WOOTTON Bassett are well represented in the team named by Wiltshire selectors for the county men’s opening Middleton Cup game against Gloucestershire, writes Dave Eaton.

Six Bassett players – Barry Sictorness, Steve Snell, Chris Cheesley, Dave Godwin, Gary Morphet and Neil Smith – are all included in the 24-strong Moonrakers team for the first 2014 inter-county championship group match at home at Wootton Bassett this Saturday (2pm).

Bassett’s James Nobbs is named as a reserve and part of this season’s Wiltshire squad as are Chippenham Town’s Paul Macdonald and Billy McCay.

In the group stages Wiltshire will also face Worcestershire at home at Bassett on June 14 while their last group game is away to Warwickshire on July 5.

Only the group winner progresses to the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere Purton and Highworth reigned supreme as their players became the first from Wiltshire to qualify for the 2014 Ladies National Championships at Royal Leamington Spa in early August.

They were the last two clubs left standing after the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the county ladies national fours were held at Amesbury last Saturday.

There was heartache again for the Wootton Bassett quartet, who missed-out for the second year running when losing in the semi-finals to Purton.

In Purton’s quarter-final they got a 27-7 win over Wanborough. In the other top-half quarter-final Bassett beat Avon 23-11.

Though in the semi-final Bassett could not recover from a slow start, going down 19-9.

The bottom half Highworth recorded a remarkable 24-23 quarter-final win over Winsley on an extra end.

In the semi-final Highworth led Alderbury all the way through to win 19-14.

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