Words: Simon Travers
Match Photos: Ivor Thomas
Congratulations to Barrie Fitzpatrick, Ryan Griffiths, Mark Beaumont, Rich Lane and Mark Bradley who embarked upon a 24 hour treadmill challenge in aid of the Royal British Legion on Friday. With grey skies and brisk conditions not ideal at Oak Park, the team started and didn’t finish until tea-time Saturday. They kept their feet to the floor the whole night through and made sure that they got plenty of stretches in as well. There’s still time to donate to this incredible effort through Barrie’s giving page here.
Saturday’s pattern was home success for Cornwood but struggles for the teams that travelled. The One’s looked to put last week’s disappointment against Sandford behind them as they faced a Paignton side who have shown just enough to suggest they are staying up, even though they lie in eight place. The visitors put the Ones into bat and Charlie Ward struck in the first over. Ben Beaumont (35) came to the crease and put 98 on for the second wicket with Matt Skeemer. Matt was the more aggressive of the pair hitting 61 from 78 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes for his third 50 of the season. Matt is currently 9th leading run scorer in the Premier Division. Support from Chris Parker meant that the Ones looked fully in control at 153-3 with just over 19 overs to go.
From there, Paignton were able to engineer a collapse. Luke Medlock was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 20 including two wickets in two balls, but Cole Harford’s experience also made it tough for Cornwood to reassert their authority. The last 100 legitimate balls of the innings went for 47-7 as the Ones closed on a round 200. They benefitted from the generosity of Paignton with 38 extras including 23 wides and 4 no balls.
The Paignton innings followed the same shape as Cornwood’s, early breakthrough, significant stand and collapse, but more combustibly. Matt Skeemer got the new ball to shape and removed both Paignton’s openers. From there, Charlie (46) and Harry (38) Ward built a platform with 83 runs between them for the third wicket. When that partnership was broken, 107-3 still looked ominous for the Ones. However, the seam/spin combination of Elliott Staddon and Josiah Caunter tore through the rest of the Paignton line up. It took just under 8 overs from Charlie Ward being bowled by Caunter to a 20 point result in Play Cricket as the Visitors’ 5-11 collectively managed seven runs. Elliott Staddon and Josiah Caunter shared the wickets equally. Elliott’s figures were 10-1-25-4, while Josiah recorded 8.5-1-17-4. The Ones win by 82 runs.
Elsewhere in the Premier, there were no surprises with wins for Sandford, Bradninch & Kentisbeare, Sidmouth and Heathcoat. That means there is little movement in the table but the Ones’ win consolidates their third place.
Sunday at Oak Park saw Devon CCC looking to progress against Cornwall in the NCCA Trophy. Ben Privett and Matthew Skeemer represented the Cornwood in the Devon team. The match went down to the wire with Cornwall resisting a late Devon charge to win by 7. Jake Rowe starred with bat and ball for Cornwall scoring 95* from 101 and 4 for 40 at the death. Matt Skeemer claimed two wickets and a run out, but top performers for Devon were Jamie Stephens’ 4 for 35 with the ball and Elliott Hamilton’s 82 with the bat.
Over at Delamore Park, youth lead the way as the Fours delivered the win their improved performances have deserved in a tense local derby against Ivybridge 3s. Two excellent individual performances with ball and bat gather the plaudits around a solid team effort. Winning the toss and electing to field, Captain for the day Charles Knight unleashed Ayaan Chatterjee on the Ivybridge team. Ayaan struck early and often in an opening spell that left Ivybridge at 28-3. Sam Cumberland provided ample new ball support to compound the visitors’ concerns. Martin Key responded with 82 but Ayaan finished as he started with a late flurry to finish the innings with figures of 7.2-2-11-6. Those are phenomenal figures as the young man has tied Lee Baker for the Fours top wicket taker in two showings. Chasing the Ivybridge total of 188, it was time for another young player to lead. Charlie Farmer, returning to the club after his GCSEs, hit 74* from 80 balls and carried his bat through the innings. There was support from Charles Knight, with 35 from 37, and Max Daniels with 31 from 16 that accelerated the Fours to their target with four wickets spare and 11 overs. The win takes the Fours off bottom spot in G Division West.
