- South Dartmoor back to winning ways in cups
- Tom Allin tournament raised more than £5,000 for air ambulance
- Taverners kit bag delivered to Sri Lankan youngsters
- Devon trying to contact the class of 56
- Paceman Tshepo running in Virgin London Marathon
- Five Devon women in Western Storm squad for Kia Super League
- Registration night for all ages at Topsham on Monday
- Lots pouring in for auction at Allin Memorial tournament
- Thames Valley Gentlemen Cricket Club
- Bradninch add Argentinian flavour to Devon League
- Ipplepen youth registration night on Friday
- Final call for Groundsmans first seminar this year
- Devon League official tackling London Marathon for charity
- Bovey on familiar territory in Aaron Printers Cup
- Brockman Cup - Cup Kings lie in wait for holders
- Shepherd Trust helps Kingsbridge build for sustainable future
- DCL - Umpire Appointments 2016 (May 7th - July 2nd)
- Long standing records beaten
- North Devon see off Paignton chase
A bad day at the office!
The journey was not too bad and fortunately we had looked at the ground’s location on Goggle Earth and realised the SatNav post code was not quite right. On arrival we found we were playing on Pitch 2 and that the track was damp and well covered. It looked as if it would be challenging to play on and would find out players’ techniques and their mental aptitudes. We won the toss and decided to bowl and that is about where things started to go wrong.
It should have been 2-2 but it wasn’t and instead it ended up being 30-1 when Byron caught Paterson off Gregors. Gregors then ran out Dryell and Deggy bowled Canagar but it took the drinks break to lift the side and for these two wickets to then fall. 10 runs later and Tayls takes a sharp chance off Carps and then Jonty takes a catch off Carps too. 79-5 off 27. Are we back in the game? Reeves however is batting very well and is ever present until in the 32nd over when Saps bowls him for a very good 47, the top score of the day and by a country mile. 98-6. There is another small partnership, which is all that is needed on this pitch, before Kers takes the first of his two wickets between which Gregors gets his second wicket but Gloucestershire have taken their score onto163-9 off their 45 overs. If only(s) are no good. We just have to knuckle down and grind out every scabby run.
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Let’s be honest it was not one of our best bowling or fielding performances, on what should have been a bowling paradise. Did we bowl straight enough? Did we bowl too many 4 balls? Did we field well with the intensity, desire to keep the runs down and take our catches? I know you know the answers and some of you are hurting.
After a splendid tea, thank you Brislington CC, it’s less than 4 an over. We need to apply ourselves, play straight and late on this pitch, take the singles, rotate the strike, build some partnerships and someone get a 50+ and/ or bat through and oh yes bat the overs. There are showers about. Gloucester are fired up and bowl some wides and the ball pops and also keeps low. If anything as it dries out it becomes worse and better to bowl on than the first innings. No need to panic though, show some application. Deggy gloves over the slips and then gets one that keeps low and is LBW; we then loose two more wickets. Dobs and Locky show some grit and we have a partnership of 42 and there is some hope as we bat so deep. Dobs is bowled in the 19th over 58-5 and we then loose 5 wickets for 17 runs!!
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So, so disappointing.. it might feel like the end of the word but it is not. These things do happen- the wheels come off every now and then. What we have to do is accept and learn from our mistakes. What is concerning though is that Nick and I and Jason at the Festival keep repeating ourselves, particularly regarding the batting. Yes we did not bowl and field as well as we can, we can’t bowl and field brilliantly all the time but even on a difficult track, we can bat better. You have to start to look at yourself, your technique and how you apply yourself. You have to start to play straighter, select the right shot for the ball and pitch conditions. I do accept it is not the time of year to be tinkering with technique and so there is a lot of work to do this autumn and winter. What you can do is apply yourself, be determined to get forward, head at the ball, on a difficult track, guts it out and play straight and late, with a straight bat and not across the line.
Enough said. As I said in my email I have learnt over the years that once a season the wheels sometimes do come off and everything goes wrong! Now we have got that out of the way we can revert to our pre Festival form and climb some more mountains together again. There will be more bumps on the way though and I hope you/ we learn from them.
Have a read of the “Man I the Glass Poem” lads.
Thank you the Gloucestershire, the Umpires, Brislington CC and Wendy and Derek for scoring. We didn’t have our safari supper on the way home. It was good to see Jack Popham (U14s 2009) and sorry to see his leg in a cast!
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