WILTSHIRE may have slipped to a third Unicorns Championship Western Division defeat on the spin this week but Ashur Morrison believes that his patched-up side deserve plenty of credit for giving Devon a run for their money.

The county are rooted to the foot of the table but despite having star bowler Tahir Afridi injured and newly-appointed captain Ed Young unavailable, only fell 70 runs short of upsetting their hosts at Creedy Park in Sandford.

Vice-captain Morrison, who deputised for Young, opted to concentrate on the positives to come out of Wiltshire’s performance at Devon, with 17-year-old debutant William Wade standing out as he hit an unbeaten 83 in the visitors’ second innings.

Joe King took 5-55 as Wiltshire began by bowling out Devon for 251 but their first spell at the crease proved a disappointment as they were dismissed for just 163, Patrick Grieshaber top-scoring with a knock of 47.

The visitors did prove effective with the ball once more, Jake Lintott taking 6-81 as Devon were bowled out again in less than 60 overs but, after resuming on 40-3 on Tuesday and chasing 262 for victory, Wade’s heroics weren’t enough to inspire a successful run-chase, with Morrison’s men all out for 231 early in the 76th over.

“To be honest, I’m not too disheartened by the loss and I think that we actually deserve some credit for the way that we performed,” said the stand-in skipper.

“To bowl them out for 251 without Tahir was great. He has a shoulder injury, so he couldn’t bowl, and he’s our best bowler, so with him, I think that we could have kept them down to 180-odd.

“The spinners – Joe King and Jake Lintott – both bowled really well and William Wade was brilliant. He got his county cap at the start of the game and ended up being named man of the match.

“We were also missing Ed and that’s a huge blow because he’s not only a good batsman but his advice is always really helpful.

“I’ve been playing county cricket for five or six years and I can’t really remember going to Devon and winning very often. We went there with a young side and should be proud of getting 70 runs away from beating them.”