POTTERNE skipper Ashur Morrison admired the flexibility of his side after they cruised to a seven-wicket win at home to Bristol on Saturday in their opening West of England Premier One fixture.

The hosts bowled out Bristol for just 144 as Jake Goodwin starred with the ball, returning with figures of 3-13 from four overs, while half-centuries from Ed Young and Neil Clark guided Potterne past their target.

The win leaves Potterne joint-second in the league table with Downend after the first round of matches, and Morrison said he’s pleased with his side’s positive early signs.

“It was a very comprehensive victory for us,” said Morrison.

“We bowled to plan and hit the right line and length.

“What pleased me was how the wickets were shared out. We used seven bowlers, which made it a strong team performance.”

Morrison utilised his bowling attack by using seven men in his attack with five sharing the 10 wickets between them.

And it’s Potterne’s strength in depth on the field that could come to rescue valuable league points later in the season, according to Morrison.

He said: “We’ve got a strong side and can afford to be flexible as we have plenty of bowling options.

“If batsman start lining our bowlers up and look comfortable we can chop and change things around.

“Flexibility keeps things fresh. I appreciated the players’ enthusiasm, they all adopted the tactics I want and did as I asked.

“It was a successful weekend.”

Though Potterne slipped to 22-2 after openers Thomas Cullen (nine) and Basil Akram (one) were sent to the pavilion early, half-centuries from Young and Clarke rescued the match for Potterne.

“Kieran (Noema-Barnett) bowled tight lines and moved the ball around, which put us three down early on,” said Morrison.

“But I always back my team to chase down a 140 score.

“It would’ve been nice for the victory to be easier, but to bowl our opposition out for less than 150 in our first game is great.”

“Edward (Young) and Neil (Clark) both batted superbly.

“I enjoy batting and it would’ve been nice to get out there myself, but as captain it’s pleasing to see players take responsibility.”

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Goatacre suffered a seven-wicket loss at home to Downend.

After losing the toss, Goatacre were put into bat and despite losing Jack Haines early on, Ed Wilkins’ men recovered to reach 85-2 at a run-a-ball rate.

But wickets fell at regular intervals from there as Goatacre were bowled out for a disappointing 170 - only Wilkins (37 not out) could advance past 35.

In reply, Downend suffered an early blow when Ben Ford was caught for one – leaving the visitors at 2-1.

But a half century from Callum Loud (53 not out) and a steady knock from Nathan Roberts (43) guided Downend to 171-3 with 14 overs to spare.

Goatacre picked up three points for their efforts while Downend returned to Gloucestershire with 20 points.