Devon Cricket Board - DCBYA U14s 2013 Gwent Match Report

Debutants do damage after Noah and Harvey break records!

An early start but a beautiful morning and easy drive to Newport. As usual Devon arrive on mass before the opposition except for Noah who decides to visit 4 local cricket grounds before finding the right one (pun - sorry)! We are on the second team pitch as the main pitch is being prepared for the Champions Trophy and the pitch used the day before. It is dry so we decide to have a bat if we win the toss. Joe Hagan-Burt, the U14s new Captain, wins the toss and we bat.

Jim Shepherd and Harvey open. Third ball Sheps is wrapped on the pads by Gwent’s best bowler Williams, left arm over in swing and is adjudged LBW. Oh dear not the start Jim or the team needs. Joe Hagan-Burt, so improved over the winter takes a single before second over he takes 16 off Stewart, one a little streaky but the remainder great shots. 17-1 off 2. The batting and score then settled down and assume a more normal pattern and after 10 overs Devon are 41-1 just above the 30-40 runs the players had been asked to try and achieve. At drinks after 15 it is 55 -1 with both batsmen relatively untroubled, playing some lovely shots, rotating the strike and Hagan-Burt looking as if he might well score his maiden County 50, which he does in the 21^st over, 50 off 70 balls in 69 minutes, before almost immediately chipping a disappointing return catch to the bowler. Was it a bump ball- not really sure. 92-2 and a partnership 89 between Harvey and Joe. Great stuff! Enter Noah Wright, who you would expect to take the scoring rate on and after his initial look does start to free his hands and play some super shots. He quickly catches Harvey up and it is a race to see who once they have both reached their 50, Harvey 84 balls in 110 minutes and Noah 43 balls in 50 minutes, might go onto score that elusive hundred in this age group, which lets be honest was there for the taking given that Gwent’s spriits began to falter and their fielding fail. At drinks after 30 overs, 136-2, Nick set them a target of 235 but that was surpassed as Noah smacked 6s into the road and onto the club house roof whilst Harvey ticked the score along and scored the odd sublime boundary. With 3 overs to go it could have been either or both getting a century but Noah took the initiative helped by Harvey’s unselfishness (Harv if you had scored a little quicker, free those hands, let them go through the ball and run some more singles, as we discussed, you would have scored your century too) and brought up his hundred off 72 balls in 88 minutes with Harvey finishing on 91 not out, 122 balls in 152 minutes. Devon 276-2 off their 45 overs. Great effort lads-- 178 partnership! A number of firsts and records I believe for this team. Brilliant but only half a job done, tea then lets get ready..

The two Joes open, 6’ 4” Joe Langsworthy and 6’2” Joe Boddington and we have some real pace- this does mean streaky fours might be scored too and I admit it was my fault the field was not quite right, possibly too attacking and Gwent scored some too easy runs, albeit some where off the edge and through the slips / gully region, as a result. Both debutants started to settle down then, beating the bat with swing and pace and in Bodders 4^th over he struck having Supple adjudged LBW; next ball predicted by the management I would add, he then bowled Stewart, 30-2 off 8. Spirits visibly grew and Bodders finished his first County spell 5-1-18-2. Avery and Harris-Cupid went about rebuilding but then astute captaincy saw the early introduction of the spin twins and the game changed dramatically. In between Alex Hannam with Phillips standing up had bowled well without any luck. Initially the runs just dried up, Osborn ‘s first 5 overs going for 6 runs and 4 of them a full toss in his first over and Petherbridge miserly bowled two maidens and then had three 2s taken off him before Osborne aided by Noah at short mid wicket, not sure you were 8 yards Noah, snaffled a catch, not off the head though! Pethy then had young Avery out well caught behind by Phillips 63-4 off 21 overs. Next over Pethy had Thomas caught again by Phillips and Osborn bowled Palmer, before Pethy bowled Brown and Osborn bowled Evans, four wickets falling on 64. We could have turned the screw and continued with Neal and Pethy but Harry and Jim got into the act and Jim had Clarke well stumped by Phillips who was enjoying himself behind the stumps (bit tidier with those stumping Ben, leave some of the timbers in!) 72-9.There then followed a spirited, the word has been used a lot in this piece, response from Williams who decided attack was the best form of defence but Joe Hagan-Burt was having none of it and so when Ward and Shepherd had had 3 overs each, he brought back the openers to finish things off. Try as they may, and the Joes did perhaps too much in one of thems case, Williams did his utmost to spoil things before big Joe removed Clarke middle stump, match over, Gwent all out 105 in the 35^th over. Nice and early too so we could get home before the bridge closed!

Great spirit; great team and individual performances and a fantastic platform to build a season on. Yes there were lots of things we know we can and will do better, as we discussed in the debrief. Don’t get carried away though; there will be tougher, much tougher matches to follow, highs and lows, but you are in a good position to deal with them; enjoy yourselves enjoy the success. Think about your performance; think what you are going to do better next time, that 1%. Write it down and make it happen. Don’t also forget to think about how it felt to score that 50 or 100, take that wicket, take that catch or stumping and to win in the style you did. Write all this down on your achievement forms and read them regularly. Close your eyes and relive the feelings, bottle them and dip into that bottle the night and morning of matches and when things are not going quite so well.

Thank you Wendy and Derek for scoring. Thank you parents for your support and kind words. Keep your feet firmly on the ground!

See you all next Sunday. Home Scorecard