Gloucestershire County Cricket League Division Two

Thornbury seconds 220 ao beat Cinderford St John 70 ao by 150 runs

THORNBURY seconds enjoyed an emphatic victory at home over Cinderford St John on Saturday.

Batting first, Josh Riggs got Thornbury seconds off to a flyer with 32 runs before he was trapped lbw. Tom Wheeler had gone earlier for six but Colin Blick kept the scoreboard ticking over.

However Blick went for 24 and Thornbury were on 80-3 after 18 overs. Pete Wheeler and Ollie Humphries started the re-building process and together put away the bad ball and steadied the ship, Cinderford’s bowlers became agitated.

Thronbury seconds continued to pile on the runs and Wheeler and Humphreis put together a match winning partnership of over 100, and set the platform for quick runs at the latter end of the innings.

A rather unfortunate mix up brought the downfall of Humphries, run out for a very well-played 44.

Mark Allen entered the fray and added 11 before missing and being bowled by what can only be described as a slow looping lolly pop of a ball Skipper John Wormwell joined Wheeler who continued to take the bowlers apart with some lusty blows over cover, a score of 220 was now on the cards.

Wheeler’s innings eventually ended for a tremendous 74 being caught going for another expansive drive. The final wickets went cheaply as the seconds ended on 220 all out in 44.5 overs. Thornbury took the field after tea buoyant and looking forward to the challenge of bowling Cinderford out for under 220.

Graham McWhinnie and Paul Wookey wrecked the visiting batting order at the start of the innings, with only opener and captain Edward Ruck making a decent contribution with 23.

The rest of Cinderford’s batsmen were out for single figure scores as McWhinnie ended on 4-25, Wookey had 3-23, captain John Wormwell took 2-17 from three overs, and Josh Lintern had 1-3 at the end to give Thornbury seconds a thumping 150 run victory.