WHEELER CENTURY SEALS SPL2 BATTING PRIZE

David Wheeler cut short Andover’s championship celebrations with a quite superb century which earned the talented New Milton all-rounder the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 2 batting award.
Andover received the championship trophy during the tea interval at Fernhill after a half-century by Will Prozesky (58) and support contributions from Jonty Hadfield (36) and James O’Gorman (29) helped them post 187 against New Milton, the early season pace-setters.
All seemed well as Andover sent both New Milton openers back to the pavilion without a run on the board.
But that was the cue for Wheeler to show off his true class with a stunning century which swept New Milton to a seven-wicket victory.
Wheeler played fierce shots all around the wicket, hitting a six and 20 boundaries in his unbeaten 121.
He added 182 for the third wicket with Ben Neal (54) and finished the season with 789 runs – and the SPL2 batting award in his pocket !
Runners-up Hook & Newnham Basics raced to a five-wicket win over Bournemouth II at the KG V Ground, Ben Thane hitting an unbeaten 95 to take his season’s tally beyond the 750-run mark.
Alex Allum (91) and Ian Pearce (62) shared a 145-run third wicket stand before Bournemouth slipped from 150-2 to 209 all out (Glen Williams 3-36). But Thane and Jordan Hobday (50) got Hook away to a 97-run start, which set up the home victory.
Philip Hughes, who made scores of 74 and 87 for Cambridge in this season’s Varsity defeat by Oxford, hit an unbeaten 77 to guide relegated Hursley Park to a four-wicket win at Rowledge.  Last year’s SPL2 champions hit 212 (Derek Manning 4-54), but Hughes, aided in partnerships by Rory Cox (31) and Andy Marks (42 not out) eased Hursley home. 
Opening pair Simon Ennew (62) and Stuart Magee (52) shared a century partnership to set up a comfortable 76-run win by Paultons over Havant II, the other relegated side.  Paultons hit 228 (Chris Ray 35, Tony Richman 34) and dismissed Havant for 152, with Richman (4-34) and Dean White (3-29) doing the damage.
Burridge finished their season on a winning note after South African all-rounder Byron Van der Merwe led them to a four-wicket win over Hartley Wintney by taking his runs tally for the season to over 700.  Van der Merwe capped an impressive summer by hitting 49 as Burridge chased down Hartley Wintney's meagre total of 131.  Burridge's leading wicket taker, slow left armer Martin Bundy, took 4-26 but it was a fine opening spell from Nick McMurray, who weighed in with 3-16 off his ten overs, that put the skids under the visitors.  Teenage opener Will Phillips battled well for his 43 before Bundy prised him out and there was only token resistance from the rest of the Hartley batsmen as they crumbled from 64-3.  Burridge never found things easy but Van Der Merwe provided the foundations and was unlucky to see the ball gently dislodge a bail as he headed towards another half-century.
The middle order uncertainty that has plagued Burridge continued as they slipped to 106-6 but James Sennett and Jez Wright saw the home side to their sixth win out of nine games at Botley Road.