Taunton Deane First XI welcomed fellow strugglers, Ilminster, to the Convent Field where the players, officials and supporters gathered before start of play to mark the passing of two Somerset stalwarts, Ray Hancock and Ken Palmer.

The Deane innings had barely started when the danger signs were clear. In the first over Tenny Harlow was taken aback as a delivery from Michael Reynolds jagged back to lift the bails. Reynolds bowled his ten overs in one spell with the just reward of five wickets for just 33 runs. Hugh Moore and Sam Grinter shared the remaining five to fall.

Only Harry Smith (34), Sam Burgess (13) and Extras (20) managed double figures as the Deane innings crumpled to a woefully inadequate 105.

Any suggestion that there were gremlins in the wicket were quickly removed when Ilminster batted. They reached the target for the loss of just one wicket in the 19th over.

The points tally – Ilminster 20, the Deane 0 – was a fair reflection of the gap between the two sides on the day.

The result leaves the Deane stranded at the bottom of the league with two away fixtures coming up – Midsomer Norton and then Weston Super Mare. 

The Deane Second XI returned with tales of a tight and exciting game at Uphill Castle. 

Ali Warren asked the home side to bat and local supporters would have been delighted to see the runs coming at quite a pace. Certainly, George Cox wasn’t hanging about as he clubbed 6 sixes in his 93.

When the Uphill innings closed the scorecard showed the Deane had contributed 63 extras to the home total of 258.

The Deane reply had barely a hiccup as Nicholas Viljoen and Ged Williams-Pritchard put on 64 for the first wicket. Three more Deane youngsters; Alex Chaffey (18), Jonty Lusk (75 no) and Josh Cobb (36) took the score beyond the target with 6 overs to spare. Uphill had made a good stab at matching the Deane generosity by conceding 47 Extras of their own.

It was another good performance for the Deane 2nds who sit 4th in the Somerset Premier League.