ANDREW FAIRBAIRN, ALASTAIR CHILCOTT, OLLIE HIGGS, THEO THOMPSON, JACK WILLIAMS, GWILLAM CROUCH, BEN HOLMES, MARCUS HODDINOTT, MATTHEW WOOD

LUKE ANSELL, JACK MAUNDER, SAM WYATT-HAINES, BILLY SEARLE, HARRY CHOULES, DOMINIC BESS

This was the tenth successive year   that Devon have visited South Africa and as ever the players benefited from a demanding and varied itinerary.  They were also recipients of the outstanding hospitality provided by our hosts, something that has become a significant factor in the continuing success of this venture.

As in previous years the tour was based in two contrasting areas of the country, Kruger in the East and Cape Town in the South West.

Ali Chilcott scored his first 50 for the county  and Theo  Thomson  contributed 56  in a comfortable 168  run win over  Lowveldt Uplands. This was an additional game arranged at short notice which proved to be  ideal preparation  for  the more demanding challenges to follow.

The two-day game against Nelspuit  was well balance at the end of the first day with our hosts having a 45 run lead but having to bat last on  a pitch which was likely to become more difficult for batting.

Unfortunately some persistent morning rain  left insufficient time for the second innings  and a decision was made  to abandon the game (the first time this has happened in ten visits)  in favour  of a 25  over match  in the afternoon. This game had a rather bizarre ending   when Devon, cruising to victory with four overs left,  made no attempt to score the necessary runs  and managed to finish 7  short of the  required target.  Nobody, including the batsmen themselves, was  able to offer an adequate explanation for what  had happened in a classic case for  a sports psychologist!

This first section of the tour included some  notable individual performances,   In addition to Chilcott  and Thomson, Samuel Wyatt-Haines  also scored 50, while  Luke Ansell  returned the remarkable figures of 5 for 18  with his’ chinamen’ in the 25 match against Nelspruit.

A feature of our time in Cape Town  was occasional very strong winds, though this  did have a moderating effect on high temperatures.  In a number of games this caused  unfamiliar problems for the bowlers -  all part of the learning curve!

The itinerary in the Western Cape is designed with the intention of providing the players  with increasingly more demanding opposition.

Given this scenario a three wicket defeat against Southern Suburbs in our first game  did not bode well for  what was to follow. Fortunately cricket is not  as predictable as that! The game featured two  outstanding performances,  one by opener Cummins  with 109  for Southern  Suburbs   and a splendid attacking  innings by  Samuel Wyatt-Haines (109)  which produced  his second century for the county.

Our match against a  Western  Province  Development XI  is worthy of special mention.  The opposition players  were selected from townships in and around Cape Town  and, as was the case in 2010,  served as a reminder of the excellent work being done to encourage younger black  boys to participate in cricket–soccer   being by far the most popular game in the townships.

Luke Ansell took 4 for 23  and  Ollie Higgs  top scored with 30 in what proved to be to be a comfortable 6  wicket win.

South Africa of course has a recent history of racial tensions but, as has happened in previous visits,  differences of skin colour  pose no problems for  the young.  In the evening  both sets of players attended a game together at Newlands  test venue and clearly enjoyed each other’s company. Some adults  could  take a lesson from these twenty five young men.

Our  match against Boland, in the magnificent setting of  Boland Park  in  Paarl  produced an excellent game of cricket, Boland being dismissed for just seven runs short of Devon’s total of 232, having at one stage looked likely winners.

The players deserve particular plaudits for their tenacity and enthusiasm in the field –  the principal reason  why they were able to achieve victory against the odds. Gillam  Crouch   made two  crucial contributions in an exciting finish,  a  run out  via  a direct hit and  a catch to dismiss the threatening Schoor  who, having scored 40, threatened  to  win the game for Boland

Ollie Higgs  top scored with  62  and Jack Maunder  contributed a useful 42.   The  bowling honours  were shared  with Dom  Bess  demonstrating good control of  line and length to finish with 2 for 46 from his 10 overs of off spin.  Ben Holmes, who  only made his debut for the county  as an U14,  produced yet another  good spell of seam bowling   to  finish with 2 for 23  from 8 accurate overs.

Back in Cape  Town the last two games were designed to produce the most difficult opposition ,which proved to be the case. 

