Devon Cricket Board - Torquay players dominate Premier batting and bowling stats

Torquay players dominate Premier batting and bowling stats

TORQUAY cricketers dominated the Premier Division batting and bowling stats in the season that ended with the Recreation Ground side winning the league title.
The leading run-getter in the top flight with 734 runs was Torquay opener Mitch Pugh. He was second in the averages at 45.88, behind North Devon’s Max Curtis, who scored 656 at an average of 54.67.
Torquay team-mates Max Waller (277 @ 39.57) and Matt Thompson (488 @ 37.54) also made it into the Premier top 10.
Waller and Matt Petherbridge topped the bowling averages with identical hauls of 33 wickets each.
Waller took his wickets at an average of 6.67 – a new league record by some distance.
The previous record holder was Barton’s Aqeel Ahmed, who took 57 wickets at 8.4 each set the record for 2004.
Waller also had the best bowling performance of the season in the Premier Division – six for 26 against Paignton.
Premier bowlers could bowl 15 overs in a match then. Now the limit is 10.
Waller’s Somerset commitments meant he only played in eight games. It is an open question how many more wickets he would have taken had he appeared in all 18?
Petherbridge had an average of 12.03, just pipping Exeter’s rising England U19 star Ben Green (12.21) into third place.
The leading wicket takers were North Devon’s Tom Allin (35@13.63), Heathcoat’s Jamie Drew (34@17.62), Paignton’s George Yates (33@15.58) then Waller and Petherbridge.
Yates took six for 27 against Plymouth, the second best return of the season behind Waller. To view all the stats - batting, bowling and partnerships, follow this link.
Pugh, Waller and Petherbridge may have been the headline grabbers for Torquay in the season just ended, but the club has achieved a lot more in other areas.
The 2^nd XI, led by Joe Crooks, won the B Division 2^nd XI competition, by a distance from Lewdown. They only dropped one point all season, which was a bowling one against South Devon, who held out nine wickets down to deny them.
And John Mather’s 3^rd XI won the E Division West to complete a clean sweep for Torquay teams.
Doubles have been done before – Sidmouth are old hands at winning the 1^st and 2^nd XI Premier Divisions – but Torquay’s treble is a first.
Skipper Justin Yau said nothing had happened overnight and the success of the club in 2015 was due to the hard work of many people on and off the pitch.
“The success stems from the backbone of the club and the structure which we have had in place this year,” said Yau
“Countless hours spent by Ian Baker, Ian Western and Rob Dickinson and Tor2 have helped us produce a fantastic playing surface for us to showcase our skills and talent.
“The new nets we have in place have also gone a long way in helping us to achieve what we have done as a club.
“Ian Baker was instrumental in getting a first class facility up and running and everyone at the club has benefitted from the practice, which has been able to take place in there.
“The 2^nd XI have wise heads in there with the likes of Tim Western, Ben Passenger, Joe Crooks, Steve Craig and Ian Baker, who have been great clubmen over the years.
“The 3rd XI under John Mather did superbly to win their league too.
Then there are people like Ken Jeffrey, Simon Rice, the Hunt family, Dennis Brewer and Alex Rowe, who have been so supportive in everything we have wanted to get in place.”
Looking back at the first team’s summer, Yau said: “Being able to have a consistent side has meant we were able to field teams which regularly understood each other and we had a fantastic team spirit throughout.
“That in itself won us most of our games this season.”
Over the 40-plus-year history of the Devon League there have been dynasties where clubs have dominated the Premier Division.
The 70s were a closed shop with Torquay and Exeter winning the title in alternate years.
Barton and Exmouth were the dominant forces in the 80s – seven wins between them – and the 90s belonged almost exclusively to Exmouth, who won it eight times in 10 years.
The modern era has been Sidmouth’s.
Can Torquay dominated in the same way? Yau would like to think so.
“To have all three playing sides perform so well and seeing the wealth of talent in our junior pool of players bodes well for the future and we hope we can kick on from here on in,” said Yau.
“It has been a real club performance from Torquay this year and I hope we can continue to push in the same direction for the forthcoming years.”

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