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The final league game of the season saw KJM sponsored Wherwell play host to Hook and Newham in a straight up league decider. Given the heavy bouts of rain it was testament to the hard work of a couple of the lads that the game even went ahead.

However, it did get underway after skipper Nathan Young won his first toss of the year on the final day. He decided to have a bowl, a decision that was soon vindicated in style. The visiting batsmen didn't know what had hit them as Stuart Taylor (10-24-4) and Mark Pettman (10-25-2) ripped through the top order with the new ball. At one point the scoreboard read 8 for 6 and it looked like a really low total was in the offing. Wherwell had to be patient for the next wicket though and it wasn't until the introduction of Guilfoyle (7-26-1) who forced the batsmen to nick it to slip that they made another breakthrough. Playing his last game for Wherwell after announcing his intention to retire, Adi Holdway (9-14-1) was always destined to have an influence as helped to remove the tail with his full repertoire of spin variations. Christian Nicel (1.5-17-1) completed a fine bowling display with an excellent caught and bowled to remove the stubborn last line of resistance whose hard fought 38 helped Hook and Newham set 99 to win the game and with it the league title.

The chase got off to a slow and slightly faltering start as Taylor (8) was sharply caught in the covers. Alex Gladwyn (7) looked like he might settle before he top edged one that stuck in the wicket. Marc von Guionneau refused to see the damp wicket as a problem though as he blasted his way to a game changing 47, falling just short of his fifty going for another 6. The innings had made heads drop though in the Hook and Newham camp, and despite losing a couple more wickets, skipper Nathan Young (14) and Elton Adamo (10) saw Wherwell home for a 4 wicket victory with 10 overs to spare.

It was, once again, a fine and well deserved win, with contributions from all. The side has performed above all expectation this year and really look forward to the challenge of the county leagues next season.

KJM sponsored Wherwell travelled the fair distance to fellow promotion candidates Petersfield last weekend. The league could not have picked the fixture list with more dramatic consequence as both sides knew only a win would guarantee their promotion. The importance of winning a toss just after a heavy downpour ensured that Wherwell once again called wrong and were inserted to bat on a damp wicket.

Dave Langford (16) and Stuart Taylor (22) bore the responsibility well and carried on through the first ten overs at a steady four per over. Both fell in quick succession though and when Alex Gladwyn was well caught at short extra cover it looked like Wherwell may struggle. However, as has been the case so often this season Marc con Guinuneau (57) stood up to be counted as he dispatched boundaries at will. He was very ably supported by Elton Adamo (21) who scored well off some very tight bowling. The tail also decided to have a little wag with big hitting knocks from Matt Guilfoyle (11) and Nathan Young (18), before Mark Pettman (20) came up with a real late flourish getting the away side up to 186 for 8.

The score looked at least 20 short, however, bouyed by the momentum of the late batting stance, the fielding performance was electric. A very impressive opening spell from Taylor (6-20-0) didn't quite get the rewards it deserved, whilst Pettman (10-21-3) bowled superbly and did get rewarded with 3 key wickets. When Taylor took a flying catch low to his right in the gully off the bowling of Guilfoyle (6-32-2) it sparked some extraordinary fielding, as the middle order was removed following sharp catches from Ryan Young at slip and Elton Adamo keeping wicket. It was then left to wily spinner Adi Holdway (7.3-29-3) to clear up the tail which he did superbly, bowling a different variation with every ball. The hosts were all out for 132 leaving Wherwell clear at the top with 1 game to play. A winner takes all clash takes place at Wherwell Playing Fields at 2pm next Saturday when they welcome second place Hook and Newham who will be looking to cause an upset and take the league title out of Wherwell's hands.