The Women’s Firsts were the only travelling Cornwood team to come home victorious as they headed north to Hatherleigh on Sunday. The fixture looked a mismatch as Cornwood won their previous 3 encounters and Hatherleigh are bottom of the table. However, the hosts have beaten Plympton in the league and North Devon in the Super 8s so could not be counted out. Player of the Match Shini Al-Khalid was highly economical as Cornwood bowled first with figures of 7-4-6-0. Other bowlers were able to capitalise on that pressure for wickets, particularly Donna Weeks with a career best 3 for 7. Hatherleigh fell one short of batting their overs but were dismissed for 93. That proved a Sunday stroll for Gemma Lancaster and Evie Privett, knocking off the target in 11 overs without conceding a wicket. Gemma provided the power scoring 41 from 36 with 25% of those deliveries heading to the boundary. A win for North Devon keeps the Women’s Firsts in Third place as Exeter fly high at the top of the league.
Earlier in the week, the Delamore Women’s Softball team did the decent thing against Plymst**k with a win by 90 runs. Nadine Harkness took 3 for 6 to lead the bowling while Nicola Offer scored 23 from 15 including 4 boundaries in the last pair. The Dels are now second in their division.
The Twos travelled to Queens Park for the other end of the Paignton double header. Robin Dart won the toss and elected to bat on a dry track. With steam trains chugging beyond the boundary, events moved fast as the Twos were 62-5 within 12.4 overs. Sean Kirk attacked the stumps and got the odd ball to rise sharply to take 4 for 51. The Twos were able to put away the bad balls he sent down but couldn’t keep out the good ones. At 115-7, the Twos had needed a lower order rescue for the second time in two weeks. Long-levered Matt Puttock did the bulk of the work as he and Jacob Caunter (41 from 40) were able to capitalise on Paignton coming into the game a bowler short. Matt hit 72* from 73 with 8 fours and 3 sixes as the Twos ended somewhere around par on 234-8.
Three new ball wickets brought Captain Carl McFarlane (66 in 72) to the crease with opener Sam Simcox (58). They both made smooth half centuries in a fourth wicket partnership of 123. Even when wickets started to tumble after drinks, their work had made sure Paignton were never out of the game. Captain Robin Dart gambled on bringing back his opening seamers early, and that tactic seemed to work when Paignton were 164-8 with Jason Hall and Jacob Caunter trusted to close the match. The home fans were as surprised as the Twos by a 34 ball barrage from Sean Kirk for 51, included 6 sixes, that clinched the match by two wickets. On a day when it looked like the Twos had taken Paignton’s best punch and outlasted them, Sean Kirk outblasted them. Paignton stay top of the C Division West table above Ivybridge.
The Threes great run of results hit a roadbump on Saturday as they met Bovey Tracey 3s at Stokeinteignhead. Bovey Tracey 3s are the stereotypical E-Division-West-and-a-half team, having been relegated or promoted between E and F 4 times in the past 5 full seasons. Put into bat by the hosts, only Mike Hodge could assemble a significant score of 40 against a Bovey bowling attack with a pack-hunt mentality. This week, it was Jake Forey who shone for them with figures of 3 for 25. The Threes combined for a total of 152, but that proved insufficient as an 85 run opening stand for Ryan Jones (42) and Albie Bradley (36) set up a Bovey win. Mike Hodge again led the way with 3 for 26, but the hosts got home with 5 wickets remaining. That loss drops the Threes to second place, but they remain 17 points clear of Chudleigh 2XI who were main course at a Babbacombe barbeque.
In the colt’s section, the Under 15s split two games played on back to back nights. A fifty from Sam wasn’t enough to challenge Ivybridge away on Tuesday, but Megan’s 4-31 and 31 from 23 stood out in a strong team performance against Plymouth Peverell. It was a tough week for the Under 13s with league losses against Plymouth Mount Wise and Ivybridge, although there were good runs for Noah in both matches. The Under 11s recorded a good away win against Plymouth Peverell by 28 runs with Marriott hitting 24 from 12 and bowling economically.
It's halfway point of the season next weekend. The Ones face what could be a tricky match against Exmouth at The Maer. The Twos and Threes come home to host South Devon and South Brent respectively. The local derbies keep coming for the Fours as they head to Yelverton. Sunday brings T20 action for the Twos against Filleigh and a short hop to Plympton for the Women’s Firsts.
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