The Sweep 25 Week 2: Shared honours for Cornwood and a Sharp Calling Card for Twos
- Cornwood Cricket club
- May 12
- 7 min read
Words: Simon Travers
Pictures: Ivor Thomas
One of the challenges of the first flushes of the cricket season can become fixture pile-up as cup competitions launch as well as the Devon Cricket League. The Ones’ original Week 2 schedule was 3 matches in 5 days. Exeter were booked at home in the Devon T20 Cup and then away in the league, before a mighty road trip to Penzance for Round 1 of the National Club Championship. Availability issues meant that the club had to concede the Penzance game and withdraw from the national competition.
The Ones dealt with Exeter comfortably in the T20 half of the double-header on Wednesday. Elliott Staddon won the toss and made the best of the spring evening light by batting. A 13 ball first over set the tone for an underpowered Exeter. Cornwood capitalised to be 61-1 at the end of the powerplay. A 67 run in 51 balls second wicket partnership between Ben Privett (26 from 23) and Matt Skeemer put the Ones in charge at the halfway point. Skeemer and Samarpit Joshi cashed in on the momentum with 85 in 47 balls for the 3rd. Skeemer (69 from 53) top scored while Joshi (42 from 26) navigated through his gears. A total of 197-5 ties Cornwood’s best T20 score at Oak Park, 197-6 vs PCS&R in the Plymouth T20 of 2014. Matt Skeemer top scored that night too. Exeter’s response faltered quickly as they made 44-4 in the powerplay. There were 3 wickets each for Matt Skeemer (3-23) and Ben Privett (3-31) as the Visitors closed on 121-9. The Ones were solid in the field, with 8 of 9 wickets falling to catches. The win earns a derby match with Tavistock in the Quarter Finals.
Saturday’s game at the County Ground was a different challenge. Exeter were at full strength and keen to prove their pre-season status as genuine title contenders. Beyond that, the Ones have never won away at Exeter in ten previous attempts. Electing to bat, Cornwood were in trouble early as Exeter turned to the spin option of Sam Read in the powerplay. Read already has 6 wickets for Devon in the NCCA One Day competition at 10.66 this season. He broke through Ben Beaumont’s attacking option and Chris Parker’s defence for figures of 10-4-20-2. Exeter capitalised on their early breakthroughs and the Ones were 69-5 in 18.2 overs.
Samarpit Joshi started to rebuild the innings with a patient 37 from 66 before edging to slip but Cornwood were able to set a target thanks to George Thompson and Matt Butterworth. The pair combined for an 88-run 7th wicket partnership in 116 balls. That is the second week running where a DCL First Team partnership record has fallen. The previous highest 7th wicket partnership was 82 from Steve Dibben and Tony Barter on the alpine slopes of Cockington in 1996. Thompson continued his strong return from injury with a resolute, man of the match innings of 58 from 101 balls, including a swept boundary off seamer George Addy. George sacrificed his wicket on a run out trying to rotate strike in a final push towards 200. Cornwood’s final total of 190-9 was perhaps around 30 runs below par, but 6 teams have defended a score under 200 at the County Ground since Covid.
Spin was the right option in the second innings too as Lee Baker and Jack Ormsby set about extracting the Exeter top order. Baker claimed the overseas’ pro for the second week in a row, which prompted a flurry of wickets leaving Exeter 27 runs behind the DLS par at 73-5 from 20.5 overs. Again, Sam Read made the difference with a punchy 55 from 57 balls. Cornwood’s bowlers kept the pressure on and when Read fell at 166-7 there was still a chance. Wicketkeeper Robbie Fern’s 35* got the hosts over the line for a 2 wicket victory with 4 overs spare.
Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Bradninch & Kentisbeare thrashed Sidmouth, Exmouth cantered past North Devon, Paignton chased down Heathcoat and Sandford outbatted Plymouth.
At Oak Park, the Two’s new Australian player Will Sharp left a calling card in a 98 run victory over Ipplepen 2XI. Despite the margin of victory, Ipplepen brought their best game and clearly have the tools and tenacity to leave a mark on C Division West. Cornwood batted first and Alex Robinson (52 from 95) looked composed on his way to a debut half-century. The key phase of the game was the last fifteen overs of the Two’s inning, where they doubled up from 149-4 to 301-8. Sharp lead the charge with a pummelling 72 from 41 balls including 7 fours and 4 sixes. He was ably assisted by Matt Puttock’s 36* in 15. That total was never in view for the Visitors, but Ipplepen fought at the crease. Noah Sutton scored 42 from 39. Warhorses Steve Bowden (30) and Marcus Green (37) ensured the Twos had to fight to the end for full points. Wickets were shared around the bowlers. Matt Puttock claimed the week’s best figures with 3-56 and Josiah Caunter had an economy rate of 2.11. The Twos and Ashburton are the only teams unbeaten in C Division West after 2 games.
