Devon Cricket Board - Torquay show touch of class

A DIVISION

TORQUAY looked like a Premier side in waiting as they dispatched Cornwood by 10 wickets in a one-sided affair at the Recreation Ground.

The Corns went into the game under notice that they have to appear before a Devon League discipline panel on Thursday night to answer allegations of abuse and bad behaviour arising from the win over Sandford last Saturday.

In total there are 11 allegations levelled against the club, three players and a named spectator. Perhaps Cornwood minds were elsewhere at Torquay, which may explain whey they were bowled out for 85.

Torquay looked a quality outfit as they dismantled the Cornwood batting.

Adam Goodliffe (19no) had the best of a sorry set of scores with Robin Dart (18) the only other batter to hang around long.

There were three wickets each for Jan Bothma (3-22) and Jon Rice (3-28) and two for Ben Passenger (2-9).

Rice was on a hat-trick after removing Craig Harris and Kevin Willcock one after the other.

Torquay backed their bowlers up in the field with some exceptional catching.

Cornwood skipper Jason Hall traipsed off shaking his head in disbelief at the catch by opposite number Justin Yau that sent him back.

Yau, out on the deep mid-wicket boundary, saved a six by palming the ball up in the air, then dived full length to catch the ball on the rebound.

Torquay openers Aaron Williams (38) and Matt Thompson (38) knocked off the runs without mishap in just 11 overs.

Victory means Torquay are 47 points ahead of second-placed Brixham at the top.

It is always dangerous to count chickens before they have hatched, however Torquay captain Justin Yau is entitled to feel confident given his side’s outstanding start to the season.

“This was the best performance of the season from us,” said Yau.

“To bowl Cornwood out on such a flat deck for 85 was a brilliant effort and to knock it off in 11 overs highlighted just how good it was.

“Every single bowler did their jobs, we bowled solidly as a unit, gave very few four balls away and just built pressure ball by ball, over after over.

“We are at half time this season now and it’s in our hands to gain promotion.

“If we win half our games from here on in, it should be enough.

“To remain unbeaten would be the ultimate challenge, but let’s see where we are in August first!”

Cornwood (95pts) are now four off the bottom, but points-wise are closer to second placed Brixham (122) than second-bottom Shobrooke Park (66).

EXETER are right back in the promotion mix after crushing Barton by nine wickets on the County Ground.

It was Exeter’s third win on the reel and puts them just eight points behind second-placed Brixham at the halfway stage.

Skipper Jon Tipper said the target was promotion and Exeter will be going for it over the next nine weeks.

“Having beaten Cornwood then Shobrooke Park we knew a third would put us right back in it,” said Holman.

“It was a cracking track and when Barton were 130 for none I expected us to be chasing 270-280 at least

“Callum Still bowled a great spell to slow them up and I always felt we would chase 220 comfortably on that track.

“It is all set up for us now for the rest of the season and with Braunton (4th) and Brixham (2nd) on the next two Saturdays we are right in the thick of it.”

Barton will have been reasonably happy with a batting-first total of 220 for six on the County Ground, principally scored by Tom Briggs (60), Sean Adderley (51) and Steve Lewis, who made 41 before retiring hurt with a shoulder injury.

Briggs and Adderley put on 132 for the first wicket before Adam Gribble (1-42 from 15) and Callum Still (4-58) bowled Exeter back into the game.

Exeter got away to an 81-run start through Miles Lenygon (51) and Mike Wilkinson.

Adam Parker trapped Lenygon lbw for 54, which brought Rob Holman in to join Wilkinson.

Holman (76no) overhauled Wilkinson (73no) from a standing start as Exeter cruised to victory with more than seven overs to spare.

Nine games without a win is a worrying statistic, although the saving grace is that Shobrooke Park and Alphington are doing almost as badly.

Parker believes Barton are a better side than their immediate rivals at the bottom and sooner rather than later they will come good.

“It’s not lack of effort on our part as everyone came off having given it all they had,” said Parker.

“From our point of view it was our best start with the bat this season and although we fell away in the middle it was a decent total.

“Exeter are a good batting side and we probably bowled them two bad balls an over.

“That meant they were going along at four or five an over all the way through, which is hard to stop.

“In the next month we have Alphington and Shobrooke on successive Saturdays and they are games we really have to win.”

SHOBROOKE Park held out for a draw against visiting Abbotskerswell, which was enough to lift the out of the bottom two.

Richard Ashworth top scored on 57 not out in Abbots’ tally of 209 for five. Steve Short made 45 and skipper Josh Dowling 27.

Shobrooke chased until seven overs out, led by Pete Steer with 64 and topped up by Richard Pyle (21).

Sixty to win from 42 balls was just about on until a couple of wickets fell. Four overs out skipper Chris Ford battened down the Shobrooke hatches and steered the side to 180 for eight.

Rob Shergold (4-46) took the bowling honours for Abbots.

Shobrooke are now a point ahead of Barton in the scrap to stay up, which Ford said was a step in the right direction.

“When it became apparent we were not going to win it, there was no point taking any risks,” said Ford.

“Two points for the draw are worth having and on this occasion put us where we want to be, which is third from bottom. All we have to do now is stay there for another nine weeks!”

SANDFORD surrendered second place to Brixham when they lost to the Fishermen by eight wickets.

Adrian Small made a top score of 52 in Sandford’s total of 191 all out in 46 overs.

Sandford found the going hard against Craig Eaves (5-56) and Lee Upham (3-30), although Mike Durand (30) was a notable exception.

Last pair Jamie Palmer (28) and Simon Ashplant (6no) put on 39 for the tenth wicket, keeping Brixham out longer in the field than they had expected.

Brixham opened up with a stand of 43 between Mark Orchard (63) and George Northcott (20), then got to 101 before Orchard got out.

Anthony Marr was the not-out batsman when Orchard went and batted through to make 75 as he and Chris Lanyon (21) sped Brixham to victory in the 39th over.

Ashplant and Russ Discombe had a wicket each for Sandford, who dropped down from second to third.

ALPHINGTON remain stuck fast on the bottom rung of the ladder following an eight-wicket drubbing by Braunton.

Dave Haysom (34), Mark Porter (35) and Paul James (24) all made early runs as the Alphas reached 122 for three.

Devon prospect Harry Booker took five Alphas’ wickets for 58 runs, and there were two each for Andy Paddison and Stuart Rhodes, as the home side slipped to 177 all out.

Braunton only had four balls left when they knocked of the winning runs, not that the result was in any doubt.

Opener Jaz Kalsi fired 13 fours and a six on his way to 93 not out, and Ian Roberts made 55, as the target was whittled down.

Nathan Caton-Robertson and Tom Bath took a wicket each for the Alphas, who have slipped 13 points adrift.