The Sweep 25 Week 6: Upton’s Top Ranking, Run Out of the Year and Rickard Turns Heel

Words: Simon Travers and Edmund Goodwin

On a Saturday when only 5 matches survived across Devon, all Four Cornwood DCL teams fell victim to the weather. That means we can close the book on the Bad Luck of the Season award, given for 2025 to Torquay & Kingskerswell’s 4th team captain, Ollie Smith. Ollie wins for his outstanding contribution to captains who have to concede a fixture on the one Saturday it rains everywhere. In the Premier Division, Plymouth beat Bradninch & Kentisbeare so Paignton went top without having to bowl a ball.

Even though Saturday’s matches fell foul of the lunchtime deluge, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an abundance of action the past 7 days. 75 players across seven teams have pulled on a club shirt since last Monday. Every match, every run and wicket, matters to someone. Each fixture waits to blossom into some kind of test match, some opportunity to demonstrate what can be achieved by individuals uniting as a team.

We start our round up with The Women’s Firsts who travelled to Bovey Tracey in midweek T20 action as part of the ECB knockout Women’s Club Plate tournament. The Plate is the second tier of a national cup system that pits clubs against each other across counties. The competition has been running since 2018 and was won last year by Harrow St. Marys. The Women’s Firsts have been put into the Group 4 pool, which covers the wild West from Wales, to Gloucestershire to the New Forest.

Bovey Tracey won the toss, decided to bat, and both captains could feel reasonably contented after a first powerplay of 35-0. Bovey’s openers prevented a breakthrough but could only find the boundary 3 times in the first 6 overs. The wickets started falling with the introduction of Erica Upton, a young seamer who has made an instant impact since joining the club. Gemma Lancaster took a catch from Erica’s bowling and Bovey’s other opener Holly Evans followed 12 runs later when Frankie Lee bowled her. Upton continued to damage the host’s middle order, taking two more wickets to finish with match best figures of 4-0-20-3 as Bovey Tracey wobbled at 63-4. Libby Hopper (34 from 31) and Lily Colwill (21 from 22) fought back with a 50 partnership before Shini Al Khalid got them both out in the last over. A last ball run out from Gemma Lancaster meant that the Women’s Firsts were chasing 115-7.

Cornwood’s top order was put under immediate pressure by Bovey’s opening bowlers Abi Lockett and Monica Gair. The finish line looked a fair distance away as the first powerplay finished with the Women’s Firsts 40-4. It was one of those paradoxical T20 nights, where calm and correct cricket tilted the balance. Frankie Lee worked methodically like a sniper, picking off 33 runs from 34 balls with 3 boundaries. Frankie helped the Women’s Firsts climb to 93-6, and then Shini Al Khalid and Keeley Willcock saw the Firsts home with 4 wickets and 5 balls remaining. The team’s reward for a gutsy away win is a home tie in the next round against Bridgewater.

Almost a sixty year age gap between bowler and batter as Steve Reynolds bowls to Henry Moulding

On Sunday, the clouds had lightened enough to enable the Fives to journey to Ashburton for game 2 of their South Devon Cricket League campaign. With three of the team hot-footing it directly from a morning Under 15s game in Tavistock, it was a relief when the host team won the toss and put Cornwood into bat. The Ashburton team were generous to a fault, from the welcome and quality tea to dropping enough catches that septuagenarian spinner Steve Reynolds play acted walking off the field in disgust. With a local soundsystem blasting the eighties tunes loud enough to encourage Chewy to bust a move while umpiring square leg, it was a good one.

Come for the shot, stay for the umpire's signal

Rocky Travers was set to indiscriminate carnage mode opening the batting. He hit 48 including a cluster of 7 fours and 2 sixes, while also leaving a massive welt on the shin of an Ashburton fielder and being involved in the communication breakdown that resulted in Charlie Farmer’s run out at the end of a 50 partnership. The Fives slipped to 68-4 as veteran Marcus West claimed figures of 3-1-7-4 by bowling straight and taking his own catches. Tino Machaka and Henry Moulding looked to continue the attack but the run rate, in harmony with the wicket, got slower and lower. James Moorcraft battled creditably on adult debut and 23* from Simon Garland earned a second bonus point as the side closed on 159 all out, ten balls short of batting their overs.

Eoin Hewitt 7-3-20-4

The Fives bowlers made a really good fist of trying to make that total enough, even though 6 out of the 7 bowlers utilised were 17 or younger and the Chargers had F Division West’s top batsman Marcus West and First XI player Aditya More in reserve. Eoin Hewitt (7-3-20-4) got the ball swinging into the right handers from the first ball in a lethal first spell. At the other end, Edmund Goodwin was unlucky to be the recipient of most of the boundaries hit by Marcus West. West retired on 52* from 36 balls with 11 fours. The Fives bowlers kept pounding at the door to put the hosts at 81-7 with wickets for Garland Senior and Junior and Noah Knapman. That was as far as they could reach though, with AJ West and Aditya More both scoring 36* in a partnership of 82* that got the hosts home. It was valuable learning time for a short-armed teenage bowling corps where any ball dragged down was at risk of being a double bounce no ball.

