BOWLERS held the upper hand as the Wiltshire Cricket League season heads for an exciting climax.

In the latest round of matches only two batsmen scored centuries and both were in Division Eight.

Phil Ashman scored 102 not out and teammate Graham Pearce was out for 99 as Devizes 4ths rattled up 253-3 against Bathford.

Phil Laggett of Swindon 4ths was the day's highest scorer with an undefeated 125 against United Churches 2nds.

Top bowling performance came in Division Three, where Blunsdon's Darren Fisher took 8-47 against Heytesbury.

Division One

Marshfield, with a game to play, need only one point to be certain of the championship and an immediate return to Wilts/Glos Division 2.

Nearest challengers Great Bedwyn slipped up at Bath Civil Service, losing by three wickets.

Chris Gale took 4-48 in 11 overs for the Civil Service as they bowled their visitors out for 169, in which Rob Palmer top-scored with 62. With a steady 42 from Matthew Smith, Civil Service gained their win with almost three overs to spare.

Potterne dragged Nationwide House down to ninth as they won for just the third time but look doomed.

Thanks to Sam Gaiger's 67, Potterne totalled 171 all out as Pete Harman took 3-25 in 9.3 overs.

Fred Kerley (3-31 in 13.3 overs) and Lee Sanders (4-34 in 11) then bowled Nationwide out for 156 as Dave Milne top-scored with 54.

The mid-table clash at Collingbourne, who entertained Purton, ended with the visitors winning by two runs.

Purton, with 77 from John Gardner, scored 193-7. In reply, Ben Nicholls with 60 and Graham Chandler with 54 took Collingbourne to 191 all out.

Division Two

With the top three sides all winning, promotion looks to rest on the match between Cooper-Avon Tyres, currently third, and Spye Park, the present leaders, who meet on Saturday.

The balance of probability favours Spye Park, who have a 23-point cushion at present.

Lechlade restricted visiting Swindon Civil Service to 156-7, in which Mike Giddings top-scored with 34.

Opener Roger Pettifer (47 not out) and Rizwan Khan (39) then helped Lechlade to a six-wicket success with five overs remaining.

Division Three

the top three sides all won. Avebury look almost certain to take the title, and Blunsdon, thanks to two outstanding matches, should overtake Wanborough.

Avebury scored 241-6 at home to Wroughton Wranglers with Rob Gater scoring 78, and Greg Dix 86 not out. Paul Hunt with 3-63 in 14 overs was the pick of the Wroughton attack.

Wroughton had no answer to the Avebury attack and were bowled out for 55 in 29 overs (Mike Gregory 29). The damage was done by Peter Force-Jones with 3-5 in five overs and Dix 3-12 in five.

Wanborough visited bottom club Highworth and scored 188 all out (Tom Clinning 58, Rob Wilson 40). Lee Beaver took 5-29 in an accurate spell.

Highworth, despite 46 from Vijay, were bowled out for 111 with Alan Thompson taking 4-32 in 13 overs.

Blunsdon bowled visiting Heytesbury out for 121, of which Paul Akworth made 31 as Darren Fisher took 8-47 in 12.5 overs.

Openers Julian Beckett (65 not out) and John Hancock (48 not out) then took Blunsdon to a 10-wicket victory in the 28th over.

The mid-table meeting between Lambourn and Cherhill ended in a comfortable seven-wicket victory for visitors Cherhill after they had bowled their hosts out for just 66. Dave Welling, 3-12 in 15 overs, and Garry Vaughan, 4-37 in 15, did most of the damage.

Steve Mundy replied with 3-29 in eight overs, but Mike Coles (29 not out) and Ben Webber (29 not out) steered Cherhill home in 16 overs.

Division Four

Keevil slipped down to eighth place after losing at home to Swindon Litten Tree by six wickets.

Simon Gunstone top-scored with 40 in a Keevil total of 123 as John Brown took 4-19.

Mike Brown (56 not out) then led Litten Tree to their win with 14 overs remaining.

Division Five

THE top three sides, Marshfield 2nd, Nationwide House 2nd and Purton 2nd, all won.

Nationwide bowled Warminster 3rd out for just 49 and went on to win by 10 wickets.

Steve Lewis, with 6-14 in 14 overs and Chris Trewhella (3-31 in 14) did the damage with the ball and then Jason Griffiths hit 26 not out.

Purton 2nd bowled visiting United Churches out for 137, of which Paul Tims scored 65 while Joe Dunne took 5-43.

Paul Mottar, with 64 not out and Chris Newman with 29 not out then saw Purton to a six-wicket victory with 11 overs to spare.

The mid-table meeting of Buscot Park 2nd and Devizes 3rd ended in a 22-run success for Devizes.

They scored 168-6 (John Wookey 46, Glen Townsend 3-51). Barry Reid, with 3-23 in 10 and Tom Barnham (2-33 in 11 overs) responded for Devizes, and despite Tim Manners with 47 and Des Williams with 20, Buscot were dismissed for 146 in the 42nd over.

Division Six

Beehive Bradford went top after a six-wicket victory at bottom club Wootton Bassett 3rd, who they bowled out for 107.

Calne 2nd arrested their bad run with a comfortable 109-run win over lowly Box 2nd.

Calne made 207-8 thanks to Chris Cottis with 44 not out and Darren Holcombe 41. Chris Eades responded with 4-50 in 14 as Box were bowled out for 99.

Goatacre 3rd managed only 91 all out at Lacock as Chris Harding took 3-21 and Colin Rawlings 4-34.

Barry Harding's 30 then helped Lacock to a seven-wicket victory.

Division Seven

At the foot of the table Dauntsey Gentlemen 2nd moved above Beanacre 2nd as they beat them by 77 runs. Steve Ponting (50) and Rich Berryman (27) helped Dauntsey to 145 all out.

Beanacre were dismissed for 68 as Neil Thomas took 3-14 in 10 overs.

Division Eight

Devizes 4th defeated visiting Bathford 2nd by 151 runs. Phil Ashman (102 not out) and Graham Pearce (99) helped Devizes to 253-5. Only Les Mckenzie with 20 then offered much resistance as Bathford were dismissed for 100.

At the foot of the table, Blunsdon 2nd visited All Cannings 2nd and came away with a three-wicket victory.

All Cannings scored 173 all out with Richard Sykes 45 and Mike Goden 34 as Des Walker took 4-58 in 15 overs and Dave Butler 3-29 in 11.4.

Tom Winter's 55 then helped Blunsdon to their win as Garry Hargreaves took 2-36 in 12 overs.

Swindon 4th, thanks to Phil Laggett's 125 not out, scored 234-4 at United Churches 2nd.

Ed Read, with 2-5 in five overs and Richard Barratt 3-51 in 15 then helped bowl Churches out for 122.