Despite the rain there was cricket played at Winsley on Sunday afternoon. The women’s XI welcomed Devizes in the WEPL premier division. Devizes batted first and reached the formidable total of 256-5 in their 40 overs. Jen Heppell 41 and opener Roman Sabin put on 118 for the third wicket with Rowan finishing on 99*. Jemimah Barker took 3-34 in her 8 overs for Winsley. After a bright start, wickets fell regularly in the Winsley innings. Modester top scored with 30. Winsley were eventually bowled out for 68 in 18 overs. Fantasy points were not officially awarded for performances in the Women’s games but if they were, the top three for Winsley would be Modester 581 fps, Lauren Adams 429 fps and Holly Presswell 128 fps. The women still have one more match away at Bath on Sunday September 6th. Thanks must be shown to Erica Baxter for leading the team in their debut WEPL season and to Modester for her excellent wicket keeper-batting. I’m sure you will join us in wishing Modester our best as she jets off to join the Zimbabwe squad for their 5 match T20 series which starts in Bulawayo on the 11th September.
What a summer this has been! Just weeks 1, 6 and 18 had cancelled or abandoned matches and there has mostly been wall to wall sunshine. The temperatures have been particularly high and the Met Office are predicting that this pattern is likely to be repeated in 2027; the impact of global warming has arrived! Credit again must be given to the groundsmen all around the county who have had to work so very hard to produce playable wickets. Andrew Cross and his team at Winsley have produced some belters although I suspect again that the water bill for 2026 will be astronomical! If this was not enough, 2026 saw the first use of Southwick as our outground and pitch reports here have been very favourable; pitch scores for division 8 and 10 have placed Southwick in mid-table in the first year.
With few cancellations, more games being played and more victories it is not too surprising that there has been quite a jump in the fantasy scores. Last year Neil Hussey won with 6748 points so John Spencer’s total of 9043 is just short of the record set of 9211 in 2022. I should also give an honourable mention to Pat Spencer who trailed him for much of the season and finished only 160 points behind.John’s winning team was:
As reported last week, the fantasy cup was won by Hugo Bradbury’s ‘Run Out of Ideas’ beating Laura Holton’s ‘Holtons Wicket Wonders’in the final. This is a good moment to wish both Hugo good luck as he travels to Traralgon to the south east of Melbourne to continue his cricket during the winter and also good luck to Laura as she recovers from the nasty cricketing injury to her foot.
The Ist XI ended their season away at Chippenham where heavy rain made the cancellation inevitable. With all matches in division 1 having a similar fate it means that Winsley finished 2nd behind Bishops Cannings and are promoted back to WEPL Wiltshire at their first attempt.
The Wiltshire League division one top statistics are full of Winsley performances. Scoring was diligently done by Julie Hendy so a special thank you to her for her dedication over the season.
Top performers for the 1st in the Wiltshire League were:
The seconds were due to be home to relegated Biddestone. The considered opinion at Christian Malford last week was that promotion was still possible but, in truth, results elsewhere had not gone well and 4th place looked to be the highest that could be reached. Winsley have actually finished 5th in Division 4 after the game was abandoned.
Top performers for the 2nds in the Wiltshire League were
The 3rds finished 8th in league 8 after their game against Swindon Hunters was cancelled.
The 4th XI game at home to Spye was also abandoned leaving Winsley 7th out of 8. Calne won the league with a tad of controversy if you wish to analyse this week's results with a suspicious forfeit. . The only player on the WCCL honours board was Michael Sherring who scored 127 the 5th highest innings. He was also the top scorer with 192 runs in just two innings. Henry Sparrowhawk led the bowlers with 8 wickets.
The final honours boards for 2026 are as follows. There were 9 more centuries than last year and an increase of 1 for five wicket hauls.
