept wicket superbly, and grows as a keeper every week.

So to bat and – well reader I'm going to draw a veil over this part. Winsley rotated their bowlers so thoroughly that our batsmen never got used to any one of them, our batsmen started arguing about who was going out next so that the scorebook's a mess because of the amount of changes made. Unexpected wickets fell, at one point so fast that there was an embarrassing wait while one of our young 'uns padded up, Luke Wilkins top scored with 9 runs. One of their bowlers bowled two wides with his first two balls and then burst into tears and refused to bowl a third so that there was then a ten-minute delay while he was cajoled to bowl a third as the sun disappeared behind Solsbury Hill. And then we were all out for 52.

So lots of lessons to learn, about a good solid batting order that doesn't get messed about with, about concentrating on your own game to the exclusion of the opposition when batting, and about how sometimes the fates will conspire against you and that's cricket. Grr.

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Bathford U13s vs Brislington Bathford won by 8 wickets

Ah now, this was more like it. This is how games have been going for us this season. Brislington looked very confident, won the toss, decided to bat and set about hitting us all over the park. Wrong choice. First over: dot four four six four wicket. Well done to Adam Webb-Peploe for sticking to his guns and getting the vital breakthrough. After that Brislington were broken. Their other opener Alfie batted really well but every other Brislington bat soon perished flailing. Raul hit a 6, then was out next ball caught. Of the others, one made 2, one made 1, and five made ducks. Even poor Alfie was out in the end for a heroic 26. Total score 73, just like the night before.

But no capitulation from the admittedly more mature Bathfordians on display tonight, the runs required were knocked off comfortably in the 14th over with just two wickets gone and Luca Press and Matthew Webb-People both retiring unbeaten.

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Chippenham vs Bathford U13s CUP Chippenham won by 8 wickets

Chippenham put out a very strong side for this cup match as expected. We battled bravely but didn't really have the firepower to dominate their bowlers. Batting first we made a respectable 107, with a standout innings from Archie Ball who only scored 8 but survived for 15 overs showing great promise for the future, and skipper Harry Frith who made a beautiful 43 before being caught.

Chippenham never looked in trouble with the bat and went past our total in the 17th over with only two wickets lost. It was a good performance, but not good enough on this occasion.

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Warminster vs Bathford T20, Warminster won by 55 runs

Lots to learn from Warminster. Not only an extremely well-drilled side, but also a big concentration on the social side which may explain why they have apparently managed to hoover up the cream of Trowbridge and Frome's sadly collapsed U15 sides to add to their own impressive ranks. Flashing bails, a DJ and a barbecue all helped add to the atmosphere on the night.

Warminster batted first and once more we must compliment Bathford on the tenacity, skill and aggression they show in the field. Coach Jon and the scorer felt very proud, we looked like a proper, grown-up cricket team out there, and no one was letting the side down. Credit Warminster who recovered from being 57 for 4 wickets after 10 overs to 150 for 6 by the end of 20. It was a David vs Goliath battle that we were always unlikely to win, but one more wicket at the 10 over mark might have made all the difference and allowed us to force an upset. Not to be.

Our batting was good, but a bit slow. And despite the heroic efforts of Josh Stanley who joined us from Corsham for the night along with Theo Todhunter and managed an unbeaten 30 including one 6 that smashed something in a neighbour's garden, we were always behind the pace. But we did see our 20 overs out for the loss of just 4 wickets and scored a respectable 95, and we did give Warminster a game despite them all being 15 and us having just the one actual 15-year-old in the team. This will be a learning season for us. Well done all, especially Josh and Theo who were a credit to their club and ours.