.png)
The Sweep 26 Week 9: The weekend of the one that got away
- Cornwood Cricket club
- Jun 30
- 7 min read
Words: Simon Travers
3XI Match Photos: Ivor Thomas
5XI Match Photos: Ewan Grewal
Who could have predicted on Saturday morning heartbreak for the Ones and Twos as both teams came within a boundary of unlikely comeback victories? It was the weekend of the one that got away.
The Ones trekked through the northern wilderness to Hatherleigh for the first time in four seasons with an obvious gap in the team sheet. This was the first fixture since 17th July, 2021 where neither Matt Skeemer or Elliott Staddon were in the team. Robin Dart stepped into captaincy duties and was asked to field on losing the toss. The powerplay belonged convincingly to the hosts, rocketing to 81-1 in the first 10 overs. Niall Leahy (62 from 59) and Shreyansh Ghosh put on 83 for the second wicket in 60 before Lee Baker removed both LBW. Hatherleigh reset and went again with Gareth Tidball (54 from 65) and Emerson Wood (49 from 36) putting on another 75 for the fifth wicket in 65 balls before, like father like son, Stanley Baker got the LBW. Hatherleigh were 248-5 with 13.1 overs remaining. From there, the Cornwood bowlers regained some leverage and control, claiming a second run out and restricting the batters to 5 boundaries in the last 10 overs as Hatherleigh finished on an extraordinary 325-8. Hatherleigh were able to maintain a run rate of 8 an over for 17 overs, that dropped to 7 an over until the removal of Emmerson Wood in the 39th, before finishing precisely at 6.5. It is the third highest score made against Cornwood 1XI and 86 runs higher than Hatherleigh’s previous best of 239 against the club.
Don’t quote me, but I believe there have only been 5 successful chases of over 300 runs the Premier Division in the play-cricket era (including Paignton 2022). On Saturday, Cornwood’s batters gained the benefits of not trying to Harry Brook it. Two wickets brought Charles Finan and Mohsin Khan together on a moderate 46-2 after 13.4 overs. Mohsin Khan made an immediate impression against Bengali leg spinner Shreyansh Ghosh by hitting his first ball for four. From there, both Cornwood batters found the boundaries with increasing regularity, as 63-2 from 17 became 135-2 eight overs later. Still needing 191 from 25 overs, the acceleration continued and Charlie Finan reached his ton in 85 balls in the 32nd over, his first for the Ones. An over later, Mohsin was bowled by Emmerson Wood for 72 from 62 with the score on 194-3. Their partnership of 148 is the second highest for the third wicket, 126 runs behind the record set by Mohsin and Ryan Rickard earlier this year.
After Mohsin’s dismissal, Charlie was able to find an extra gear as the finish line improbably came into view. 88 were needed from the last 60 balls and Charlie was gunning for maximums, clearing the ropes against messrs Heard, Wood and Charlie Presswell. The Ones reached 300 with 13 balls remaining. Three boundaries and 14 runs from the 49th over meant they needed 12 from Jasper Presswell’s last over. Sadly fo the Ones, Presswell bowled an exceptional death over. Second ball, he finally got Charlie Finan’s wicket, caught by Charlie Presswell. Charlie made 178 from 139 balls, with 22 fours and 5 sixes. That is the fourth highest individual total for the Ones, the second highest by an amateur player and the individual innings made in defeat. It was a truly phenomenal, never to be forgotten innings. With Charlie dismissed, the Ones fell 4 short of would have been their greatest ever comeback in a game that sets a new club record for aggregate runs. This unsuccessful chase, combined with the result at Tavistock, speaks volumes about your 2026 Cornwood First XI. They win some and lose some, but they never know when they are beaten.
Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Paignton shook the title race to go top with a 103 run win over Exmouth, Exeter stay in contention with a solid win over Bradninch & Kentisbeare, Sidmouth finally got their first win of the year at Plymouth, while Tavistock also ended up 2 runs short in a chase at Sandford. Cornwood are in fourth in the table.
On Wednesday, the Ones T20 cup campaign ended with a 56 run loss at Tavistock. Fielding first in the broiling heat, the Ones struggled to stop Tavistock progress as Elliot Hamilton (58 from 38) and James White (51 from 24) both hit half centuries on the way to 220-3. The Ones made 164-8 in reply, including a special 53 from 27 by Chris Parker with 5 sixes.
The Twos reached the halfway point of the season with a clash against Kingsbridge at Oak Park. Matches between the two clubs often have a highly competitive and slightly spicy edge. Kingsbridge captain James Fletcher won the toss and elected to bat and was walking to the crease at the end of the first over as Charlie Cawardine (3 for 56) found extra bounce to draw a false shot from Freddie Ford. The first fifteen overs would have been Cornwood’s, punctuated by a very impressive ball from Ayaan Chatterjee to remove Fletcher, but for conceding 20 wides. That gift put the game in the balance at 68-2 at the first hydration interval. Ayaan picked up another wicket but James Westlake was able to push on to reach 50 at the 30 over drinks break with the score on 134-4.