Centuries |
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Week | Player | Team | Opposition | Runs |
2 | Freddie Richards | Winsley | Malmesbury | 102 |
3 | Bruno Broughton | Winsley | Melksham | 100 |
4 | Michael Sherring | Winsley 4 | Swindon 5 | 127 |
5 | Charlie Holton | Winsley | Swindon 2 | 109 |
8 | Freddie Richards | Winsley | Biddestone | 151 |
8 | Charlie Holton | Winsley | Biddestone | 100 |
10 | Josh Norgrove-Gray | Winsley | Royal Wootton Bassett 2 | 115 |
12 | Monty Lunt | Winsley 3 | Trowbridge 3 | 101 |
12 | Neil Jelly | Winsley 4 | Calne 3 | 100 |
15 | Freddie Richards | Winsley | Devizes | 130 |
15 | Modester Mupachitwa | Winsley Women | Hatherley and Reddings | 158 |
15 | Lauren Adams | Winsley Women | Hatherley and Reddings | 117 |
17 | Jon Keepen | Winsley 2 | Christian Malford | 129 |
Five Wicket Hauls |
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Week | Player | Team | Opposition | Figures |
3 | Jasper Richards | Winsley | Melksham | 5-0-12-6 |
4 | Finn Hughes | Winsley 4 | Swindon 5 | 6-0-25-5 |
5 | John Iles | Winsley 3 | Bradford-on-Avon 2 | 9-1-42-7 |
8 | Jasper Richards | Winsley | Biddestone | 9-2-34-5 |
14 | James Cousens | Winsley 2 | White Horse | 4-1-16-5 |
16 | George Timbrell Whittle | Winsley 3 | Marshfield 3 | 9-1-33-5 |
In summary, the key statistics are:
This gives a final table for 2026.
Rank | Manager | Team Name | Total Points |
1 | John Spencer | C’Mon Citeh | 9043 |
2 | Pat Spencer | The 3T’s | 8883 |
3 | Hugo Bradbury | Run Out of Ideas | 8294 |
4 | Simon Richards | Six Pistols | 7826 |
5 | Chris Mann | Dos Cruzcampos por favour | 7734 |
6 | Charlie holton | Chairman’s xi | 7652 |
7 | Laura Holton | Holton’s Wicket Wonders | 7486 |
8 | Ros Garrod | Dreadlocks | 7370 |
9 | Nick Swinburne | Viva España | 7356 |
10 | Chris Hole | Stuck At Cow Corner | 7234 |
11 | Jasper Richards | Jasper's Bumrah | 7153 |
12 | Noah Holton-Hunt | Holton-Hunt's Heros | 7145 |
13 | Dexter holton | Dexters dynamos | 7005 |
14 | Vicki & Jon Keepen | Keepen The Faith | 7002 |
15 | Jenny Smith | Granny's winners | 6900 |
16 | Simon Howell | The Photographers XI | 6849 |
17 | Stuart McCollam | Caravan Club | 6842 |
18 | Wayne Griffiths | Welsh Wizards | 6822 |
19 | Chris Tebb | Probably better using darts | 6688 |
20 | Neil Hussey | Allez Les Greens | 6633 |
21 | Toby Nightingale | Tobinators | 6571 |
22 | Josh Norgrove | Berries and not many cherries | 6498 |
23 | Jan Light | See the Light | 6461 |
24 | Freddie Richards | Full Toss Tossers | 6403 |
25 | Elly Norgrove | EllysXI | 6401 |
26 | Thomas Felstead | Noggens Fc | 6309 |
27 | Ben strange | Odd Oliver’s idiosyncratic 11 | 6271 |
28 | Keith Potter | Potter's Pirates | 6234 |
29 | Ben Phillips | Prof's XI | 6199 |
30 | Kirsty Clark | Winsley Dragons | 6159 |
31 | Pete Merrell | Barrow Street Farmers | 6081 |
32 | Peter orchard | Old and new | 5669 |
33 | Matthew Garrod | Seagull Steamers | 5590 |
34 | Emily Richards | Walking the boundary with Scout | 5474 |
35 | Adrian Jeffrey | Viking Gold | 5379 |
36 | Tim Merrell | Timmy’s Triers | 5370 |
37 | Erica Baxter | NeverGonnaSayGoodbye XI | 5360 |
38 | Niall MacDougall | Wot5points! | 5277 |
39 | Michelle Hole | Where’s Woakes and Woody | 5133 |
40 | Josh Lewis | Boomstick Brigade | 4766 |
41 | Martyn Garrod | The Dead Balls | 4570 |
42 | Ben Garrod | In ChatGPT I Trust | 4551 |
43 | Fi Llywelln | Fi Fi Fo Fum | 4444 |
44 | Iwan Legg | Joss wrights duck pond | 4313 |
45 | Kevin Hendy | And in First Place | 4115 |
46 | Cameron Selway | Norfolk In Chance | 3928 |
47 | Nadeem Ahmed | Western Force | 3643 |
48 | Ben Howe | Yabba Dabba we bat too | 3483 |
49 | Jaime iles | Iles Be Back | 3448 |
50 | Peter Mundy | Bored of Peas | 3295 |
51 | Darren OConnor | GreenMachine | 2565 |
Final Individual player fantasy scores for the year are at the bottom of this email.
