The Sweep 25 Week 9: Baker’s best burns Heathcoat
- Cornwood Cricket club
- Jun 30
- 8 min read
Words: Simon Travers
Match Photos: Ivor Thomas
It’s the season’s halfway point and what better way to celebrate than an Oak Park race night. Full credit to Chewy, racemaster for the evening, who did the considerable amount of organising to make the event happen. The night raised £280 for the Ian Devine Youth Fund and a good time was had by winners and losers alike.
Earlier on Saturday, the Ones hosted Heathcoat at Oak Park. The Ones are looking more established after a convincing streak against Sidmouth, Sandford and Paignton. Heathcoat’s season has a similar trajectory, climbing on the back of impressive wins against Exmouth, Plymouth and Exeter. They are not at the standard that won back-to-back titles in 2019-2021, but talismanic pace bowler Malcolm Cloete has returned to the club.
Cornwood’s opening pair, Privett and Parker, were into their work from ball one. They reached a 50 partnership in eight overs, assisted by some indiscipline from the Heathcoat bowling attack. That partnership doubled up to 104 by 20 overs before Chris Parker was caught on 37. Ben kept going and was able to build a 58 partnership with Samarpit Joshi before being stumped. The innings was Ben’s second fifty in a row; a fluent, chanceless 74 from 108 with 8 fours. Samarpit Joshi kept control with a low-risk, efficient 60 from 68 balls to take Cornwood past the 200 mark. The lower order made effective collective use of the last powerplay, scoring 75-4 in the last 10 overs to reach 260-7. That is the Firsts’ sixth highest team score in a DCL match at Oak Park.
Heathcoat had the best of their batting powerplay, as Jamie Drew hit four boundaries before being trapped LBW by Matt Skeemer on 48-1. The innings took shape in the 18th over when Lee Baker was handed the ball at the South End. Lee struck two balls into his spell, getting a thin nick to the keeper from Harry Southgate, and he just kept going. Chris Parker took the next catch to remove the dangerous Dylan Penberthy-Hutchings (31). Lee was then a wicket an over for the next three overs to reach his five-fer, with Elliott Staddon chipping in two at the other end to keep the collapse momentum going. Baker completed his spell by rattling the stumps of Joe Hancock. 87-2 had become 117-9 as Lee delivered figures of 10-2-23-6. Malcolm Cloete connected with a few hits (36* from 40) to add a small level of respectability but before the Ones closed out a massive 96 runs.
Lee’s figures are a career best, his tenth DCL career five-fer and the second-best figures for a Cornwood bowler in a Premier League match. He was one run more expensive than Dave Matthews’ 6-22 against Seaton in August 2000. Right now, Lee has a claim to be described as the best bowler in Devon. Paignton’s overseas professional Ayabulela Gqamana has one more wicket than Lee at the season’s halfway point, but with a marginally higher average and economy rate. Lee’s accuracy and ability to get through batters is devastating the middle orders of Devon’s best teams.
Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Bradninch & Kentisbeare’s lead tightened after they dropped to Exeter, Exmouth handled business against Sidmouth, Paignton beat Plymouth by 120 runs and North Devon got their first win away at Sandford. The Ones climb to fourth.
The Women’s Firsts came into their Sunday match-up against Exeter as clear underdogs. Exeter have been DWCL champions for the past two seasons while the Women’s Firsts have struggled of late. Exeter won the toss and elected to field and looked to apply pressure on Cornwood’s batters. The heart of the home innings was provided by a 35-run partnership between Gemma Lancaster and Frankie Lee (25). Once that partnership was broken, wickets started to tumble. Sophia Lilley and Lily Halliday both turned up to the party for Exeter with the same figures of 3-28 as 73-2 became 108 all out.
Despite the collapse, the Women’s Firsts believed that they had given themselves a score they were capable of defending. The team had to be patient for their breakthroughs as Jessica Breban looked to put the game beyond their reach with 47 from 66. With Breban at the crease, Exeter were in control at 81-3 but she fell to an exceptional caught and bowled chance from Shini Al Khalid (7-2-10-2). Now it was Exeter’s turn to drop wickets in a hurry. Sophia Oxenham’s deceptive flight was too much for the visitors as she took 3.1-0-10-3. Gemma Lancaster and Luci Atkins chipped in with wickets and Emma Baker took a run out on debut as Exeter were bowled out for 96. A 12-run victory for the Women’s Firsts is a confidence boost and a slice of history as Cornwood’s first DWCL win against Exeter in five attempts. The Women’s Firsts climb to fourth in the table.
On Thursday, the Women’s Firsts made their exit from the ECB Women’s Club Plate T20 competition with a home loss to Bridgwater. Evie Privett made 43 and Gemma Lancaster made 26 out of a total of 100. 53* from Joleigh Roberts was enough to ensure Bridgwater’s progress by a margin of 10 wickets.
