Devon Cricket Board - Huxtable relieved decision to bat didn't backfire

Huxtable relieved decision to bat didn't backfire

NORTH Devon captain Barney Huxtable was relieved his decision to bat first at Exmouth didn’t backfire on him after clocking up a 20-run win.
Gary Chappell and Marques Clarke took three wickets each as North Devon were hustled out for 154 in the 46th of their 50 overs.
Exmouth started disastrously – they were 30 for five – and after one recovery collapsed from 67 for five to 68 for seven.
Trevor Anning (45) and tail-ender Finlay Marks (20no) battled almost to the end, but the damage had been done by then.
“I decided to bat first after last week wanting to be nice and positive,” said Huxtable (pictured).
“It turned out to be the wrong decision as the wicket played a lot worse first up than I predicted.
“We battled real hard and got ourselves to a position were we could have a crack at the end.”
Clarke (3-14) and Anning had North Devon wobbling at 37 for four before Callum French (15), Tom Allin (17) and Jaz Kalsi (11) found a few runs.
A middle-order collapse from 63 for four to 68 for seven – Chappell doing most of the damage – left North Devon requiring a rebuild.
Quintin Dreyer (32) and Rob Ayre (22) put on 41, then Josh King (22) joined Ayre to add a valuable 39 for the ninth wicket.
“Callum French looked a class act on a very difficult wicket,” said Huxtable.
“Dreyer played some great attacking shots at the end alongside a match-winning knock, in my eyes, from Rob Ayre who ran really well between the wickets and put us in a position were we had a chance of winning the game.”
Buzza was the only one of Exmouth’s first six batsmen to reach double figures – he made 10 – as Allin (5-24), Dreyer (2-23) and King got among the wickets.
Anning’s patient 45 from 78 balls needed a bit more support before Marks got in at 85 for eight to get Exmouth back in contention.
Defending low totals is never easy and Huxtable praised his bowlers for doing just that.
“Tom Allin opened up and bowled the best spell I've seen him bowl this year so far,” said Huxtable.
“He bowled some unplayable balls and constantly beat the outside edge.
“Dreyer and French backed him up the other end by bowling dot ball after dot ball.
“We managed to hold our catches in a 100 per cent improvement in the field from last week.
“Sam Witheridge took the vital wicket of Trevor Anning, who saw win games for Exmouth from that position many a time when I played there.
“It was really nice to get a win under our belts as it gives us great momentum going into a tough game against Plymouth.”
Exmouth skipper Richard Baggs sought solace where he could after the defeat.
Baggs said there the highs didn’t outweigh the lows, but at least it wasn’t all gloom and doom.
“Trevor and Andy Buzza batted well and showed some back bone - and young Fin Marks played fantastically at number 10 to get 20 not out,” said Baggs.
That was the good stuff. On the other side of the coin Baggs said Exmouth didn’t play well enough for long enough and North Devon did.
“Virtually no pre-season showed,” said Baggs. “We looked very rusty batting on a damp Wicket against two very fine opening bowlers.
“No one played bad shots we were got out – and we had the best of the wicket so no excuses.
“We simply had to chase 154 to win. We gave away 20 in the field and a crucial lbw not given cost us 30 runs.
‘Really we should have been chasing 100-110 but that's no excuse. We can only improve.”

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