Devon Cricket Board - The 1993 Under 16 Season

Played 9 Won 2 Lost 7 Abandoned 2
THE 1993 SQUAD
P. Lockyer (Captain), R. Belcher (Vice-Captain), G. Andrews, G. Arbourne, N. Drake, J.G. Fabian, P. Garland, M.T. Gear, D. Herbert, M. Hunt, A. Paddison, C. Pascoe. T. Rawlings, C. Read, I. Roberts, A. Skirrow, A. Walter, K. Willcock.

The Midland Tour
v GLOUCESTERSHIRE at Knowle CC. Devon won by 13 runs
DEVON                      188 for 2 (Gear 90*, Hunt 63*)
GLOUCESTER.          175 for 9 (Arbourne 5-36)
v HEREFORDSHIRE at Eastnor CC. Devon lost by 35 runs
HEREFORD.          197 all out (Pascoe 4-58. Hunt 3-27)
DEVON                  161 all out (Rawlings 33, Belcher 33)
v WORCESTERSHIRE at Bromsgrove CC. Devon lost by 6 wickets
DEVON                        151 for 6 (Hunt 53*)
WORCESTER.           154 for 4
v WARWICKSHIRE at Mosley Ashfield CC. Devon lost by 72 runs
WARWICK.              267 for 9 (Rawlings 4-27, Pascoe 3-55)
DEVON                     195 for 9 (Willcock 47, Rawlings 32)
v AVON at Brislington CC match abandoned.
Friendly Fixtures
v WARWICKSHIRE at Axminster CC. Devon lost by 59 runs
WARWICK.                 186 for 9 (Gear 6-20)
DEVON                      129 for 9
v DORSET at Axminster CC. Devon lost by 5 wickets
DEVON                    168 for 5 (Skirrow 50, Hunt 46, Gear 31)
DORSET                    171 for 5
TEXACO Trophy Fixtures
v SOMERSET at Sandford CC match abandoned.
v WILTSHIRE at Bovey Tracey CC. Devon lost by 7 runs
WILTSHIRE             201 all out (Belcher 5-56)
DEVON                      194 for 5 (Gear 100*, Hunt 48)
v CORNWALL at Troon CC. Devon won by 69 runs
DEVON                  180 all out (Fabian 51, Willcock 46)
CORNWALL             111 all out (Lockyer 6-24)
v DORSET at Weymouth Sports Club. Devon lost by 68 runs
DORSET                    233 for 7
DEVON                   166 all out (Fabian 38, Gear 31)

The inaugural Midland Tour started at Bristol where, batting first, Devon scored 188-2 off 40 overs with Martin Gear and Matthew Hunt in an unbroken stand of 140. They ran between the wickets as well as any pair seen at this level for a number of years and they were to prove to be the mainstay of the side's batting, both of them deserving their selection for the Under 17 squad. Geoffrey Arbourne's fine spell of leg spin bowling then won the match for us.

On the Tuesday. a perfect summer's afternoon, at a most attractive country ground at the foot of the Malverns, we lost to Herefordshire. Batting first, Hereford were allowed to score twenty runs too many, with opening bowler Chris Pascoe and seamer Matthew Hunt both bowling well. In response, our batting was disappointing and at no time were we in command of the situation. Although Tom Rawlings, Hunt and Gear all made useful contributions, no-one dominated.

We took on an exceptionally strong Worcestershire side on a very fast track at Bromsgrove. Faced with a Worcester staffer and England opening attack. Devon struggled initially and apart from an excellent knock from Matthew Hunt ably supported by Richard Belcher and Andrew Walter in the later stages, the batting was disappointing. Watched by the South West's National Coach, Devon stuck to their task in the field, but were beaten by a superior side.

On an attractive but small ground in the middle of Birmingham, Warwickshire were at one time 95-5 after 32 overs. However a splendid 100 in only 90 minutes changed the whole complexion of the game and enabled Warwickshire to amass 267-9. Off spinner Rawlings bowled well, ably supported by the remaining bowlers, and our out fielding and catching was superb until the onslaught. When Devon batted Keith Willcock led the charge with Rawlings adopting the anchor role, but, once this pair were parted, the game was lost.

The Friday game was unfortunately lost to rain, but the tour went off extremely well and we would like to express our thanks to the host counties, our umpire Bob Barge and scorer Elizabeth Webb.

We played two friendly fixtures at Axminster where we were looked after royally. but unfortunately both games were lost. Against Warwickshire, Gear bowled well and at tea the side were confident of chasing the target. Unfortunately no batsman got started and we were all out for our lowest score of the season. With an experimental side against Dorset, Adrian Skirrow batted well on his debut and again Hunt and Gear proved their worth. Our bowling was disappointing and our normally excellent fielding was not evident. These two matches showed the sides main weaknesses — we were short of a strike bowler and the tail was too long. For the first Texaco match. it was decided to include a number of all-rounders and one specialist bowler, a leg spinner.

Unfortunately this game, against Somerset at Sandford, was rained off and we then faced Wiltshire at Bovey Tracey. We put our visitors in and allowed them too many runs. A magnificent, direct hit run out by David Herbert removed their main batsman and Belcher varied his bowling to great effect, but any score past 180 is always going to be difficult to beat. Martin Gear scored his maiden century for Devon, confirming what a talented cricketer he has become, and again with Matthew Hunt's help nearly set up a memorable win. Captain Paul Lockyer struck 15 in 10 balls including one huge six, but needing 13 off the last over, we failed by 7. As it transpired this defeat cost us a place in the finals.

The long journey to Troon proved well worthwhile, as the side completed an excellent win. Our tidy and efficient wicket keeper, Ian Roberts, opened the innings with Gear and gave us a steady start, but it was not until Plymouth colleagues Jon Fabian and Keith Willcock came together that the innings had any momentum. We then succeeded in bowling out the strong Cornwall side, with Paul Lockyer — supported by excellent fielding, keeping and catching — in outstanding form. Our performance in this game, when the eventual Group winners were at one time 54-7, matched any in the section this year.

Hopefully this win had set us up for a game in the next round — however this was not to be. The next day we faced the long trip to Weymouth with heavy holiday traffic, which, combined with the journey of the previous day, all proved too much for the side, who gave a very below par performance.

We were fortunate in having good leaders in Paul Lockyer and Richard Belcher and the spirit and attitude of the team was exceptional. The side was a great credit to all those involved in their preparation over the years. We would like to express our thanks to all those involved in making our games possible: the impartial umpires, immaculate scorer, amazing tea ladies, all those who worked so hard on the grounds, the magnificent parents who provided the transport and the splendid host clubs.