From there, the game slipped towards Kingsbridge. Westlake was caught and bowled by Alex Robinson for 69 from 105. Before that, there was an inflection point in the 34th over. First ball, Richard Carr hit Jacob Caunter flat to the deep midwicket boundary. All could see that Charlie Cawardine caught the ball and pushed it into the air in the modern way, stepped on the boundary rope, stepped forward and took the catch. From a Cornwood view, Charlie pushed the ball in the air before he stepped on and off the rope and the catch was fair, but from the Kingsbridge bench, Charlie stepped on the rope with the ball in hand. Discussion was resolved with the benefit of the doubt awarded to the batter as Twos captain Alex Robinson recalled Carr and a six was signalled. Cawardine eventually got his man caught at deep fine leg for 41 but Kingsbridge got away in the last 3 overs, romping from 199-8 to 242-9. Bhanu De Silva made 33* from 22. The Twos final wide count was 42 balls for 49 runs; 7 extra overs and an unearned batting point.
After tea, positive progress from the Twos was restricted the way it usually is against Kingsbridge, by the introduction of Bhanu De Silva and Neal Peach (9-1-21-4). Ewan Grewal played with positive intent for 40 from 36 until he and Noah Carlisle both fell to De Silva in his first over. Matt Puttock, Aviral Srivastava, Ayaan Chatterjee and Charlie Cawardine became the latest in a 42 year lineage that reaches to Frank Rogers, Dave Matthews, J Smith, Graham Baskerville, Ian Devine and Phil Warren of Oak Park batters dismissed by Neal Peach.
At 127-8 and Charlie Farmer limping in on an injured knee, the game looked dead. Kingsbridge went really passive in the field and allowed Charlie to work the ball around for 28 from 31 with a runner. Down to the last wicket with 65 needed in 61, Jacob Caunter and Alex Robinson, also limping from injury, got to work. Jacob took the role as the main aggressor, hitting 6 fours and a six over the pavilion on the way to an unbeaten 55* from 50. Alex Robinson endured the pain as the pair ran 25 singles and a two. A miracle win looked on with 6 needed from 7 balls, but Jacob Caunter crushed a straight drive at Freddie Weir deflected the ball to the stumps stranding Alex Robinson. It was a horrible end to a rollercoaster day. The Twos were incredibly courageous and desperately unlucky, architects of their own downfall and on a steep learning curve.
On Sunday, the Women’s Firsts continued to show development through adversity in a 130 run loss to Exeter. Exeter’s Ella Goldsworthy followed up her double ton against Exmouth last week with 154*. That is the highest individual innings ever against Cornwood. Exeter captain Georgina Reed supported with 63* as Exeter made a huge 295-2. That target was not in reach but it is credit to the Oak Park Sisterhood that they batted their full 40 overs. Gemma Lancaster led with 73 from 94, her second fifty in two weeks, as Katie Donovan took 4-19 for the visitors. Earlier in the day, the Women’s softball team lost by 104 runs away to Bridestowe & Belstone.
The Threes were also on a comedown after last week’s statement win against Babbacombe. There were few positives in a batting performance against Stoke Gabriel 2XI where the team were bowled out for 98. Dan Bullock, who dropped down from Stoke Gabriel 1XI last year, played the Andy Bees role taking 5-13. The hosts were able to chase that down in exactly half their allotted overs with seven wickets spare.
The Fours, however, avoided a banana skin against G Division West bottom team Dartington & Totnes 2XI. The visitors elected to bat and made the Fours work for their wickets. Captain David Carter’s innings summed up their approach with 34 from 112, while Mark Potter hit 47. A second spell from Sam Gibbs turned the match. Sam almost single-handedly engineered a collapse taking an exceptional 8-1-28-5 and a run out. The Fours took the sting out of the chase early on as Rocky Travers hit his first DCL fifty with 58 from 41 including 5 sixes. Charles Knight’s classy 84 from 89 with 14 boundaries sealed the win by 7 wickets. Back-to-back wins put the Fours fifth in G Division West.
There were celebrations in the socials too as Harvey Smith took a first five-fer for the Fives against Modbury. Harvey took out the top half of the Modbury order for 5-29. It was tougher going for the Fives batters, who ended up 29 runs short. However, Simon Du Plessis hit 35 from 34 on debut. The annual friendly fixture with the Entertainers happened on Tuesday. It was a close game with a win for the visitors. Neel Shivane took 2-22, while Nick Goodliffe (25* from 34) and Matt Puttock (28* from 12) reached retirement.
In a quiet colts week, The Under 13s Tier One team beat Bovey Tracey by 45 runs. There was a 53* from 46 from Yasser and 31 from 26 for Alfie, while Rehaan took 3-5. The Under 15s girls team had their match abandoned against Plymouth, but Charlotte bowled economically, and Ojasvie was still going on 32* when the match was curtailed.
Next week, the Ones start the homeward nine with a challenging trip to Exmouth, the Twos will host South Devon, the Threes are at home to Paignton 3XI, while the Fours are up against Ivybridge 4s at Harbeton. On Sunday, the Women’s Firsts make the trip to Hatherleigh for a T20, while the Fives are against Saltash.
Comments