MONDAY, AUGUST 6
DEVON'S hopes of fighting back in their game against Cornwall at Budleigh Salterton were thwarted by a thunderstorm shortly after tea.
You would have to be a one-eyed Devon supporter not to admit that Cornwall had the best of it on day two at Ottermouth, although they didn't have it all their own way.
Devon were at their best when they had their backs to the wall – at one stage they were in danger of having to follow-on - and a rearguard action by the lower order batsman trimmed the first-innings deficit to a manageable 81.
Cornwall will have been less happy than Devon at the loss of more than three hours play due to bad weather. But when the terminal thunderstorm emptied over the Ottermouth ground shortly after five o'clock it was Devon who probably had more regrets.
Seamers Tom Allin – fit after his first-day knee injury – and Ian Bishop had perfect conditions to operate in and would have fancied nipping a few Cornwall batsmen out before the close.
Cornwall were 19 for one in their second innings when the heavens opened, a lead of 96 to take into the third and final day.
Devon, 75 for two overnight, subsided to 87 for five when play resumed then staggered to 122 for seven under pressure from Cornwall seamer Ryan Driver.
Rob Harrison needed just three balls of the session to remove Richard Foan, then Driver took the next four wickets to put Cornwall in the driving seat.
Nightwatchman Allin spooned a catch to cover, Chris Mole drove to mid-off then skipper Bob Dawson was caught in the gully.
When David Court was caught at slip, Devon were an unimpressive 122 for seven and 11 runs short of avoiding the follow-on.
With the pressure on Devon responded by producing their best spell of the match as David Lye and Rob Newman spiked the follow-on threat and kept on going.
Newman made 25 on a key stand of 33 that frustrated Cornwall when it mattered most. Justin Stephens ended the stand by having Newman caught in the cordon by Chris Martin. Devon's ninth wicket went down when Ian Bishop was Driver's seventh victim, leaving just last man Arwyn Jones to remove.
Cornwall aren't the first county to discover how hard Jones can be to shift – Berkshire have painful memories of the Plympton spin bowler batting long enough to deny them a win at Torquay a couple of years back – and he did it again.
With Lye playing a watchful innings at one end for an unbeaten 36, and Jones taking an equal share of the strike at the other for his 13, Devon's last pair put on 41.
Driver ended their fun when he had Jones caught behind to complete his best bowling performance for Cornwall.
Driver's previous best was six for 51 in the second innings against Oxfordshire at Truro in 2004.
Cornwall 282 (M L Robins 93, J C J Stephens 53, G M Thomas 36, C P Martin 39; I E Bishop 4-85, R I Dawson 4-52, A Jones 2-53) & 19-1 Devon 75-2 (R J Foan 31no, A P W Allen 30; D F Lye 36no, R J Newman 25; R C Driver 8-63). Bonus points: Cornwall 7, Devon 5