Words: Simon Travers
Match Photos: Ivor Thomas
This week’s round up starts at Delamore Park as the Threes confirmed promotion to E Division West with a gripping one run win against Bovey Tracey 3XI. The Threes knew that five points would punch their ticket out of F Division, but could not take anything for granted against one of the three teams to beat them this year. Climbing up a league has been a club target for the Threes since relegation in 2021. Playing in E Division will challenge plenty of the club’s young cricketers to gain experience that might help bridge the gap into the Ones and Twos.
The key to the Threes success this season has been stability and a team identity instilled by captain Adam Whiting. In 2022, 47 players made appearances for the Threes, while only three played 10 or more games. In 2023, 46 players were picked but only two played 10 games or more. With one game still remaining, 35 players have worn a Threes shirt and seven have played 10 or more games. Evie Privett, Josh Whiting, Adam Whiting, Mike Hodge, Ewan Horner, Duncan Cumberland and Andy Bees have provided the backbone of the team and have all had their moment to shine.
Saturday’s game was reduced to 35 overs after the previous night’s heavy rainfall brought reinforcements around mid-day. The visitors won the toss and put the Threes into bat. With the sun out and Delamore Park drying, the conditions still favoured the bowlers early on. Evie Privett stuck to the task for 85 minutes to score 30 from 56 balls, while Ewan Grewal sent a couple of balls over the Oak Park fence on the way to 45 from 37 with 3 fours and 4 sixes. When Ewan departed, the team were 106-4 with 11.2 overs remaining. Despite some valiant late order hitting from Jack Lane, Bovey took the last 6 wickets for 60 runs and the Threes finished on 166. Four of the five points needed on the day were earnt, but the visitors had a target similar to one they chased earlier in the season. For that, Bovey could credit impressive spells from Jack Ansley (3-29) and Gethin Williams (3-16).
After tea, Charlie Martyn got the party started with two new ball wickets. However, the damage to Bovey’s middle order was done by Jack Lane. Lane immediately struck to remove the powerful bat of Gethin Williams, then took two in two overs to dismiss determined Tony England (34 from 71) and Sam England. Jack finished with figures of 7-0-29-3. A sharp Ewan Horner run out brought Jack Ansley (39 from 41) and Paul Scott together at the crease. Despite a solid effort in the field to contain them, they positioned Bovey to win, needing 19 from the last 24 balls. Ewan Grewal stepped in to deliver two fine overs of seam bowling that only went for three runs. Still, the last over came with Bovey favourites needing seven to win.
The ball was handed to Joe Davies, the Milky Bar Mullet Man. First ball of the over, Paul Scott lofted a catch that Matt Puttock safely netted at long off. New batter Jago Stone took two balls to get off strike, meaning that Jack Ansley had three balls left to score six. With no fielding restrictions, everyone retreated to reduce the chance it would be game over in one hit. Ansley drove on the legside and was able to scamper back for two. Three needed from two balls, but the next ball was a Davies special that Ansley could not connect with. He slashed another two on the last ball and the Threes won by a solitary run, a new team record for the closest margin of victory by runs. There are two ways to view that last over from Joe Davies. On the one hand, he held his nerve remarkably and courageously delivered a performance that should stay in the memory a long time. On the other hand, Joe is the Threes' top wicket taker with 21 this season, holding a bowling average of 9.38, a strike rate of 11.29 and an economy rate of 4.99. A result of five runs and a wicket is exactly an average over for Joe in 2024.
Stokeinteignhead recovered from collapsing to 84 to relegate South Brent by 3 runs. That means the Threes need a minimum of 6 points next week as they travel to South Brent to guarantee promotion as champions.
The success kept flowing on Sunday as the Women’s First team won the plate competition in the Super 8s. This year’s Super 8s campaign was decimated by early season weather and other sides’ availability. The Women’s First missed out on the main finals purely because Plymouth beat Stoke Gabriel by 39 runs more than they did. Travelling to Stoke Gabriel for finals day, a well-balanced team dispatched Clyst St George in the semi for a 4 wicket victory. Two run outs and a wicket for Donna Weeks restricted Clyst to 83-4 from their 16 overs. It only took the Women’s Firsts 7.1 overs to chase that total, with 29 from 20 for Laura Bale and a captain’s knock of 31* retired from 16 for Megan Hayward.
