Words: Simon Travers
The Ones headed to the County Ground in Exeter this week with more to worry about than whose arm and whose leg would be sacrificed to sort the pay and display at the squash club car park next door. After a two year rebuild in A Division, Exeter have roared back into the Premier to reinstate their reputation as county powerhouse and entered the match unbeaten in five.
Exeter batted with intent from ball one. Australian opener Eddie Steele and Charles Clist put on 67 runs in the powerplay before Matt Skeemer bowled Clist for 32. Another quick wicket brought Finlay Hill, returning to Exeter after a year at Taunton Deane, to the crease. Steele and Hill kept the pedal to the metal with 90 for the third wicket before Steele was caught and bowled Ben Privett on 78. Any hopes of the Ones slowing momentum were short lived as Hill was joined by Devon’s Sam Read. His 40 from 41 balls was pedestrian by comparison with Finlay Hill, who hit 52 from 34 balls in their 93 run fourth wicket stand. Hill would proceed to get ton before being stumped on 112 from 84 balls. At the other end, wickets started to fall. On an afternoon when four of eight Cornwood bowlers had an economy above 8, Naveen Fernando’s figures of 10-1-45-4 showed his quality. Matt Skeemer too can be satisfied with going for 30 from 10 overs. A late order flurry of runs pushed Exeter to 328-8 in their 50 overs.
That total was the second largest ever conceded by Cornwood in a DCL game and Exeter become the first team to score 300 twice against the club. The Ones knew that they would need a new Highest Total record for a win. Exeter Captain Joe Gore immediately extinguished hopes as the Ones dropped to 28-4 in the first 5 overs. Gore got the ball talking and was lethal when his line was right, finishing with figures of 5-52. At the other end, Ben Privett was able to keep the green flag flying. Ben found fluency in his strokeplay and guided partnerships of 53 with Naveen Fernando and 51 with James Richardson. Ben’s reward for his consistent positivity was his first ton in a Cornwood shirt, hitting 104 from 104 balls with 14 fours and a six. His work enabled the team to score 4 batting points as the innings closed on 229. It was a tough day at the office for the Ones against an Exeter team ready to challenge any in the league. However, it was also a defiant performance that showed heart in adversity, with a couple of key performances that can stir pride and momentum through the home straight of the season.
Elsewhere in the Premier, Bradninch & Kentisbeare tightened their grip on top spot with a win over Paignton, while Sandford lost at Bovey Tracey. Bovey’s win takes them out of the relegation zone above Paignton. There were landslides for Exmouth against Plympton and Sidmouth against Heathcoat. The Ones stand sixth in the table.
At Oak Park, the mismatch on paper was palpable between the Twos and Plymouth 2XI. Plymouth sent a team with only four Over 19s to face an experienced Twos side. The decisive moment of the game came 13 minutes into the Cornwood innings. Having already cleared the pavilion in the second over, Josh Goodliffe hit an aerial drive to long on. Dan Luffman pouched it, only to watch the ball dribble through his hands, under his arm and plop over the boundary for 6. Given a life-line, Josh relaxed and hit full-throttle. Entertaining batters clear the bars, but on Saturday, Josh cleared the parking behind the pavilion as spectators dashed to get their cars outside of Josh’s range. Josh thundered his way towards his century to make a career highest 119 in 76 balls with 13 fours and 4 sixes. At the other end, Robin Dart looked pedestrian despite that from the 9th over onward, he was batting faster than a run a ball. Robin scored a season high of 72 from 61 with 9 fours and a six. That innings puts Robin over 300 runs for the season and currently fifth highest run scorer in C Division West.
While Josh and Robin’s partnership of 218 in 135 balls is (tentatively) the highest DCL partnership across the club in the 21st Century, and (almost certainly) a new record for the first wicket for the Twos, it is not the highest partnership in the Twos’ history. That record is still held by an unbeaten second wicket stand of 237* between Frank Rogers and Neil Franklin in 115 minutes against Ashburton on 18th May, 1991. The link between the two matches? Club Chairman Graham Baskerville was sat at the boundary’s edge on Saturday supporting Josh and Robin, and sat at the boundary’s edge in 1991 with his pads on waiting as next man in.