The two-day game  against Western Province U14  has become  a feature of the  tour, providing the players with experience of a different format  to the regulation 50 over cricket  with which they are familiar.

First-innings  saw the two teams evenly matched with Western Province leading by just 10 runs.  Billy Searle  top scored with 73 (his debut as captain due to  Samuel Wyatt – Haines  being unwell) while Gillam Crouch took 3 for 40.  Devon’s  fate  was sealed by a disappointing performance with  the bat  in the second innings  being dismissed for a paltry108.  Only Theo  Thomson  with 30  making a significant contribution.

A victory  target of just 99  posed little difficulty  for our opponents who won comfortably  by six wickets with time to spare.

The final game against Western Province U15  was, on paper, the most demanding of the tour against a side who have performed well in the South African under 15 national competition. As it turned out the players produced arguably their best performance of the tour, losing by just seven runs having  been well placed to win the game with just a few overs remaining. Western Province   were dismissed for 178 with Luke Ansell  returning the excellent figures of 4 for 44  from his 10 overs while Theo Thomson  took 3 for 7  in  2.2 overs to bring the Western  Province  to an abrupt  conclusion.

In reply a determined 28 from Marcus Hoddinott at the start of the innings  and a really excellent  65 by Ollie Higgs  put Devon  in a strong position.  When Higgs was dismissed the score was  151 for 6  with ample  overs remaining. As it turned out the later batsmen were not capable of  finishing the job and Devon  were dismissed for  171, a disappointing conclusion to a game in which much of Devon’s cricket was  of a good standard.

Overall the tour was a great success and there is little doubt that our young players returned to the UK  much richer for the experience both in terms of  their cricket  and  their social development.

On the field the inability of the latter half of our batting to make a worthwhile contribution was a recurring theme throughout the tour, something on which a number of players need to reflect.  It is so important for those with less obvious ability to make a contribution if team success is to be achieved.  We all enjoy winning!

Having said that the emphasis during the tour was on the development of individuals and feedback from  the players  suggested that this process had been both beneficial and appreciated.

Thanks to Andy Fairbairn and Matt Wood who did an excellent job coaching the team  and providing valuable feedback to individual players.

Congratulations also to the players who proved themselves to be excellent ambassadors for youth cricket in Devon, they were, without exception, delightful young men whose conduct reflected well on their schools, clubs and of  course  their parents.

As ever the hospitality we received was second to none, we  really do have some good friends in South Africa  who do so much to ensure that our young players gain maximum enjoyment and benefit from their visit.  

Alan Swift

Team Manager

13^TH FEB: AT SKUKUZA CC

DEVON 228-5 ((T THOMPSON 56*, A CHILCOTT 52)
LOWVELDT UPLANDS 60 (D BESS 3-4, G CROUCH 3-19)

DEVON WON BY 168 RUNS.

13^TH & 14^TH FEB: AT SKUKUZA CC (2 DAY GAME)
DEVON 152 (B SEARLE 60)

NELSPRUIT 197

DRAW

MATCH ABANDONED ON DAY 2 DUE TO RAIN)

17^TH FEB: AT PRIMROSE CC

DEVON 211 (S WYATT-HAINES 109)

S SUBURBS  212-7 (D BESS 3-42)

S SUBURBS WON BY 3 WICKETS.

18^TH FEB AT BERGVLIET HIGH

W PROVINCE DEV: XI 101 (L ANSELL 4-23)

DEVON 102-6 (O HIGGS 30, T THOMPSON 29)

DEVON WON BY 4 WICKETS

20^TH  FEB AT BOLAND PARK (PAARL)DEVON 232 (O HIGGS 62,J MAUNDER 42, S WYATT-HAINES 34)

BOLAND 225

DEVON WON BY 7 RUNS.

22& 23^RD FEB AT VINEYARD OVAL  (2 DAY GAME)

DEVON 217 -8DEC (B SEARLE 73, O HIGGS 35) & 108 (T THOMPSON 30)

W PROVINCE U14 227-7DEC (G CROUCH 3-40)  & 99-4 (T THOMPSON 3-23)

W PROVINCE U14 WON BY 6 WICKETS

25^TH FEB: AT WP

WESTERN PROVINCE U15 XI 178 (L ANSELL 4-44)

DEVON 171 (O HIGGS 65)

W PROVINCE WON BY 7 RUNS.

STATISTICS