The final was dominated by the bowlers. Cornwood were put into bat by Topsham St. James and found run-scoring more challenging. Helly Simpson hit 15 from 21 as a spell of 3-18 from Topsham’s Lily Harlond looked to have swung the game their way. The Women’s Firsts went to field with only 68 runs on the board to defend. That proved plenty though as Kat Frost proved lethal with 3-12 in her three overs. Two more wickets for Donna Weeks and a key run out for Sarah Martin was enough to bowl out Topsham St. James for 46. The tension of a 22 run victory soon melted into celebration as the team received their trophy.
The Ones waded through the bank holiday seaside hoardes for their fixture against Paignton. With their mid-table position secured for the season, the team faced a challenge to keep up with the hunger of a Paignton team in the middle of a relegation scrap. They elected to bat but lost early wickets. Paignton’s overseas Abhay Negi passed 30 wickets for the year as he removed Skeemer, Beaumont and Fernando on the way to figures of 3-26. Elliott Staddon fought for 38 from 50 balls but a solid Paignton performance was rewarded with a target to chase of 141. There was a pair of wickets for Ben Privett and Lee Baker, but a 72 run third wicket partnership between Charlie Ward (56 from 52) and Harry Ward (32) was plenty enough to carry the hosts to a 6 wicket win.
Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Bradninch & Kentisbeare were clinical against Exmouth to ensure they were crowned champions with a week to spare. Congratulations to the club for their second Championship in three years. Sandford regained second place by halting Exeter’s second-half momentum. It was Heathcoat’s turn to thrash Plympton, while Bovey Tracey stayed out of the relegation places by with an impressive win at Sidmouth. The Ones stay fifth, but are likely to finish fourth or sixth depending on next week’s result.
In the return fixture, the Twos experience was plenty for a six wicket win against a young Paignton 2XI. It was maximum Goodliffe as Nick, Adam and Josh all appeared in the same Cornwood side for the first time. The visitors elected to bat after a delayed start. Young opener Arthur Ray worked hard for 95 minutes for his 32, although he was run out and also barbecued the experienced Carl McFarlane for a duck. Paignton could not attack Jacob Caunter (7-3-11-2) and Jason Hall (8-4-7-2) but had the moral victory of batting their overs as they reached 107-8 from 40. Lewis Swar took 3 wickets with the new ball as the Twos looked to secure an early finish. The end came as soon as the 17th over as Max Finzel (38* from 42) and Sam Griffiths put on 53 for the fourth wicket.
The Fours are now rooted to eighth place in G Division West, a relegation spot with three due to go down, after a difficult 116 run loss at Ivybridge 3XI at Harberton. With Ivybridge winning the toss and electing to bat, there were plenty of positives with a fighting performance in the field that included a four-fer for Cornwood’s own King of Strim, Simon Garland (4-34), a brace for Robbie Wooderson, a wicket for Seb Clewer and a gun run out from Ryan Hewitt. Ivybridge were made to work for every run as they reached 200-9. The promotion picture in G Division West is wild, with Ivybridge one of five teams within ten points of each other vying for two promotion slots. Their strength showed in the second innings of the match as they bowled the Fours for 84, with Josh Wood top scoring on 27 and James Ferriman claiming 5-8.
The Fifths played part one of a bank holiday weekender on Sunday, losing by 138 runs to The TBCs. Batting first, the TBCs scored 229-7 in their 35, with Nathan Parsons leading the bowling with 3-37, while Freddie Joynes took a stumping and a run out. Nathan also lead the batting with 29 from 17 as the Fifths were bowled out for 91. There was a lovely father and son feel about the innings, with senior and junior Garlands, Ways and Joynes batting together. The second Fifths game of the weekend will be covered in next week’s Sweep.
Next week is the last week of the season. The Ones are at home with the chance to leapfrog Exmouth in the table. The Twos travel to South Devon, the Threes travel to South Brent, and the Fours host Yelverton Bohemian 2XI. On Sunday, the Women’s First close their campaign against Paignton, while the Fifths visit Holbeton. Don’t forget, you have until next Sunday to buy tickets for this year’s Cornwood dinner dance.
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