With Plymouth 2XI having only scored 200 as a team once this season, the intensity dropped a bit in the second half of the innings. Plymouth’s youngsters were rewarded for courage and determination. Azir Rahmanzai posed problems through his whole spell, while James Hulbert settled in a resilient second spell. Both took 3 for 56. Under 13 Stephen Skews also emerged with credit, bowling Jason Hall on 30 after facing the brunt of the storm earlier as first change bowler. The Twos innings closed on 335, 19 runs shy of their C Division West record highest score against Chagford in June 2018.
The gameplan was simple enough for Cornwood’s opening bowlers, Harry Woolway and Alex Shutt. Bowl at the stumps. That plan worked spectacularly as six of the opening seven wickets came with a death rattle. Plymouth swooned to 27-7. Harry Woolway ended up with 4-21 to reach 22 wickets for the season, while Alex Shutt took 3-34. Lower order resistance from Iain Cunningham (42) and more heart from Stephen Skews and Azir Rahmanzai pushed the final total to 113. Having won by 111 runs last week, the Twos won by 222 runs. They stay third in the table as Ivybridge stay top after squeaking past South Devon.
It was a totally different sport being played on Delamore Park as the Threes looked to pick up the pace against Stoke Gabriel 2XI after last week’s frustrating loss. Stoke Gabriel set themselves the objective of batting their overs against a strong Cornwood attack. They achieved their aim, but at a cost. Stoke Gabriel captain Pat Duke batted all 40 overs to reach 50* from 116. Only one other batter reached double figures as there was a brace for Andy Bees, Mike Hodge and Joe Davies. Stoke Gabriel finished on 109-8. Craig Harris steered the Threes to a safe, swift conclusion with an unbeaten 38*. Pat Duke asserted his bowling all-rounder credentials with 3-29, but it was not nearly enough to stop a seven-wicket victory for the Threes in 18.2 overs. The win keeps the Threes top of F Division West.
On Sunday it was the Women’s Firsts turn to visit Exeter. Exeter Women have been a class apart this season, coming into the match unbeaten. They won the toss and elected to bat and a strong effort from Cornwood restricted them to 152-6. All of the Exeter top 7 got starts, but only Lily Halliday pushed past 30 with a season best 33 from 61. Both Kat Frost and H Simpson combined economic bowling with a pair of wickets as the Women’s Firsts achieved a feasible target to chase for an upset. Evie Privett made a strong case for consideration in the ‘Best Privett in a losing cause against Exeter’ award category. Evie’s fine knock of 60 from 55 balls included 8 fours and 2 sixes and positioned the team to need 63 from 19 overs. It won’t be too long before this growing squad deals with that kind of proposition comfortably, but not yet. Exeter showed why they are this year’s Champions, collapsing the side to 114 all out. Eva Lewis made the match winning contribution with figures of 6-2-10-5. That loss drops the Women’s Firsts to fourth in the table with a game in hand on Paignton.
After a great run of results, the Fours faced a tough challenge as they made the local trip to Manadon to play Plymouth Civil Service & Roborough 2XI. Put into bat, the Fours top order fought hard for their stumps but found it difficult to get the ball away against a tight bowling attack. Charles Knight was able to reach a creditable 47, but the team were only on 106-3 after 30 overs. That left too much for the middle order to do to post a competitive total and the team were light on 151-7. PCS&R were able to reach their target with 13 overs and 5 wickets spare. Chris Newton provided the backbone with 39, and Nur Ahmed brought the fireworks with 41 from 25. The Fours are now tied on the edge of the relegation zone with Whitchurch.
In other matches during the week, the Under 19s finish fourth after Plympton conceded. The Under 17s lost a last ball thriller at Ivybridge on Wednesday night. Megan Hayward’s imperious spin bowling was a team highlight but Ivybridge captain Owen Howard’s all-round performance of 3-13 and 45* from 36 won the day. Earlier in the week, an Under 17 side also came second in a friendly to a strong touring team from Cannock. The Girls Under 15s performed creditably in a 3 match tournament on Wednesday with a win over Bovey Tracey. The Under 13s beat Tavistock in a two innings T20 match.
Next week, the Ones come home to Oak Park to play Heathcoat. The Twos have a short trip to Yelverton, while the Threes are away at Babbacombe. The Fours host Ipplepen 3XI at Delamore Park. On Sunday, the Women’s Firsts are at home to Plympton and the Fifths are home to Pearce Brothers. Don’t forget to sort you end of season dinner dance payments and menus, and also get your teams prepped for an end of season quiz on Friday 23rd August.
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