The Saturday 2ndXI have won 10 of their 14 matches to occupy third place. The highlights of the batting have been the 11 half-centuries by Pete Baczala, Cameron Beard (2) Tim Ives, Steve Kent, King, Mike Nash (2), Paul Norman and Tom Salmon (2). There have also been useful contributions by Andy Baczala, Pete Barker, David Haines and Paul Yerby. In terms of the bowling, the highlights have been Matt Beard's hat-trick and 5 wicket hauls from both Barker, Dave Morton and Pete Richards. There have also been contributions from Elliott Baczala, Barker, Kent, Nash, Chris Rabjohns, Tom Salmon and Andy Tillman.

BATSMAN OF THE YEAR:- Mike Nash

BOWLER OF THE YEAR:- Dave Morton

FIELDER OF THE YEAR:- Cameron Beard

11th July vs Pimperne

Two weeks into the second half of the season and it is now two out of two as Swanage extended their winning run to 3 in a row. With the added bonus of surprise defeats for league leaders Sherborne and close rivals Stur and HInton it was a good day all round for Swanage as they moved into 3rd place, 7 points behind second place Shillingstone. Bowling first, Swanage opened with Elliot and the returning Tom Salmon who both took early wickets. Pimperne batted aggressively throughout and as Steve and Narnas took up the attack wickets continued to fall. A good piece of fielding by Tom and then wickets from C and Dubs left the 9 men of Pimperne all out for 126.

Swanage just needed to bat their overs to win but Pimperne showed real fight in the field, bowling accurately to keep up sustained early pressure. With last week's batting hero Narnas and Chunk gone it was left to Norms and C to rebuild. But once they were out Swanage looked in real trouble. The usual calming influence of in form Steve along with the promoted Joel soon changed things for the better. First with some well run singles and twos and then as Joel settled, in his first innings of the season, some big blows including a six - it was just like old times. Sadly as Swanage neared victory Joel was out to great catch leaving Steve and Elliot to take us to the brink of victory. Elliot fell with just 5 needed but Steve hit another 4 to take Swanage over the line and their 7th win of the season.

Pimperne 126 all out Swanage 127 - 6 Swanage won by 4 wickets

27th June vs Corfe Mullen

As Swanage 2nds reached the half way point of their season they returned to winning ways. With Dessie injured, Pete Barker won the toss and decided to field. Opening the bowling with the returning Elliot Baczala and Tillers, Swanage were able to get off to a good start. Elliot finally got the breakthrough as Steve Kent took the first of his 3 catches. He also got the second wicket when he came on to bowl soon after. That was it for a while as Corfe Mullen rebuilt their innings. It was the introduction of Dave Morton which really made the difference as with his usual spin and guile he slowly but surely worked his way through the rest of the batting. With Narnas taking two wickets Corfe continued to collapse until it was left to Dave with his 5th wicket to finish off the innings.

With both usual openers missing it was Narnas and Tim who got the Swanage innings started. They got off to a flier against some inaccurate bowling and Swanage were moving along at nearly 10 an over. With Narnas gone Tim was joined by C and the fast scoring continued. When Tim fell for 23, C was joined by Steve and Swanage were soon well on their way to victory. A flurry of wickets as C and Steve fell short of well deserved 50s and Chunk soon followed as he tried to finish the game in style. It was left to Pete Baczala and Elliot to score the winning runs which they soon did.

Corfe Mullen 155 all out Swanage 157 - 5 Swanage won by 5 wickets

20th June vs Sherborne

After last week's disappointing performance against Shillingstone the 2nds welcomed title chasing Sherborne to Day's Park. Once again Swanage batted first and got off to an electric start as skipper Haines took 10 off the first 4 balls. Sadly his innings finished on the very next ball and there after Swanage struggled to get going. With Ives and Nash gone - still thinking about the U9s latest victory in the morning - it was left to the Petes, Barker and Baczala to rebuild the innings up to drinks. Both made good 20's and put Swanage in a position to build towards a decent total. Steve Kent held the rest of the innings together before he fell to a great catch as he neared his 50. Swanage passed the 150 mark as regular number 11 Tillman showed the top order how it's done with some lusty blows.

As Sherborne started their pursuit of the total it was Barker and Beard who opened the attack for Swanage. They kept it tight and nearly got the early breakthrough but it was left to Kent with the assistance of a stumping by Chunk who finally got the first wicket. Swanage kept trying hard as first Dave Morton, then Andy Tillman and Mike Nash kept the pressure on. Good fielding by Pete Baczala gave Swanage some hope with a run out. Despite some tight bowling, especially by the unlucky Matt on his return, there were no further wickets for the Swans and Sherborne reached their target with just 2 wickets down.

