Devon Cricket Board - Thommo tops Devon averages

DEVON REVIEW OF THE SEASON 2011
AVERAGES: Batting | Bowling

MATT Thompson topped the Devon batting averages in the squad who won the Minor Counties Championship in the season just ended.

Thompson fired 336 runs at an average of 42 as Devon went on to beat Cambridgeshire by 169 runs in the Championship final after topping the Western Division table to qualify.

Other players scored more runs than keeper-batsman Thompson – James Burke (451) topped the aggregates with Dave Lye (381) and Rob Woodman (372) second and third – but Thompson was the most consistent over the season.

Thompson (pictured) is due to return from holiday in Spain today and pack ready to resume his studies in Cardiff next week.

With 17 catches and three stumpings since replacing Sandy Allen behind the sticks halfway through the season, Thompson has been one of the stand-out players in the title winning side.

Roger Newman, Devon’s director of cricket, said Thompson’s ability to get run in a tight spot more than once contributed massively to reaching the final then winning it.

He added: “If I was a director of cricket at a First Class county I would sign Matt up on a two-year contract right now.

“It was difficult for him to replace Sandy behind the stumps, but the more he has kept the more his confidence has grown and he has made the position his own.

“We have some fine young Lions coming through now and our success will inevitably lead to First Class counties taking an interest in our players.”

Devon started the season with no real ambitions of winning the Minor Counties Championship – and until the last game of the campaign they were never top of the table. Beating long-time leaders Berkshire at Sidmouth did the trick.

Devon did have ambitions of reaching Lord’s in the one-day knock-out competition However, those hopes foundered when Hertfordshire put them out in the last eight for the second year running.

That game at Sidmouth proved to be the last in the Devon side for former Somerset and Surrey quick bowler Ian Bishop, who was excluded from the next three-day game and has not featured again.

Ex-Budleigh and Bovey pacer Bishop, who first played for Devon in 1998, had more than 70 one-day wickets and 237 Championship scalps to his name.

Despite being Devon’s leading wicket taker in 2010 with 25, the county selectors felt it was time for a change.

“No one can take away what Bish (below) achieved for Devon over the years, but sooner or later you have to start succession planning,” said Newman.

“There is never an easy time or place to move a player on, but we felt he was no longer making an impact as a bowler and the time had come.

“There were also issues over the age of the side. Basically we wanted to make the team a bit younger and add some all-round ability in the field.”

The door appears to be firmly closed on Bishop – and shut tight on former opener Chris Mole, who transferred to Dorset when he learned Devon had no real interest in retaining him this season. He scored 48 runs in three games for his new side.

As for Allen, the door remains ajar, but it is going to require a hefty shove to open it up.

“Sandy could come back into contention if he wants to – and I can see a scenario where both of them feature in the team, which is how it worked last season and for the first three games this year,” said Newman.

“To take the keeper-batter spot back is going to be hard for Sandy though as Matt waited a long time for it and won’t surrender it lightly.”

The way back into the team for Allen may be as a specialist batsmen if a vacancy occurs for an opener, which is where he bats for club side Budleigh Salterton.

However, that would require either Rob Holman or James Burke to lose form in a big way as both were integral to Devon’s form this season.

Exeter batter Holman worked his way back into the team on his league form having been axed towards the end of 2010 due to lack of runs.

Budleigh’s Burke – freed from mid-season onwards from the counter claims put on him by turning out for Somerset 2nd XI – flourished with something clear to focus on.

Said Newman: “We always knew Rob Holman would be back and he showed what a good player he is with some key innings, notably in the low-scoring game against Cheshire at Torquay, which we could easily have lost without him.

“James Burke has had a fantastic season. Top run scorer with nearly 500, five half centuries and unlucky not to get his first hundred for Devon.

“This was the season when James finally got settled in the Devon team. In the past he has drifted in an out for a game here and there and never put down roots.

“He has matured as a person and as a cricket and looks comfortable in the environment of the team.

“James has had a fine season, but I predict we have yet to see the best of him.”

Devon’s opening game of the Minors season against Dorset was badly ruined by rain – not before Thompson made his first 50 of the season - and a no-result at Bournemouth allowed Berkshire to go ahead in the table by beating Cornwall inside two days.

Devon beat Oxfordshire at Great and Little Tew – the Overton twins taking 10 wickets between them – in the next match – then beat Cheshire in a nail-biting game at Torquay. Holman’s knocks of 64 and 38 were probably the difference between winning and losing.

It was against Wiltshire at Corsham that Devon showed the sort of mettle title winning teams are made of.

Having been bowled out for 119 in their first innings, Devon shot Wilts out for 100 in reply, then piled up 474 all out second time around and left themselves a day and a bit to win the match.

Three wickets each for Anning and Scott Barlow, who finally broke into the three-day side this season after years as a one-day specialist saw Devon home by 118 runs, but only after Tim Morton’s 167 had threatened to save the draw for Wiltshire.

With Bishop out of the picture, Exmouth seamer Anning came into his own, taking 29 wickets to finish second in the bowling aggregates behind Chris Bradley (35).

“Trevor bowls very few bad balls and best of all he bowls straight,” said Newman. “A high proportion of his wickets are either lbw or caught off the edge. If he stays fit there are many more wickets to come.

“Scott Barlow got in the side as we couldn’t find spinner to compliment Bradley by turning the ball away from the bat. His medium-paced leg-breaks certainly came in useful over the season.”

Having shown they could win under pressure, Devon beat Shropshire by four wickets to set up a winner-takes all game with Berkshire at Sidmouth.

Berkshire were beaten inside two days – Anning and Barlow having a lot to do with it –which sent Devon to March Town last week to meet Cambridgeshire in the final.

Josh Bess – who had a quiet season by his own standards – chose the final to make his first significant contribution of the season with runs and wickets.

What Bess (right) started, Anning and Barlow with three wickets each finished off as Devon won by 169 runs with a session and a half to spare.

Did Devon overachieve this season? According to Newman they probably did.

“There are teams who have better players individually than we do, but collectively our team works,” he said.

“We are a bit like the Leeds United side of the late 60s and early 70s. We never know when we are beaten and everyone in the team knows their job.”