Over the season the most valuable fantasy player based on the point to value average and FANTASY PLAYER OF THE YEAR with a point to average value of 185 is Charlie Holton & Freddie Richards.This result is based on the original points value given at the start of the season and finally rubber stamped by Huss. In general these values were a bit too generous this year (JNG only 8!) and will be significantly increased for 2027.
Charlie was given a value of 6 and scored 1110 fantasy points. Remarkably, Freddie Richards, his opening partner has identical figures.
The top 5 in the value to point average are
A | Charlie Holton | 6 | 1110 | 185.00 |
A | Freddie Richards | 6 | 1110 | 185.00 |
C | JNG | 8 | 1286 | 161.4 |
D | Modester | 6 | 947 | 157.8 |
A | Peter Merrell | 4 | 631 | 152.75 |
In rank order the following 12 also had fantasy point/value average over 100.
Iwan Legg, Hugo Bradbury, John Iles, Matt Cousens, Ben Phillips, Jon Keepen, Jordan Wickens, Jasper Richards, Gareth Pugh, Michael Sherring, Toby Nightingale, Oli Howe.
Best newcomer for 2026 .ie scored 0 points in 2025. In order the top 5 in this category would be JNG, Modester, Hugo Bradbury, Peter Merrell, Matt Cousens.
The top 20 fantasy scorers throughout the season were:
Rank | Player | Week Number | Score |
1 | Freddie Richards | 8 | 256 |
2 | Josh Norgrove-Gray | 10 | 245 |
3 | Freddie Richards | 15 | 220 |
4 | Jon Keepen | 17 | 219 |
5 | Charlie Holton | 5 | 199 |
6 | Michael Sherring | 4 | 197 |
7 | Nelson Owen | 14 | 193 |
8 | Bruno Broughton | 3 | 190 |
9 | John Iles | 5 | 182 |
10 | Gareth Pugh | 16 | 181 |
11 | Neil Jelly | 12 | 180 |
12 | Matty Garrod | 11 | 178 |
13 | Freddie Richards | 2 | 172 |
14 | George Timbrell Whittle | 16 | 171 |
15 | Charlie Holton | 8 | 160 |
15 | Modester Mupachitwa | 9 | 160 |
17 | Hugo Bradbury | 2 | 157 |
18 | Jack Hawkins | 11 | 156 |
18 | Matthew Cousens | 17 | 156 |
20 | Matthew Cousens | 14 | 154 |
Individual Totals for Whole Season.
JNG tops the fantasy point scoreboard with 1286 points. The record here was Campbell McKegg with 1618 points in 2022. The top 11 fantasy players are
1 | Josh Norgrove-Gray | 8 | 1286 |
2 | Charlie Holton | 6 | 1110 |
3 | Freddie Richards | 6 | 1110 |
4 | Jon Keepen | 7 | 962 |
5 | Modester Mupachitwa | 6 | 947 |
6 | Hugo Bradbury | 5 | 720 |
7 | Jasper Richards | 6 | 681 |
8 | Gareth Pugh | 6 | 662 |
9 | Peter Merrell | 4 | 631 |
10 | Ben Strange | 7 | 629 |
11 | Toby Nightingale | 6 | 621 |
This team would have cost 67 units (only 62 allowed) and, with JNG as captain, scored a total of 10,645 points.
