Wormelow 3rd XI made the short trip to Lugwardine where they faced Bartestree 4th XI in a Marches League Division 4 clash. Stand-in Wormelow captain Dan Hale lost the toss and his side were invited to bat first.

After the early loss of Jon Herderschee (9) opener Simon Podmore (43) was joined my young prospect Oliver Langford (20) and the pair combined well to get the innings moving. Once they had departed, Dennis Hohne provided the stand out innings of the day as he rattled up 70 runs, his highest score for the club. Some late runs from Dan Hale (24) and Nigel Firman (22) saw Wormelow total a competitive 214-7 from their 40 overs. Isaac Tyler (2-19) and Elliot Hick (2-57) were the pick of the home attack.

After tea, new ball pairing Langford (1-35) and veteran Dave Verry (3-17), set about the Bartestree top order and soon had the batsmen in trouble.

Verry’s three wicket haul saw him move on to 837 wickets for the club, his latest effort coming almost 53 years since he picked up his first wicket.

Young Tom Moore (1-13) and Josh Hale (1-6) then got amongst the wickets, along with Dan Hale (3-3) who finished with the best figures of the day. Bartestree were dismissed for 76 in the 24th over as Wormelow triumphed by 138 runs. Matthew Strangward (35) was the top scorer with the bat for Bartestree.

Next week Wormelow host Herefordians at Kingstone High School, this promises to be a tough fixture against the team that won the league last season but then refused promotion.