KJM sponsored bounced back from a disappointing defeat last week in style. Winning the toss Young decided to bat and asked Taylor and Marsh to open the batting. Both got straight into the bowling attack and produced some glorious strokes, both looked set to bat a long time until Marsh picked out the only boundary fielder for a well worked 20. Gladwyn strode to the crease and got on with it hitting the ball to all parts of the ground. Taylor went in the 20th over for a well played 64. Gladwyn soon followed for a brisk 42 as Wherwell looked to set a huge total. Marc Von Guionneau went about his business in normal fashion losing 2 balls in the next village as he raced past his 50 from 24 balls. He was finally out for 69. Wherwell well above the 200 point after 30 overs. Only some good bowling from R. Cole restricted Wherwell for 5 overs as the tail decided to see him out. Young and Pettman wagged as the tried to get Wherwell towards 300, only tired running stopped them as Young was run out for 38 of the last ball. Wherwell finished 299-9 from 42 Overs

Sutton Scotney lost some players at tea time due to being on call for fire duty. Wherwell took full advantage and ripped through the depleted batting line up and finished the game within 12 overs as Pettman 2-22 and Guilfoyle 3-17 bowled well as they were bowled out for 39.

Wherwell hosted a strengthened St Cross team last weekend and after losing the toss they knew it was going to be a tough test to face the new ball. Craig Beckingham finally reached double figures for the season as he was dropped 7 times. Christian Nicel opened with Beckingham but didn't have as much luck getting a ball that jagged back to remove leg stump. This brought the classy David Langford to the crease who was very watchful, Beckingham and Langford started to knock one's and twos and the run rate began to climb above 2 a over. Wherwell were 46-1 at drinks. Unfortunately drinks were Langfords downfall as he nicked behind, Marc Von Guionneou strode to crease knowing the run rate needed increasing, something he loves to do. Beckingham was finally departed for a slow 34. Von Guionneou and Stuart Taylor started batting beautifully hitting regular boundaries. Von Guionneou soon passed his 50 from 37 balls as Wherwell looked set to post a big score. However Von Guionneou was run out for 54 and Taylor soon followed for 29. Wherwell proceeded to collapse to 180 all well short of their targeted 200+ total.

Wherwell knew that keeping St Cross from getting the total would need some special performances, thankfully Mark Pettman and Taylor decided it was their day as they ran riot with the ball. Taylor removed both opening batsman as he was just to quick from them. Pettman showed great control of the ball making it move both ways and was to account for 5 batsmen as they couldn't adjust to the swinging ball. Both bowled thier 10 overs straight through returning figures of Taylor 4 - 35 and Pettman 5-25 as Wherwell restricted St Cross to 69 all out. A brilliant bowling and fielding performance saved Wherwell who now top the division with 4 matches to play.

KJM sponsored Wherwell travelled to Chawton for a 3rd vs. 4th battle. After huge amounts of rain over the last 4 weeks both team were just happy to play. Wherwell lost the toss and were asked to bat on a damp grassy wicket; Beckingham got a beauty of a delivery to knick behind in the first over. This brought Langford to the wicket. Wherwell struggled to get runs and were 17-1 from 10 overs. Deciding that the runs were required Gladwyn tried to a pull a short ball that kept ankle height to remove his middle stump.

So enter Marc Von Guionneau, not known for his stoic defence he was immediately on the charge, he passed his 50 whilst Langford was on 9 at the 20 over stage. Langford, feeling a little left out, started to increase the strike rate as Wherwell looked to build an innings, when Langford unfortunately chipped one up Stuart Taylor positively raced out to the crease. Von Guionneau scored his second 50 runs in under 20 balls as the boundary just wasn’t big enough. He was finally out for 105 scoring 11 x 6’s and 4 x 4’s. Taylor and Christian Nicel both raced passed 50 and both got out on 60. Which left Wherwell with 266-7 from 42 overs.

Chawton knew they would have to start scoring big runs early and decided to try and hit from the off. Mark Pettman got a cheap wicket in his first over as Gladwyn pouched a dolly at mid wicket. Taylor then sent the other opener back to the pavilion as he ripped out the off stump with a well directed yorker. This brought Krempel and Charlton to the crease. They both batted well and took their time to try and get Chawton within a chance of chasing the big total. They batted together until the 34th over when Von Guionneau had Krempel stumped for 63. This enabled Wherwell to restricted the run rate further. Nicel picked up a couple of wickets thanks to the smart glove work of Nigel Horne. Chawton fell well short of the target on 193-6 with Charlton ending on 88 not out.

Next week sees wherwell host St Cross in a must win game.

