The brilliant 2013 summer weather stated with the corresponding match last year but the expectancy levels for this game diminished by the hour as an initially showery forecast rapidly changed over the preceding four days. The BBC Weather radar gave us very little chance of starting this fixture let alone completing it. After heavy overnight rain a hearty fried breakfast was therefore enjoyed at Woodbury and drizzle accompened us on the drive to the ground. On arriving at Exmouth it was obvious Sandy Allen and his team had the pitch and run ups well protected and the drizzle relented. Sandy and Exmouth were outstanding all day and the game somehow started on time. The South and West captain called correctly and Devon were in the field which would have been their preference. Ben Green and Hugo Whitlock had bowled out their visitors last year in sixteen overs. This year the South and West saw off Green, who opened from the pavilion end, who bowled three overs conceding seventeen runs including four wides. At the sea end Whitlock had conceded ten runs. Dan Goodey, making his under 17 debut, took over from Green conceding two runs off his first over. Three balls into the eighth over Whitlock struck with Powell taking a catch behind the wicket to remove Gareth. The South and West were 31-2 twenty-one balls later when in the eleventh over Goodey struck bowling the other opener Samuel. The score had advanced to 45 when for the second time Goodey sent a stump flying this time bowling Morris. The visitors were scoring at fours. An hour into the game Devon’s under 17 rugby international Ollie Dawe entered the affray replacing the Abbotskerwell opening bowler. It was somewhat disconcerting later to learn that Whitlock was now experimenting using a recently remodelled bowling action. The captain took over from Goodey whose figures were the impressive 7-0-26-2 which compared well to Whitlock who completed his first seven overs taking 1-30. After twenty overs the Under 15s were 87-2 with a likely final product of around 250. Bess and Dawe kept the run rate under control for the next nine overs conceding less than three and a half. It was noticeable that the South were working their singles and in fact throughout the innings thirty-five percent of the runs that came off their bats were ones. This would have been even higher as overthrows were gifted. It transpired that they had been at Loughborough the previous day and the work they had put in proved to be very beneficial. Devon actually did not respond well to this tactic and in general the fielding did not reach the standard expected at this level. Much work will be needed to reach the intensity required with an improvement in awareness vital. The side should have squeezed the batters more. Toby Codd took over from Ollie Dawe in the thirtieth over with his opponents on 117. Despite being a captain at his club the under 16 off spinner had not yet bowled ten overs in a wet summer before this spell. He bowled well in tandem with his captain and he took the next wicket with a peach of a delivery in the thirty-second over when he bowled the South’s captain Organ for 43. At the final drinks break the South were 142-4 with Wasp now predicting a score around 230. After the next over the captain withdrew himself from the attack to give John Kerridge his first bowl in his adopted county. He had made his county debut in 2013 on the under 16s Midland Tour. The leg spinner bowled tidily and watched top scorer Palmer run out for 54 in the forty-second over with Sargent gaining his first Fantasy Points. It became 177-6 when the similarly sounding Herridge tried to sweep Kerridge and was bowled. Bess ran out Allen to leave the South & West 211-7 with thirteen balls remaining. Wasp was floundering as nine balls later the non striker deflected the ball to bowler Green to complete the third run out of the innings. The final wicket to fall was taken by Green who had Trenouth caught by Kerridge at mid-off. The Somerset batsman keeper had opened his account with a perfectly executed Buttler scoop. Devon would need 225 to win at a rate of four and half. Devon’s over rate had been a disappointing 16.85 and work is needed to get this up to an acceptable rate. The T Hut provided our first Lasagne of the summer and set a very high standard. 

Devon batted in the best conditions of the day and the groundsman’s radar indicated that it was now highly likely that the game would be completed. Matt Skeemer and Harvey Sargent put on 77 appearing in little difficulty but in the seventeenth over Sargent chipped a return catch. He had played his role well and is likely to play an important part in the games to come. Skeemer was now two runs past his fifty and the message at drinks from Matt Cooke to the opener was to bat through for an undefeated 120. Dan Powell and Skeemer took Devon up to three figures when in the twentieth over Skeemer fell again in the sixties. He was bowled by Belcher having faced sixty-six balls and he had batted for eight minutes over the hour. He hit seven fours and two sixes. Hopefully he will shortly experience the pleasure of raising his bat when he has reached three figures. Ben Green batted for fifteen minutes and was the second Devon batter to chip this time to the covers. Fortunately the now Exeter and Heathcoat pairing of Powell and Bess batted exquisitely putting on an unbroken 109 off one hundred and thirty-two balls in sixty-eight minutes. Powell reached his fifty off sixty-three balls and ended up on eighty-four (five fours, two sixes) and the captain scored an equally valuable 35 with two fours.

Football completed the proceedings with Matt Cooke’s first debrief. Areas to work on, particularly reducing extras, but all should be reasonably satisfied with this warm up for the summer. The ground was left with large spots of rain that increased in intensity. It had been remarkable that a game had taken place and that was really down to the work of the host club who had been extraordinary.