Stumps At Ashburton, modern art inspired by the bowling of Simon Garland

The P&D team fought two very different matches at Delamore Park across the week. On Tuesday, the team welcomed a strong enough PCS&R 2XI team. The visitors put on 173-4 in their 18 overs as Saqib Hasan hit 53* from 27 and Sid Koka (30 from 23) and Usman Tariq (23 from 9) chipped in. The innings will be remembered mostly for a moment of brilliance from Ayaan Chatterjee that is surely the uncontested run out of the season. Bowling over the wicket to Gary Blake, Blake nudged the ball towards mid on and started off for what looked like a comfortable single. Ayaan swooped on the ball seven yards from the stumps and performed a no-look backhand flip that clipped the bails at the bowler’s end before Blake made his ground. Words don’t do it justice. It was the cricketing equivalent of an overhead screamer into the top corner from 30 yards out. Cornwood pushed PCS&R all the way, mostly due to a 135 run opening partnership from Phil Gibson (35) and Charlie Farmer (95* from 62). Charlie and Phil ran hard on the astroturf and Charlie capitalised with class and power in the moments when the bowling quality dipped. The team just ran out of overs 14 runs short.

Thursday evening was a P&D Cup quarter final against the artists formerly known as Jelf, the Comedic Entertainers. Both first and second team captains Staddon and Dart were on hand to do battle with the Entertainers’ opening pair of Teddy Haffenden and Hollywood Ryan Rickard. In difficult conditions that reduced the game to 12 overs, Rickard turned heel with a retirement innings of 56 from 31 balls which included 2 fours and a six from Elliott Staddon’s bowling and 3 fours and 4 sixes off Ewan Grewal. Teddy Haffenden was also in the mood to rumble with 64 from 39 including 3 fours and 6 sixes. Chasing 160 from 12 overs was not going to happen, but Freddie Joynes fought hard with quality shots that will turn into match-winners somewhere down the line.

Speaking of the Under 15s, lets revisit the grand adventure of the Under 15s Half Term Tour to South Wales. Over to our Colts Correspondent Edmund Goodwin with the eye witness report.

“The first day led us to the Sophia Gardens ground, where a tour of the ground and a net in their facilities was rounded off by watching Marnus Labuschagne bat just next door.

The second day brought about the first game to be played. Having met Barry Athletic’s groundsman “Glandad”, the team got about posting 257 thanks to 50s from Ayaan, Stanley and Neel. Wickets from Tommy and Eoin took the home side to a well fought 127 all out to finish the day with a win.

Cornwood and Lisvane Under 15s

On the third day the team played Lisvane. A close game full of back and forth sways of momentum led to the game being tied after some late boundaries. Once a super over was declared, Seb Clewer clean bowled one and had another caught to finish the over for no runs. It would end with Oliver Offer hitting 4 off the first ball to win, much to the enjoyment of the raucous travelling fan section. A special mention to Sam Gibbs who sat at the non strikers end just watching.

Overall, the tour was amazing, especially thanks to Chewy who organised everything all on his own time. Once again, a massive thank you to Chewy and all the parents.”

The Colts were hard back at it this week after half term. The Under 15s Tier 1 team had the performance of the week delivering a set of home and away victories against Tavistock. On Tuesday, the team restricted Tavy to 110-7 in their 20 overs, with 2 wickets each for Tommy and Eoin. Ollie and Ayaan (31) put on 75 for the first wicket, but it took a steady knock of 14 from Charlie to get over the finish line. Away on Sunday, 107-6 didn’t feel like enough for the Under 15s batting first, even as Ayaan scored 44. The bowlers put on an impressive rearguard action though. There was a brace for Tommy and both Charlies as Tavistock were all out for 84. The Under 15s are currently top of their group. Elsewhere, Trevi and Henry’s retirement 30s for Tier 2 Under 15s weren’t quite enough for a win against Plymouth. The Under 11s were beaten by Plymouth twice, but the top 5 batters made double figures in the cup match and Edward took 2 wickets. 4 wickets for Marriott and retirements for James and Noah led a convincing win for the Under 13s against Yelverton while Yasser scored 41* in a close loss to Plymouth.

Weather permitting, it’s a big week coming up. The Twos travel to Filham Park to play Ivybridge in a T20 cup match. On Saturday, the Ones host Sandford in a ‘would be very handy to win’ match, the Twos travel to Kingsbridge, the Threes have a derby battle with Tavistock 2XI and the Fours head off to Chagford. On Sunday, the Women’s Ones play North Devon in the DWCL and the Fives are off to Holbeton.