Back from his stag weekend Nathan Young lost the toss and his KJM sponsored team was invited to field first, Stuart Taylor promptly roared down the slope and following a few streaky runs got his reward when he ripped the batsmans leg stump from the slightly soft ground leaving a quick repair required! this proved to be Wherwells only initial success as edges failed to go to hand. The visitors looked uncomfortable in the face of Taylor, Guilfoyle & Nicel but were surviving and had reached 89 for 1 entering the 20th over however a misjudged single to Alex Gladwyn resulted in a run out and Wherwell suddenly woke up.
Adi Holdway was introduced, to those who haven't met him, and for some reason no one wanted to stay for a chat! Holdway picked up 6 wickets (10 runs 9 overs) as the visiting batsmen failed to read his variations and with Alex Gladwyn also picking a wicket up with a sharp leg break, to go with his run out and a catch it or wear it catch at short square leg, the visitors collapsed from 89 for 1 in 20 overs to 133 all out from 36.
In reply Wherwell's openers started watchfully, Marc Von Goneouio left the first ball and deposited the second close to the river test! this set the tone for the rest of the innings as the home batsmen went for the jugular with aggressive striking from Christian Nicel (52) and Taylor. A couple of cheap wickets didn't slow things down and it came to Dave Langford to stroke the winning 4 past mid on as Wherwell cruised home by 6 wickets with 17 overs to spare.

KJM sponsored Wherwell travelled away to Four Marks this weekend looking to take out the frustration of their first defeat of the season the previous weekend. Upon arrival they were presented with a lovely batting strip which obviously swayed the home captain into electing to bat when he won the toss. He probably hadn’t accounted for the opening burst from Stuart Taylor (6-1-24-4) who steamed down the hill with real purpose. He had the batsmen on the back foot from the off and took wickets almost at will. He was ably backed up by Mark Pettman(8-8-0) from the other end whose hooping swing contained runs superbly. Skipper Nathan Young decided that more pace was required and introduced Matt Guilfoyle (7-3-9-4) who was just as impressive as Taylor in clearing out the tail. Another fine fielding performance, including four well held catches by stand in keeper Elton Adamo, helped to support the bowlers resulting in an all out total of just 59.

Knocking off the runs was never an issue as Mark Von Guionneau set about the attack smashing 36 no including three very well struck 6’s, he had support from Alex Gladwyn (7) and Taylor (14no) as Wherwell completed the chase in just 10 overs losing 2 wickets. It was a welcome return to form as Wherwell look to host Donnington next weekend.

KJM sponsored Wherwell suffered there first defeat of the season. After winning the toss the skipper decided to try and take advantage of the new ball, this proved to be the wrong decision as the rock solid track just proved a batting paradise. J Chislett used to pace from Taylor and Pettman to good effect scoring on a regular basis. A couple of cheap wickets fell but Chislett dug in and looked impossible to remove. It wasn't until the introduction of the veteran Holdway that Wherwell started to put themselves back into the game finally getting Chislett for a well played 63 this started to swing the game back into Wherwells favour. St Mary Bourne finished on 170-7 a score Wherwell thought was about 70 short of par.

However... After a blistering opening 3 overs where Wherwell found themselves on 29-0 this soon collapsed to 60-7 as S Wood picked up some cheap wickets to go with some well deserved wickets, he finished his spell for 6-19. Wherwells tale tried to dig in and bat time and slowly score runs but failed to wag long enough as they fell 59 runs short and were all out for 111.

Wherwell next travel to Four Marks and know they need to up there game if they want to get back to winning ways

These 2 sides played a last day winner takes all for the divisional title on the final saturday of the season last August, since then Wherwell have been bolstered by many new signnings and have won both of their opening matches of the league season.

So when captain Nathan Young managed to win the toss and he had no hesitation and decided to take advantage of an increasingly strong bowling attack, inserting the visitors. This paid off almost immediately when Mark Pettman got an early breakthrough taking a decent caught and bowled to remove their opener. Some big and slightly unconventional hitting from the middle order saw Dinton to 146, however sharp fielding coupled with decent spells from Stuart Taylor (9-31-2), Pettman (8-28-2), and Matt Guilfoyle (10-21-3), made sure it was an all out total that Wherwell would look to chase.