A much better performance from the seconds against probably the best team they have faced since joining the league. Despite the defeat there was much to build on as they hope to get back to winning ways against Corfe Mullen next week

. 13th June vs Shillingstone

A game to forget for the 2nd XI away to Shillingstone, Mike Nash, Pete Barker and Andy Baczala gave a good account with the bat, but with the home side blasting the ball to all corners of the ground, there was little of note to report for a very under par Swanage team. Swanage could only manage 150 which took no more than 18 overs for Shillingstone to overturn.

6th June vs Abbotsbury (Tillman Catch Game)

Haines and Norman took to the crease after winning the toss bit were soon struggling on a variable wicket against some disciplined bowling, Norman (25) survived until tea but a very low score looked likely until Paul Yerby (26no) and Tim Ives (31) managed to restore some credibility with Swanage only managing 121 in their 40 overs. Abbotsbury found the batting equally troublesome until Chris Backhouse came to their rescue with a hard hitting 65. Jem Warner, Pete Barker, Chris Rabone and A Tillman all bowled with excellent discipline and Abbotsbury were unable to support their top batsman. Dave Morton's off spin (5 for 29) was their final undoing, falling 15 runs short in a thrilling game at Days Park.

30th May vs Hamworthy Recreation

On possibly the best wicket Capt Haines's men will ever see, Swanage were asked to bat by the home side at the Hamworthy Recreation Ground. The opening pair of D Haines and P Norman managed to avoid any calamities and guided the Swans to a wicketless position at drinks with shots to all parts of the ground. The accelerator was pressed in the 21st over and the home side finally made a breakthrough dismissing Haines for an excellent 39. Matt Beard joined Norman and the pair continued to add to the score with some good running between the wickets, Beard added and excellent 24 with a tired Norman finishing on 96no after the 40 overs, Swanage 191-2. Peter Richards then caused some trouble for the home side with some quality swing bowling and an early victory looked on the cards. An excellent mid-order recovery by Hamworthy then put the result in some question but Dave Morton's magic dismissed any chances of a fightback and Swanage bowled out the home side for 131. Pete Richards finished the day with 4 wickets for 16 runs as well as taking a stunning catch at midwicket, another excellent team performance.

23rd May vs Dorset Indians

Batting first, Swanage were soon in trouble on a green deck with both openers falling in quick succession. Tim Ives brought some stability to the innings but, once dismissed, more wickets followed until a 48 from Mike Wells gave Swanage something to defend. Dorset Indians also found batting tricky against Matt Beard's pace and the disciplined line and length of Tom Salmon and, with only 152 needed, the Indians managed to lose batsmen with the same regularity. An unlikely win looked on the cards for David Haines's team but the last two wickets proved illusive in an exciting encounter.

9th May v Pimperne

The 2nd XI hoped to continue their good start to the season as they travelled up to Pimperne for their second match. With usual opener Paul Norman in the 1st XI it was Dessie and Chunk who got the innings started. Chunk soon got in his stride mixing some solid defence with his usual attacking panache. Sadly after another well struck four he was bowl playing an extravagant drive. Things slowed with Dessie and Test Match Timmy at the crease and it wasn't until Pete Baczala came in at number four that saw the run rate increase. With only 9 Pimperne fielders to contend with, a mix of well taken singles and occasional fours saw Swanage make their way comfortably towards the hundred mark with a partnership of 64. When Pete was out Matt Beard joined Tim and they raced to a quick partnership of 48 though for once it was Tim who made the main contribution hitting one over for 19 before being out soon after for 72. Matt held the rest of the innings together as Swanage got their full batting points finishing on 188-6.

No one could have expected what happened next as Matt opened the bowling and took 4 wickets, including his first senior hat trick, in his first over. Three of these were clean bowled while the other was by a well taken catch by the wicketkeeping Chunk. The Pimperne captain was heard to tell his shocked number 6 to 'just try and hit the ball'!!! This finished the match as a contest and all Swanage had to do was to keep chipping away to take the remaining wickets. C took two more in an over before Dubs finished off the tail leaving Pimperne all out for 30.

A victory by 158 runs and the Swans happy to be topping the early season Div 4 table by collecting the full 20 points.

2nd May v Sturminster and Hinton

The 2nd XI got off to the best of starts in a game full of positives at Days Park on Saturday. Losing the toss on a damp day, David Haines and Paul Norman (40) got the innings off to a solid start against some accurate bowling from the Sturminster attack. Runs seemed hard to come by and Swanage were 77-3 at drinks, Dan Pope then took to the crease and hit some big shots in a quick fire 20, this set the tone for Cameron Beard, Peter Baczala and big hitting Mike Wells (31) taking the total to 180-8 after the 40 overs.

The performance in the field from every player in the team was the highlight of the day, with bowlers and fielders alike keeping every run to a minimum. Cameron Beard took a stunning catch and Mike Wells's figures of 8 overs 3 wickets for 5 runs ensured Sturminster were always chasing, eventually falling 15 runs short for the loss of 9 wickets.