The Threes took the long hike north to Bridestowe & Belstone 2XI. Like farmhouse cats, Bridestowe teams know how to defend their territory and most of the Threes found life difficult batting first. However, Josh Whiting shouldered the load through the first half of the innings with 48 from 48 balls, including 6 fours and 3 sixes, and Ayaan Chatterjee saw the team through their overs with 46* and six boundaries. The Threes set a total of 187-9 while Corey Holliday was the pick of the Bridestowe bowlers with 3-21. A run-a-ball 55 from captain Richard Drake and 38* from David Penberthy meant the hosts reached their target with 8.2 overs and 4 wickets spare. There were positives for the Threes though in the field. Lennon Way took 2 wickets on his DCL debut and Harrison Hodge took a wicket on return from injury. Sharp fielding from Rocky Travers and Eoin Hewitt removed Bridestowe’s opening pair. Bridestowe & Belstone go top of E Division West, while the Threes nestle comfortably into mid-table.
Back at Delamore Park, the Fours got their first win of the year against South Brent with some help from Luke ‘Turn Up, Ton up’ Temple-Smith. Luke’s innings of 113, continues his extraordinary run of three centuries in three matches across two seasons. He sent the ball to the boundary 21 times; one for every five balls he faced. Luke’s knock was more than capably supported by captain Marc Whaley hitting 65 from 44 and Julian Burrows scoring 46 in 58. The team scored 255-7 in their allotted 40 with only Nick Roud (4-40) making inroads for the bowling side. South Brent kept the runs coming too as Gareth Harvard (126 from 123) hit his fifth league century. The youth wing of the Fours was busy with first DCL games for Charlie Cawardine (2 for 36), Kat Frost (7-2-19-1) and Tommy Burrows. The Fours would have liked to take a few more wickets as South Brent ended on 222-3 but the win builds a cushion between themselves and the drop zone.
It was another busy week in the social section with games for the Fives and the P&D team. The Fives won well in their first home match of the season against Harberton. The visitors batted and while Tom Heath (56* from 45) and Phil Wilson (53* from 38) both retired, there was a brace of wickets for Charlie Martyn (2-16), Noah Garland (2-37) and Simon Garland (2-18). Chasing 169-9 in their 30 overs, the highlight of the Five’s innings was obviously Nathan Parsons’ destructive 50* from 20 balls. Earlier Ollie Offer scored 28 from 31 and Edmund Goodwin chipped in a handy 20. Harberton’s Ian Hutchcroft took 3-45 but that couldn’t stop the mighty Fives driving to a three wicket victory.
The P&D team headed to Delganey as clear underdogs against a Plymouth side who won by 126 runs against PCS&R the week before. A spirited performance meant Cornwood lost by only 10 runs with a chance to win until the last 2 balls. Highlight of the evening was a Matrix-style bullet-time catch from Ayaan Chatterjee to remove the dangerous Aziz Rahmanzai. If you had a dad running out their son on your village cricket bingo card this year then you can tick that off as Jon Way ruthlessly obliged. Better him than you, Jon.
The Women’s softball teams started their campaign with an intra-club derby match between the Dels and the Oaks. These matches tend to create tight finishes. Last year, the Dels won both games by 8 and 12 runs respectively. This year’s first encounter was even closer as the Oaks were able to sneak past for 4 run win. Put into bat, the Dels reached 87-4 in their 16 overs with Nicola Offer top scoring on 16. Despite 2 wickets for Nadine Harkness, captain Luci Atkins brought the Oaks home with 20* to finish on 91-4. The Oaks start the year top of the Tamar division.
The Colts section is back in full swing. The biggest change of the year has been that the West Devon Youth League has been absorbed into the growing Devon Youth Cricket League. Match of the week was the Under 15s chasing Ipplepen in the ECB U15 Cup to win by 8 wickets. Ayaan took 3-13 and was joined in hitting a retirement 50* by Charlie. Elsewhere, Charlie and Stanley put on 61 for the first wicket and Tommy took 3-36 as Plymouth claimed a 4 wicket win the Under 14s cup. The Under 12 Oaks were convincing 10 wicket winners in a great team performance against Plympton in the Under 12s cup. Harvey hit 28 from 16 as the Under 13s lost by wickets in a friendly with Tavistock.
Next week, the Ones are at Oak Park in a derby match with newly promoted Plymouth. Stick around after the match for an overseas player themed social. Details on usual social media channels. The Twos head to the seaside to play Paignton 2XI. The Threes host Teignmouth and Shaldon 2XI while the Fours face Plymstock 3XI at Yealmpton. On Sunday, the Women’s Firsts will be facing Taunton Deane 2XI at Oak Park while the Fives challenge Modbury across the tracks at Delamore. There’s a full slate of colts matches throughout the week and also a P&D match on Thursday against Plymouth College, which is shaping up to be the Great Cornwood Baker Off.
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