DORCHESTER SECONDS 268-7 (20pts) beat BEAMINSTER 128 (5pts) by 140 runs

NO FEWER than four Beaminster bowlers were struck down by injury on an eventful afternoon at Dorchester Rec.

The Division Two clash was a memorable one for visiting wicketkeeper Fred Everitt, who not only produced a brilliant innings of 96, but ended up having to bowl as well.

Having been asked to field first, Rich Runyard struck for the away side in his first over, removing the returning James Caldwell, before aggravating a foot problem and withdrawing from the attack.

Replacement Will Everitt only lasted four overs himself before injuring his back.

Steve Clifford (97) and Greg Holland (43) compiled an excellent second-wicket partnership of 105 before Jack Walklett struck by bowling the latter.

Stuart Beasley, Marcus Evans and Matt Porter went cheaply as Beaminster got themselves back into the match with the score on 126-5 – one of the wickets involved a superb diving catch by Adam Herring at slip.

However, Beaminster’s bad luck with injuries continued as Herr-ing and Aidey Phillips had to stand down.

With frontline bowlers Ross Baker and Walklett having finished their allocation, Beam-inster had no alternative but to turn to either injured players or non-bowlers, including keep- er Fred Everitt and batsman Hugh Rathbone.

As a result, Stuart Voss (49no) and Pete Horne (20no) feasted on a succession of mediocre deliveries and closed their innings on 268-7.

Beaminster’s reply was centred around a brilliant knock by Fred Everitt, who just missed out on a century when he was caught by Voss off Caldwell.

However, his team-mates let him down as they all failed the trouble the hosts, the next highest scorer being Shaun Annetts with eight.

Beasley took two wickets in successive balls and Horne struck on three occasions.

Beaminster were all out for 128 in the 33rd over.

“Having someone as good as Steve Clifford in our team is a pleasure,” said Beasley.

“He has always been a fantastic batsman who plays with class and knows when to play the bad ball and when to play sensibly.”

Meanwhile, Beaminster Sec-onds lost to Stalbridge Thirds by 90 runs in Division Six.