BURBAGE skipper David Cope believes Saturday’s win against Cheltenham serves to reinforce his belief that anyone can beat anyone in Prem Two Glos/Wilts division.

Cope, who teamed up with Henry Cooper to hit a match-winning partnership of 92 against a then unbeaten Cheltenham side, was left pleased with his troops’ performance despite hitting a below par score.

The win lifts Burbage to fourth in the division, 18 points short of table-topping Thornbury, after winning three of their opening four games.

Cope said: “It was a fantastic win for us, and a decent game too.

“We felt after we batted we scored just below par, it was a tricky pitch to bat yourself in.

“If you managed to get yourself in, it was fine. Myself and Henry (Cooper) felt we should’ve scored more.

“Often going on can be the difference between scoring what we did and scoring 220/230.

“We had some good contributions down the order which helped us push to a fair total.”

Burbage totalled 172-7 from 50 overs as Cooper (51) and Cope (45) established stability in the home side’s innings before late knocks from Jonathon Chandler (22) and Craig Simmons (14*) saw Burbage ended their 50 overs 28 runs short of 200.

Fine bowling efforts from Oliver Lavis (3-15) and Henry Cooper (3-18) restricted Cheltenham as they struggled to deal with the home side’s spin attack.

“We knew Cheltenham were very strong at batting,” said Cope.

“They were unbeaten before last weekend.

“But we took early wickets and backed it up with some tight spin bowling. We squeezed Cheltenham and made it hard for them.

“Everyone contributed, and the majority of wickets fell to spin.”

Burbage are next in action on Saturday against another unbeaten side in the shape of Dumbleton.

While Cope believes his men have the ability to record another win and end Dumbleton’s run, he warned they face stiff competition.

“Dumbleton will be another tough game against another unbeaten side,” he said.

“Already we’re looking at the league table and results that go with it, it’s clear everyone can beat everyone.

“There will be different results each week, I can’t see one team walking away with it.”

Elsewhere in Prem Two Glos/Wilts, Biddestone crashed to a 44-run loss and dropped down to sixth after being skittled all out for 134 by Thornbury.

While Thornbury themselves fell short of 200, as Luke Davis’ men failed to build on a strong opening partnership established by openers Dan Davis and Nick Willis-Stovold, the visitors proved too much in the bowling department for Biddestone.

Opener Dwaine Perry hit a handy 40, but that was as good as it got for Luke Panes’ troops as they were forced to settle for six bonus points.

Corsham also suffered defeat on the road at Westbury and District.

Tom Foley’s men restricted Westbury to 181-5 from their 50 overs as Tom Smith (2-27) starred with the ball.

In reply, Corsham crashed to 131 all out, though, as only Sam Collier (49) provided any resistance.