CAPTAIN Tom Wallbridge is refusing to get carried away with Burbage & Easton Royal’s new position at the top of the table and is only interested in seeing his side heading the pile at the end of the season.

Burbage leapfrogged Marshfield, who they travel to this weekend, after disposing of local rivals Marlborough by eight wickets at the Red Lion Field.

Wallbridge hailed his side’s performance as their finest of the season so far, but is keen to rein in any overexcitement as Burbage look to keep their title challenge on track.

“Top is where we want to be but it doesn’t really mean a lot right now – it’s only going to mean something if we’re there at the end of the season,” he said.

“With how tight the league is up there, we’ve just got to keep our feet on the ground and take every game as it comes.

“We had not been playing that well and still picking up points but last weekend was a proper performance – I’d say it was our most complete performance of the season.

“Marlborough are a good side but to beat them comprehensively shows just how well we played and hopefully we can do it again against Marshfield.”

Tom Norris’ Marlborough opted to bat first after winning the toss but were put under the cosh, losing seven wickets for less than 100 runs.

Will Langton made a late unbeaten 31 while Nick Crabbe (28) and Peter Day (22) contributed but the hosts’ Darran Freegard took 4-44 as Marlborough were restricted to 141-8.

The visitors’ George Fox claimed two early wickets but Marlborough failed to spark a comeback as Michael Papps (54 not out) and Daniel Wootton (50 not out) guided Burbage to 144-2 in just over 28 overs.

Elsewhere, Calne notched up their fifth win in seven games as they beat Great Bedwyn by six wickets.

After being put in to bat, Bedwyn skipper John Palmer hit 56 for his side, with Robert Palmer weighing in with 39 and Ashley Perry making 31.

Calne’s Tom Richards (3-29) and Tom Crosby (2-37) did their best to stem the tide as the hosts posted 200-9, with their innings reduced by a single over due to rain.

But the visitors’ Sean Adams spearheaded a run chase, whacking 12 fours as he hit an unbeaten 86.

Jordan Butler made 32 while Stuart Windsor chipped in with 26 as Dan Knight’s side reached 201-4 early in the 42nd over.

Calne captain Knight said: “They were 100-1 after 25 overs, so we did really well to restrict them to 200, with the whole team contributing.

“Jordan Butler got us off to a good start with the bat and then Sean Adams helped knock the runs off.

“We’re doing well at the moment and this is probably the best season we’ve had in the last two or three years.

“We’re mid-table with six games to go so let’s see if we can get a few more wins and try to get into the top four.”

There was disappointment for Devizes, who suffered a 128-run defeat at Purton.

The visitors opted to bowl first but Purton skipper Elliott Hill hit 106 to put his side in control, the hosts’ declaring after racing to 238-5 in 36 overs.

Tom Andrew (33) and opener James Langan (21) offered up the most resistance, but Aakarshit Gomel ended with 5-12 as Devizes were skittled for 110 in less than 30 overs.

Marshfield’s home clash with Nationwide House was rained off.

Goatacre captain Brad Dawson paid tribute to a ‘massive’ victory for his side as they widened the gap between themselves and the Premier Two drop zone last weekend.

The villagers took advantage of some of their rivals’ rain-induced inactivity by shocking title-chasing Clevedon at Dial Hill and moving 28 points clear of the bottom two.

Goatacre also got back to winning ways after a run of three straight defeats and skipper Dawson is hopeful that his side can put together a positive end to the season.

“We were definitely lucky that a lot of other teams didn’t play but when you look at the teams we’ve lost to recently, you wouldn’t expect us to beat a side like Clevedon,” said the Goatacre captain.

“We have struggled a bit, like we did last season, but last year we went unbeaten for the whole second half of the season and if we play like we did last weekend in our last six games, we could definitely get away from the bottom three or four – we’re a better team than that.

“But we’re not looking too far ahead and just need to make sure that we keep on playing at our best.

“We’ve got a game against Chard next weekend, who are right near us, so it’s a big game. But they could easily beat us, so we have to make sure we’re up for it.”

With the match reduced by just a single over due to the wet weather, Goatacre responded well to being put into bat at Dial Hill.

Despite losing opener Ed Wilkins to a duck, Jack Haines (54) and Ed Kilbee (49) put on 95 for the second wicket to get them on the front foot.

Later, knocks from Kevin Iles (37) and Giorgio Rigali (35) helped nudged the score to 215-8 with Clevedon’s Jacob Lintott taking 3-39.

Lintott also played a key role in the reply as he striking 78 after opening the batting.

But led by the bowling of skipper Dawson (3-32), plus Matt House, Craig Gibbens and Kevin Iles, who all took two wickets each, Goatacre steadily worked their way through the Clevedon order.

Mike Hanley (33) and an unbeaten 28 from Will Plummer drew the home side  close to their target but they were eventually dismissed for 207 in the 48th over, with Goatacre taking the win by just eight runs.

Meanwhile, Potterne’s home clash with Keynsham got underway but was abandoned after just four overs of play. Russ Wakefield and Tom Bancroft had made just four and two respectively after being put in to bat by Neil Clark’s men.

The weather wiped out much of the Wadworth 6X West of England Premier League programme on Saturday.

Storms lashed the west Wiltshire area in particular, forcing the cancellation of Corsham’s Premier One home clash with Ashcott & Shapwick.

It was a similar story in the Glos/Wilts Division where Chippenham’s home derby with rivals Swindon was a victim of the conditions, as was Biddestone’s trip to Gloucester City Winget.

Potterne will host a cricket camp at the club from Tuesday, July 29, to Friday, August 1.

The cost is £20 per day or £70 for all four days, with the camp running from 10am-3pm each day. 

Email Ollie on olsmith@hotmail.com to book.

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