Saturday, May 15

ECB Cornwall Premier League

St Just (193 all out)

Werrington (62 all out)

Werrington let slip a good position as they fell to a 131-run defeat in their Premier League opener at St Just.

Nick Lawson’s side travelled to Cape Road hoping that the change to 50-over cricket would do them some good after a tough start to the summer in the Tribute T20 Kernow Crash.

After St Just skipper Gareth May won the toss and chose to bat on a used pitch, May and wicketkeeper Steve Kevern started sensibly against the new-ball pairing of Jordan Duke and Dan Barnard, before gradually upping the ante. Their partnership had reached 72 when Ian Worsnip castled Kevern for 36. May (32) then went on the same score, caught at mid-off trying to smash Jason Seldon over the top.

Seldon, playing his first Premier League game, and who was playing Division Three East cricket for Tintagel in 2019, was proving a handful. He soon dismissed Somerset T20 star Max Waller with one that nipped in to take the off-stump, before having Sri Lankan overseas player Chamikara Edirisinghe caught behind by Lawson via an inside edge on to pad for just one.

It was soon 94-5 as Ben Smeeth trapped Neil Curnow lbw for 8. Smeeth (3-32) and fellow off-spinner Adam Hodgson (2-24) then went to work, taking wickets at regular intervals as St Just fell to 145-9.

However, the last-wicket pairing of Josh Semmens (31no) and Ben Ellis (21) added a critical 45 before Ellis was caught by Mark Gribble off Dan Barnard.

Werrington knew a good start was crucial, with Waller and Edirisinghe to come, but after 20 overs the game was all but done.

Ben Stevens (3-10) and Ellis (1-15) bowled ten overs apiece, with Stevens accounting for Hodgson caught behind for 5, debutant Hugh Tomkinson lbw for 4 and Lawson bowled for 0, while Ellis got the big wicket of Gribble for a duck, bowled off his inside edge. Opener Adam Jenkin was run out for 4.

Although Smeeth hung around for 66 balls in making 17, Werrington slipped to 40-8 as Edirisinghe’s left-arm spin didn’t take long to dismiss Tom Lyle, Dan Barnard and Smeeth. Duke (18) took a liking to Waller’s leg-spin, slog sweeping him for three fours and a six before he was caught on the boundary to end the game.

Werrington will look for a response when they host Redruth at Ladycross on Saturday (1pm).

Lawson admits he was left with mixed emotions. “I said before the game that we need to take early wickets, and although we didn’t do that, we bowled well and didn’t let them get away.

“Then Jason and Snippy (Ian Worsnip) came on and took crucial wickets, and at 94-5 I was thinking we were right in it. If we could have bowled them out for 125/130 I would have been delighted. But then, from 145-9, Josh Semmens and Ben Ellis to be fair to them batted sensibly, took calculated risks and waited till the last two or three overs to push on.

“Unfortunately we let them get away. At tea I thought we’d give it a go even though we knew it’d be tough with 20 overs of excellent spin to come. But we needed partnerships and we didn’t get that.

“Their opening bowlers showed us exactly how to bowl on that wicket with a tidy line and length and changes of pace. We kept losing wickets and although Ben hung around and Dukey hit a few, it was game over.

“We’ll get to training in the week, hit as many balls as we can and try to put a real value on our wickets. We know we need to be getting decent scores.”

Redruth picked up just one point at St Austell on Saturday, but Lawson expects both teams to bounce back hard. “We’ll always go into games looking to win, but we know Redruth is a game we need points from. They’re a good young side who have improved a lot over the last few years, and are a well-established Premier League club.

“They have a good spinner in Craig Johnson and several good young seamers, so we know what to expect, but we’ll be ready to try and get our first league win.”

St Just (19pts) beat Werrington (5) by 131 runs.