Devon Cricket Board - Devon Seniors O60s 2010 Report

REPORT ON THE 2010 SEASON

The 2010 season was looked forward to in anticipation by the players and having finished seventh in the County Championship in 2009 everyone was eager to improve on that position.

With basically the same squad of players the 2010 season commenced with the first fixture against Wales at Sandford Cricket Club. Wales were new to the competition but everyone knew from past games that they would undoubtedly provide the sternest test in our group.

Devon batted first and totalled 211 all out which was a disappointing score with 8 players getting into double figures but only Theedom was able to make a substantial score of 76 before he was run out.

In reply Wales were restricted to 179 for 8 wickets with excellent field placing and bowling changes by skipper Stanton. Munday was the pick of the bowlers with 9 overs, 3 wickets for 23 runs.

The second game was against Wiltshire at Exmouth Cricket Club. Wiltshire batted first and despite a very slow start they managed to score 191 runs at the end of the 45 overs. Rose took 3 wickets for 29 runs.

In reply Devon scored 192 runs for the loss of only 2 wickets. Stanton was 60 not out and Theedom 46 not out.

The third game was played against Cornwall at Cornwood Cricket Club. Cornwall batted first and were restricted to a very disappointing 111 for eight. All of the bowlers bowling tidily and surprisingly Theedom bowling 9 overs, 3 wickets and 18 runs.

In reply Devon lost 4 wickets before overtaking the Cornwall score with Macey scoring a bright 31 and Theedom 37 not out.

The fourth game was played against Somerset at Instow. Somerset chose to bat and all of the Devon bowlers were extremely economical and restricted Somerset to 134 all out. Munday taking 5 wickets for 25 runs.

In reply Devon overtook the Somerset score for the loss of only 3 wickets with Theedom 36 not out and Eames 29 not out.

At the half way stage Devon were unbeaten and now faced four away games.

The next game was against Wales at Newport Cricket Club and this was expected to be the most challenging game in the pool and could very well decide the winner of the group. Devon batted first and struck a massive 266 runs for the loss of only 3 wickets with Eames scoring 70, Stanton 60, Coe 43 and Macey 49 not out. Wales put up strong resistance but were all out for 201 with Lott being the main wicket taker with 4 wickets for 15 runs.

The next away game was against Somerset at Nailsea Cricket Club. Again Devon scored a massive 263 for the loss of only 4 wickets with Stanton scoring 61, Whitby 78 not out and Cavendish 38 not out.

In reply Somerset were never in the hunt and were 102 all out with Howard being the best bowler with 4 wickets for 16 runs.

The penultimate away game was played at Gunnislake Cricket Club against Cornwall. Devon batted first and the first wicket fell at 194 with Whitby scoring 106 not out and Stanton 78 not out with a fine 49 from Cavendish. Devon’s final total of 268 was always going to be too much for Cornwall and they were disappointingly bowled out for a meagre 60 runs with Peter Rose taking 4 wickets for 10 runs.

The final pool game was played against Wiltshire. Wiltshire were restricted to 175 for 8 in their 45 overs and Devon lost only 2 wickets overtaking the Wiltshire score in just 33 overs. Whitby scored 76 and Stanton 50 not out.

The pool stage was therefore won convincingly with Wales finishing second.

In the quarter-final Devon were once again drawn against Hampshire away at Hursley Park which was a repeat of the quarter-final in the 2009 season. Devon were anxious to avenge the poor performance in the previous year which cost them the opportunity to progress towards the finals.

Hampshire batted first and opener Owen having been dropped early in his innings went on to score 103 and Hampshire totalled a respectable 210 for 8.

Devon were restricted by injuries to batsmen Theedom, Stanton & Whitby who were the top 3 batters in the pool stage. However, Devon started well and were 122 for 4 at one stage but disappointingly collapsed to 177 all out with Coe and Macey scoring 40 each and very little from the rest of the batsmen.

Therefore as far as the Championship was concerned, Devon left at the quarter-final stage and with a full team they surely would have progressed further.

It was then left to fight for places 5, 6, 7 and 8 and after a further 2 games Devon finished equal 5^th with Norfolk in the National competition.

Clearly this was an improvement on the 7^th position for the year before but with the talent in the side they really should have progressed further in the competition.

Special thanks are made to the scorer Geoff Coish and the efforts of Captain Tom Stanton and Team Manager Chris Theedom.

The 2011 season is looked forward to in anticipation.