The batting innings got off to a flyer with Alex Gladwyn driving and hooking boundaries aplenty for his swashbuckling 25. A third wicket partnership between Taylor (21) and Rory Stewart-Richardson (31) also produced a flurry of hard hitting boundaries which Guilfoyle added to in his equally entertaining knock of 26. It was a rapid run chase which ended in the 25th over when Christian Nicel stroked 2 glorious cover drives to take his total to 21 not out and get Wherwell past the visitors total for the loss of only 5 wickets ensuring another maximum total for the newly promoted side, who now sit alone at the top of the league table.

KJM sponsored Wherwell 1st XI made the journey to Amesbury on Saturday, a familiar journey over the last few seasons and 1 that has often proved fruitless. Despite some notable absentees the visitors could still turn out a strong side and when the captain called incorrect at the toss there was no cause for concern.

With the bat Wherwell have struggled in previous years to cope with some hostile bowling, and things didn't go to plan when both openers went cheaply. After 10 overs Wherwell were 27 for 3, Stuart Taylor(20) and Dave Langford (31) pushed the score along but with some uneven bounce and lateral movement there was always a ball with your name on it. When Taylor fell with the score on 42 for 4 from 14 things were looking to pan out as normal, but the arrival at the crease of Matt Guilfoyle proved to be the catalyst for an revival. In his typical swashbuckling style he took the game by the scruff of the neck playing some impressive drives and audacious pulls. Wickets continued to fall at the other end  but Guilfoyle continued to power on, when joined at the fall of the 6 wicket by Lee Burgess with the score still only 117 things suddenly accelerated. Guilfoyle brought up a much deserved 50 with a massive 6 over extra cover then followed up with his party piece reverse sweep for four. He fell  going for 1 quick single too many for 74 with the score on 194. Burgess too fell late for a valuable 32 and Wherwell closed their innings on 214 for 9 having scored 97 from the final 14 overs.

So when it came time to bowl a fully charged up Stuart Taylor roared in and the Amesbury innings promptly crumbled, with support from a highly pumped Mark Pettman the home side looked unable to cope with the fire power they faced and as with the previous weeks game Wherwell were electric in the field and this was most apparent in the fine agility demonstrated by Taylor in the slips who took a flyer with his left hand diving high and wide. Amesbury collapsed to 56 for 8 at drinks with Pettman having bowled through 10 overs taking 4 for 14, not wanting to be outdone Taylor returned to pick up a 4th wicket to finish his 10 overs with 4 for 20 but some stubborn hitting by the home side number 9, H White (32 not out) got the score near to the 100 before Ryan Youngs leg spin removed the 10th wicket with a sharp stumping by Nigel Horne. Wherwell completed a memorable and convincing 120 run win.

KJM Sponsored Wherwell started the 2011 season in some style. Following a prolonged dry spell it was no suprise that the first competetive match of the season was threatend by heavy rain, however some determind work on the pitch ensured a game could start as scheduled.

In true tradition Wherwell lost the toss and were asked to bat on a damp pitch. Alex Gladwyn started well by creating pressure on the field by running quick singles. Unfortunately Wherwell lost 3 quick wickets which in previous years would have triggered a colapse, however the last 2 seasons have seen a greater belief and depth in the batting, new players have joined the club and one of those, Stuart Taylor, took the challenge to thebowlers in tandem with David Langford. The fact that these 2 had never batted together didn't seem to cause any problems as both went about there jobs with maximum effect. Langford looked as though he's never been away. Taylor (31) hit some glorious boundaries before a drinks break brought his downfall. Another new signing came to crease as Christian Nicel looked to prove his spot with some big hitting, he quickly raced into the 20's before being bowled for 26. The tail wagged and allowed Langford to reach his 50, but was out 2 balls later for 51, this ensured Wherwell reached 207-9.

Crown Taveners knew chasing 200+ on this damp strip would be hard but they never even got close. Wherwell’s bowling was disciplined from the start. Both Taylor and Mark Pettman hit the spot straight away and never allowed a batsman a easy shot. This only got worse for Taveners as Wherwell turned to Adi Holdway and Matt Guilfoyle who tightened the screw and took wickets as regular intervals. A stunning catch at slip by Ryan Young set the standard for the fielding that has often been an early season embarrassment. Once again though Adi Holdway proved the star of the show taking 6 wickets for only 13 runs from his 10 overs.
Crown taveners were bowled out for 74 within 35 overs meaning Wherwell XI got off to the perfect start for their inaugural season in the 1st division."