Using the correct selection criteria ( 3 in group A, 4 in group B etc..) the team of the season would be similar except Modester loses out to Josh Lewis and Hugo Bradbury to John Iles.
List A | Charlie Holton | 6 | 1110 |
List A | Freddie Richards | 6 | 1110 |
List A | Gareth Pugh | 6 | 662 |
List B | Peter Merrell | 4 | 631 |
List B | Ben Strange | 7 | 629 |
List B | Toby Nightingale | 6 | 621 |
List B | Josh Lewis | 6 | 525 |
List C | Josh Norgrove-Gray | 8 | 1286 |
List C | Jasper Richards | 6 | 681 |
List C | John Iles | 4 | 573 |
List D | Jon Keepen | 7 | 962 |
This team would have cost 66 units and, with JNG as captain, scored a total of 10076 points.
After a good deal of playing around (and assistance from AI) we think the
AFFORDABLE fantasy team of the season costing 62 units or less and following the selection criteria is (unless you can do better) sees Josh Lewis miss out from the team above and he is replaced by Jordan Wickens. This team would cost 62 units and with Josh as captain scored 9808 points Just remember John Spencer’s winning total of 9043 included transfers!
As ever my thanks to everyone for joining in during the centenary year. The captains, umpires and the scorers for being prompt with the results and Ben Garrod for helping with all the data, spreadsheets and AI (will I be needed next year?!) Also thanks to those that contributed £5 or so and this has been used to support Dorothy House. There is still time to donate if you would like to support this good cause. £5 per team payable by BACS to Winsley CC account sort code 40-13-17 account 91419471. Please use Payment reference FANTASY + YOUR SURNAME.
See you again in 2027 if you want us!
Martyn and Ben
| List | Name | Value | Total Points |
| A | Simon Richards | 8 | 472 |
| A | Neil Hussey | 7 | 100 |
| A | Andy Owen | 7 | 474 |
| A | Phil Drake | 7 | 190 |
| A | Freddie Richards | 6 | 1110 |
| A | Charlie Holton | 6 | 1110 |
| A | James Hole | 6 | 114 |
| A | Gareth Pugh | 6 | 662 |
| A | Michael Sherring | 5 | 527 |
| A | Niall MacDougall | 5 | 135 |
| A | Neil Hendey | 5 | 0 |
| A | Rupert Holliday Evans | 4 | 182 |
| A | Ed Mcbride | 4 | 0 |
| A | Rupert Pugh | 4 | 219 |
| A | Ollie Howe | 4 | 410 |
| A | Tom Hulbert | 4 | 0 |
| A | Neil Gibson | 4 | 0 |
| A | Daryl Ball | 3 | 162 |
| A | Sebastian Townsend | 3 | 24 |
| A | James Cargill | 3 | 199 |
| A | Arther Hendey | 3 | 0 |
| A | Patrick Mulholland | 3 | 0 |
| A | Riley Cousens | 3 | 16 |
| A | Oliver Felstead | 3 | 38 |
| A | Charlotte Morrison | 3 | 0 |
| A | Michael Bogg | 3 | 65 |
| A | Isaac Jones | 3 | 0 |
| A | George Emberson | 3 | 0 |
| A | Neil Harris | 2 | -26 |
| A | Richard McBride | 2 | 124 |
| A | Rob Hawkins | 2 | 165 |
