The season started proper at sunny Brixham Cricket Club who again extended a very warm welcome. The previous evening there was an eleventh hour loss of a player which had a knock on effect of reducing the side to a basic eleven as our Exeter based off-spinner could not get a lift. This actually resulted in a vital change for the summer as Paignton's Connor Ashworth responded at 7.30pm on the Sunday evening with a very willing to play response and then earned a berth for the summer. Sam Wyatt-Haines won the toss and Declan Lines, who had confirmed his place with his performance in the two day game with Uplands, and Matt Skeemer who was now a first team regular at Cornwood opened. This was to be a busy week for apart from the three days play against Worcestershire the sixteen’s were playing Somerset over two days on the Thursday and Friday. This resulted in some mix and matching and Skeemer playing just one day for the seventeen’s. The first over was a maiden but the pair put on 71 off one hundred balls in fifty-nine minutes which was to be the highest partnership of the innings. Lines fell in the fifteenth over giving way to Ollie Higgs. He and Skeemer advanced the score to 120 off twenty-nine overs when Higgs fell one short of Lines 25. Skeemer had reached his fifty on the first ball of the over it had taken seventy-eight balls but he only lasted a further six balls as Ahmed took his second catch. Captain Wyatt-Haines was joined by Billy Searle, who we were hoping would play a full season, with three down for 126 and one hundred and eight balls left consolidation and then acceleration would be needed. The two seventeen’s put on 69 off 68 balls and five short of two hundred when the captain was out. He had batted for forty-four minutes hitting four fours and a six falling three short of his fifty off the last ball of the forty-second over. The previous ball the Ansley’s dog had demonstrated its exceptional ball finding skills. Devon had another forty-eight balls to post a decent score. After seven of them of which Searle scored five, Powell two Powell was out. He was off to the States the following day but when he returned he came of age to become one of the side’s key players. The dogs master added 24 off 23 to be the third Devon batsman bowled. Devon were on 226-6. Searle fell on 232 for an important 35 and Bess and Thomas took Devon to a respectable 245.

   Brixham provided an excellent brunch and Worcestershire needed just under five an over. They were Darren less in 2013 with the leg spinner playing for their twos. Billy Searle struck with his third ball trapping Martin leg before – 4-1. Hugo Whitlock joined in with his ninth ball bowled the second opener Harris – 14-2. The third wicket put on the visitors highest partnership putting on 65. Jack Thomas had taken over from Searle and in his fifth over bowled Milton. With the penultimate bowl of his spell he took his second wicket in a similar fashion removing the new batsman Wynn. After twenty-two overs Worcestershire were in some difficulty on 91-4. At the halfway stage Worcestershire needed 146 runs off 150 balls with six wickets in hand. They lost their fifth wicket in the thirty-first over when Skeemer ran out Jaswel. On the same score, 113, the Sidmouth pair of Powell and Bess combined to take the important wicket of Westbury who had just reached his fifty. Off spinner Connor Ashworth entered the attack in the thirty-eighth over. His second over was a maiden and with his fourteenth ball in county cricket he set Wyatt-Haines on his objective of beating the catching record. Seb Ansley had taken over from Skeemer, who had impressed going at 2.14 an over, and took the eighth wicket with Ashworth adding a first catch to his day’s return. Ashworth then took the final two wickets in a very impressive debut. Higgs and Whitlock took the catches and the Paignton’s off spinner finished with figures of 3-14 off thirty-seven balls. One of the better calls of the summer, but he was due to go away on a family holiday when we travelled to Hampshire. The eleven men had performed well in a format that had not been our strongest suit in the past but had set us up well for the summer. The weather had been kind, indeed setting up the summer but Brixham remained excellent hosts and hopefully enjoyed the day with the stress of rain at our previous game