Today (Sunday 9th February) saw the Indoor first team travel to Pewsey to play in the Wiltshire County Indoor Cricket Finals. The day saw them play in a round robin format against the representatives from the two other Wiltshire Indoor leagues – Biddestone and South Wilts CC, who got all the way to the Lords final day last year.

Unfortunately for the travelling support the first news we received was that the hall didn’t have a viewing gallery! After a workaround was found the supporters and scorers huddled behind netting at the keepers end to watch the action - up close and personal, if not slightly hampered by the thick mesh screening.

The first game saw Swindon take on Biddestone, who won the toss and decided to check out conditions by bowling first. They started well, restricting the scoring rate, but were unable to take a wicket. This saw Chris Aubrey then Alex Kill retire, quickly followed by Connor Taylor. The wickets in hand let the players take risks and push hard for runs in the final few overs, with the final total a very healthy 140-4 (Aubrey 28, Kill 25, Taylor 34*). Despite not being at their best, the SCC players then squeezed Biddestone from the off during the reply. Biddestone finished 107 all out, with every wicket a run out!

Following a quick turnaround Swindon lost another toss and found themselves batting again in the second game against South Wilts. South Wilts have had a good record in the competition over recent years, so this was expected to be a good test. Again, the lads started steadily, gently ticking the scoring rate over, and found themselves 27-1 after 4 overs, Aubrey the man to fall for 16. From here the scoring rate accelerated as Kill, Taylor and Goodwin did well to pick the gaps and mix in the odd boundary. Against a good bowling attack, the score of 121 (Kill 31*, Taylor 29 and Goodwin 27) looked competitive. In the field Swindon again started well, taking a wicket in the first (Taylor) and third (Kill) overs. The squeeze continued and pressure started to tell on South Wilts at the half way stage, with their score of 29-2 leaving a lot to be done. Despite some better overs, South Wilts were unable to challenge the Swindon total, finishing 80 all out in the last over (Pittman 35, Cowley 28). Pick of the bowlers for Swindon was Taylor with 2-13 off his three overs.

This meant that the final round robin fixture couldn’t impact Swindon’s progression in the national cup. What a great way to start 2020! The next round, against the Somerset champions will take place (hopefully) at the Croft Sports Centre in Old Town on Sunday 23rd February. Keep your eyes peeled for confirmation – it would be great to have some support on the day. A win at this stage would see the team travel to Taunton, with the winner of a knockout there going on to the finals day at Lords!

Thanks today need to go to the Pewsey centre for hosting, Wilts Cricket (particularly Pete Mathius) for his work on logistics, the two umpires (of which Pete was one!) and Ian ‘Ticky’ Titcombe and the other scorers.

Pictured - Back Row L-R Chris Aubrey, Alex Kill, Adam Tucker. Front Row L-R Liam Tucker, Connor Taylor and Jake Goodwin.