The Twos travelled to Teignmouth & Shaldon for the first game between the teams in three seasons. Teignmouth & Shaldon seemed a more methodical, calmer outfit than previous encounters between the sides. Electing to bat on a good pitch, the raced to 55-1 in 8.5 overs. Harry Woolway was able to bring the innings back under control with a string of quick wickets, backed up by quality catches from Robin Dart, Noah Carlisle and Alex Robinson. At 79-5, Teignmouth didn’t crumble but built significant partnerships around a match-winning 85 in 106 balls from Seamus McKenna. He put on 85 for the 6th wicket with Carl Woolnough (39) and then 84 for the 7th with Karl Blackburn (46 from 34). There was little other than straight drives for the spinners as the scoreboard ticked over to a final total of 259. The Twos conceded 35 boundaries, but 9 team catches showed their application in the field.
The Twos batters were under the pump early with quick wickets for Ahmed Amin (5-58) and Alex Robinson requiring a runner. As in the first innings, they fought hard despite being behind the curve. Stanley Baker continues to develop at C Division level, top scoring with 39 from 47. All of the middle order got starts and Will Sharp (33) and Jason Hall (32) passed thirty but no-one could press on to match the contribution McKenna made. The Twos innings closed on 186 for a 73 run loss. They remain top of the table but are now only 5 points above Ashburton and 8 points above Teignmouth & Shaldon.
The Threes managed to rise a place in E Division West despite losing at Whitchurch. Whitchurch batted first and worked through an economical early spell from Josh Cumberland to build a decent position. Rich Hall (60 from 88) and P Freedman (47 from 58) put on 65 for the second wicket. The experienced heads of Andy Bees (3-42) and Mike Hodge (4-36) brought Cornwood back into the game. Their wickets meant that the Threes claimed full bowling points and were set 204 to chase. That proved too many as wickets fell in clumps. There were solid contributions for Ewan Horner (32), Greg Thomas (31) and Mike Hodge (35 in 24), but there were also 5 ducks across the team. Darren Sambells led the Whitchurch bowling with 4-49 and Josh Vernon took 3-18 as The Threes finished on 147.
The Fours didn’t quite have enough to get past Yelverton Bohemians 2XI in their latest local derby match despite a performance with some big positives. Youngsters Ollie Offer and Eoin Hewitt batted well to put on 94 for the third wicket. Ollie impressed with 66 from 74 including 7 fours and 2 sixes. Eoin provided resolute defence with 19 from 73 balls, like Hashim Amla if he couldn’t grow a beard yet. Dave Stubbs (33 from 22) and Nathan Parsons (36* from 27) provided some vintage oomph to push the score to 211-6. Joe Trimmer was the best of the Yelverton bowlers with 3-36. The Fours bowlers found it tough to gather momentum as Trimmer (52) and Fred Smale (73) built a partnership. Two wickets and a catch for Marc Whaley helped add pressure, but Yelverton had enough to get home with 4 wickets and 2 overs spare. The Fours are seventh in G Division West but are now only 3 points above the dropzone.
The Fives continued their SDCL adventure with a return match against Ashburton. Highlight of the afternoon was Rehaan Chatterjee proving cricket is easy by taking a wicket with his first ball in adult matches. He doubled up with another in his second over. Raff Gribble delivered seven quality overs of leg spin for 3-32 and Ross Warner channelled his inner Raff to take 3-29. Bradley Causey batted well for 105* with a retirement break as Ashburton scored 201-9. That was 30 too many for the Fives but they still took full batting points. Ross Warner hit a timeless 50* in 60 balls while Henry Moulding had a new career best of 33.
The P&D Team were denied a league victory against Yealmpton on Tuesday night by a poorly timed heavy shower. It was a strong team performance to limit Yealmpton to 125-2 in 20 overs. Bowler of the night was arguably Lennon Way with admirable control in the middle overs. There was also a rare sighting for Samarpit Joshi’s special submarine ball. Cornwood dashed to 35-0 in 3 overs and would certainly have got home but for the bad weather.
The big story in the Colts section this week was the Under 15s progress through to the final of the ECB Club Championship Cup. The team edged Plymouth by a solitary run in a last-ball thriller. Cornwood put on 113-6 in their 20 as Stanley hit 50* and Edmund scored 37. Seb stood tall, bowling the final over and taking 3-18. Needing 4 from the last 4 balls, Plymouth were running to the keeper but the Under 15s held their nerve for two run outs. Seb delivered the finishing touch with a last ball middle stump yorker. Sunday’s semi-final against Tavistock proved more comfortable as the Under 15s won by 55 runs. Ayaan led the batting with 51* in a score of 138-4, while Neel was lethal with 4-14 in 4 overs. The final is Monday night against Exeter in Brixham.
Elsewhere in the colts, Ronnie took 3-7 in a 3 run loss for the Under 11s against Plymouth while Freddie hit 23 from 12 balls and took 2-7 in a 101 run win against Yelverton. Eoin scored 50* for the Under 14s in a 29 run win against Paignton, while Mariott had figures of 3-2-2-2 as the Under 13s edged Lewdown by 6 runs. The Under 13s girls came within 1 run of a win in their doubleheader with Tavistock.
Next week, the Ones make the long trip to North Devon, the Twos are at home to Plymst**k 2XI, the Threes are off to Paignton 3XI, while the Fours host Plympton 3XI. On Sunday, the Women’s Firsts play Paignton, while the Fives head to Modbury.
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