| A | Alfie Valler | 2 | 6 |
| A | Lawrence Lindsay | 2 | 0 |
| A | Finley Slemen | 2 | 0 |
| A | Oscar Lowton | 1 | 0 |
| A | John Melton | 1 | 0 |
| A | Nick Swinburne | 1 | 0 |
| B | Sam Mcwade | 8 | 159 |
| B | Ben Strange | 7 | 629 |
| B | Peter Orchard | 6 | 436 |
| B | Toby Nightingale | 6 | 621 |
| B | Josh Lewis | 6 | 525 |
| B | Erica Baxter | 6 | 358 |
| B | Chris Mann | 6 | 326 |
| B | Thomas Felstead | 6 | 0 |
| B | Chris Hole | 5 | 240 |
| B | Wayne Griffiths | 5 | 296 |
| B | Darren O Connor | 5 | -24 |
| B | Lawrie Lewis | 4 | 217 |
| B | Bella Tweddle | 4 | 253 |
| B | Henry O'Connor | 4 | -11 |
| B | Chris Barrow | 4 | 0 |
| B | Peter Merrell | 4 | 631 |
| B | Chris Tebb | 4 | 130 |
| B | Simon Orchard | 3 | 0 |
| B | Henry Sparrowhawk | 3 | 219 |
| B | Ollie Sandell | 2 | 24 |
| B | Freddie Fenton | 2 | 68 |
| B | Khoshal Babakarkhil | 2 | 5 |
| B | Arthur Sherring | 2 | 24 |
| B | Ian Sparrowhawk | 2 | 10 |
| B | Joshua Tempeton-Trowell | 2 | -14 |
| B | Nigel Simpson | 2 | 18 |
| B | Jordan Wickens | 2 | 257 |
| B | Ben Garrod | 1 | 0 |
| B | Michael Wilson | 1 | 0 |
| B | Tim Merell | 1 | 0 |
| B | Shiraz Babakarkhil | 1 | 72 |
| B | Charlie Gennard | 1 | 0 |
| C | Ben Howe | 9 | 195 |
| C | Qayoum Abdul | 8 | 291 |
| C | Josh Norgrove-Gray | 8 | 1286 |
| C | Stuart McCollum | 7 | 260 |
| C | Nadeem Ahmed | 6 | 0 |
| C | Matty Garrod | 6 | 457 |
| C | Ethan Pugh | 6 | 125 |
| C | Jasper Richards | 6 | 681 |
| C | Davie Melton | 5 | -8 |
| C | Mark Matthews | 5 | 53 |
| C | Nelson Owen | 5 | 328 |
| C | Michael Bogg | 5 | 65 |
| C | Archie Gordon | 5 | 0 |
| C | Luke Walker | 4 | 42 |
| C | Michael Brailsford | 4 | 0 |
| C | Duncan Sparrowhawk | 4 | 142 |
| C | James Call | 4 | 0 |
| C | Dan Call | 4 | 0 |
| C | John Iles | 4 | 573 |
| C | Jamie iles | 4 | 25 |
| C | Matthew Cousens | 3 | 422 |
| C | Silas Hendey | 3 | 0 |
| C | Jack Hawkins | 3 | 161 |
| C | Connor Dearlove | 3 | 0 |
| C | Oliver Badger | 3 | 10 |
| C | James Cousens | 3 | 203 |
| C | Iwan Legg | 2 | 292 |
| C | Qadeem Ahmadzai | 2 | 198 |
| C | Faheem Ahmadzai | 2 | 0 |
| C | Jonny Bensted | 2 | 0 |
| C | Johnny Lewis | 2 | 0 |
| C | Andrew Cross | 2 | 109 |
| C | Jos Wright | 2 | 0 |
| C | Drew Fletcher | 2 | 0 |
| C | Becky Chapman | 2 | -60 |
| C | Henry Morgan | 2 | 35 |
| C | Alfie Lemanski | 2 | 0 |
| C | Henry Dent | 2 | 30 |
| C | Rory Howell | 2 | 0 |
| C | Phil Wilson | 1 | 0 |
| C | Steve Tweddle | 1 | 0 |
| C | Rob Cousens | | 100 |
| D | Jon Keepen | 7 | 962 |
| D | Kevin Hendy | 7 | 303 |
| D | Ollie Hendy | 6 | 513 |
| D | Modester Mupachitwa | 6 | 947 |
| D | Neil Gliddon | 5 | 19 |
| D | Cameron Selway | 5 | 352 |
| D | Hugo Bradbury | 5 | 720 |
| D | Ben Phillips | 1 | 137 |
