WADEBRIDGE skipper Kelvin Snell admitted it was ‘great to make a little bit more history for the club’ after the Swans secured their inaugural WT Edwards Cup final crown with a nine-wicket victory over St Just at St Austell on Wednesday night.
After St Just reached 103-3 in the 13th over, change bowlers Elliot Dunnett and Matt Lawrence shared seven wickets as their West Cornwall rivals collapsed in remarkable fashion.
Dunnett (4-18 off 4) started the fightback by dismissing Chamikara Edirisinghe and Logan Curnow in successive balls and when Lawrence (3-19 off 4) made it three in three by trapping the set Phil Nicholas lbw for 34, Wadebridge never looked back as astonishingly, seven wickets fell for just four runs in 27 balls.
The chase was then dominated by unbeaten half centuries from James Turpin (54no) and Australian Lachlan Crump (57no) after Matt Robins fell for a single, as the winning runs came with 35 balls to spare.
Wadebridge will now be Cornwall’s representatives in the South West Area T20 Finals Day at Bridgwater on Sunday, August 3, where they will take on the winners of the Devon, South Wales and West of England Premier League competitions.
Speaking afterwards, Snell said: “It’s one that means a lot to the club to be honest with you.
“We’ve been in it twice before and never won it, but tonight we’ve managed to put in another solid performance to make a little bit more history for the club in what at the moment is a golden era for the club over the last five or six years, and long may it continue.”
Snell admitted he was fearing a big chase with Edirisinghe and Nicholas finding the boundary with ease, but lauded the turnaround.
He said: “I thought we had a good start as well, but through Phil Nicholas and Chami they put a little partnership on. Once we got one of them, then through Elliot Dunnett’s outstanding spell of bowling, we pulled it back.
“At one stage I thought we’d probably be chasing 160 or 170, so with that fightback there, to keep it under 110, I was so proud, it was brilliant.”
Snell asked for his batsmen to bat through in the reply and got what he wanted. He added: “The chat at half-time was just to be selfish and for someone to take it upon themselves to get all of them. Don’t let anyone else come in, we lost one wicket, fair enough, but that was the thing, be selfish and don’t let anyone else have a go.”
Wadebridge have only been in the top-flight since 2018 following a prolonged spell in County Division One, but since then have won the ECB Cornwall Premier League in 2023, the Hawkey Cup in 2021 and 2024 and now the Edwards Cup, a fact not lost on Snell.
He said: “I came to the club six years ago, I wouldn’t say we were in trouble, but we were at the start of something new with myself, Matt Robins and now Matt Rowe. But we’ve also kept the players already there, the likes of (James) Turpin, (Callum) Wilson and McLachlans.
“I remember when I first came someone said to me, not many people come to Wadebridge, but when you come to Wadebridge nobody leaves, and that will stay with me for the rest of the time I play cricket.
“As for the rest of the season all we can do is keep winning games of cricket and pile the pressure on Penzance, and let’s see what happens in eight weeks time.”
He said: “It’s always good to be there and in and around it and the boys are playing some good cricket at the moment.
“We had a bit of a stumble a few weeks ago where we lost two in three, but we’ve come out of that and now this is the period that we need to keep piling on the wins and see what happens. If we’re there we’re there, if not we’ve given it a real good go.”
Third-placed Helston away is Saturday’s task, and with the Blues just 14 points off top spot, it is a huge day for both.
Snell continued: “Helston will be one difficult game. They’re one of the sides that have already beaten us this season and gave us a good hammering, so we certainly won’t be going down there thinking it’ll be an easy game, we know it’ll be a tough one, but if we play our best cricket we’ll be there or thereabouts.”
Snell also had a final word as they look forward to their big day out next month, but admits he is unsure as to what to expect.
He concluded: “It will be one we look forward to again, and we’ll give it our all, but apart from that I can’t really answer that right now. All I know is we’ll go to Bridgwater with lots of determination and try and do Cornwall proud.”
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