THEIR narrow defeat to Nationwide House might not have been the ideal start to the season, but Stef Tyrie says his Wootton Bassett players have reacted in the right way ahead of tomorrow’s WEPL Wiltshire Division clash with Malmesbury.

Bassett lost by just five runs last Saturday and Tyrie believes the squad have turned that defeat into a positive ahead of Malmesbury’s visit.

“Nationwide was the first game this season for a lot of the guys and we couldn’t hit the ground running,” admitted Tyrie.

“It was a very close game and we managed to get to 158 but couldn’t close it out, even though we only had nine wickets down.

“All the lads were disappointed when they went back in the changing room and enough of them cared to turn out at training this week to put it right.

“It was the reaction we wanted and hopefully we get that again on Saturday.”

Tyrie added: “We’ve heard on the grapevine that Malmesbury have lost a couple of players.

“They finished middle to bottom last season and we’d like to finish in the top half ourselves, so we want to get a victory.”

Elsewhere in the division, Lechlade make the trip to Marshfield and player-coach Luke Sellers said: “We’re hoping the weather is kinder to us than it was last week. We should be pretty much at full strength and it will be a big game.”

Marlborough play host to Spye Park while, in Premier Two, Goatacre will aim to make it two wins out of two as they travel to Chippenham.

In the Glos/Wilts Division, Swindon are finally hoping to get a game played after a rain-hit start to the season so far.

Skipper Paul Paginton’s side are one of only two sides in the division who have not yet played a match, having been thwarted by wet conditions on two occasions.

And Paginton admits his team are keen to beat the weather this time out and get a fixture under their belts, with a visit to Potterne lying in wait tomorrow.

“We’re ready to go,” he said. “A couple of the players managed to get games elsewhere last week but not many.

“It’s difficult to see where we are at the moment because we haven’t played yet.

“I’ve heard there might be some rain on Friday night or Saturday morning, so I hope that stays away.”

Swindon will keep faith with the same line-up that they have named for the last three weeks.