Devon Under 14s v Wales Match Report
" Parky Plays Positively, Scrumpy Scraps but Wales Win Well"
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After a long journey, on a beautiful day in a glorious setting at Christ's College Brecon, Devon lost the toss and were inserted on an indifferent looking relaid pitch. The openers Gareth Tidball and James Parkin batted well in trying circumstance against good Welsh bowling putting on 49 in 14 overs. Once the first wicket fell, however, Devon's batters struggled and a combination of good medium pace and slow left arm bowling, helped by the pitch and |
Devon's inability to play straight with the full face of the bat, regularly saw wickets fall and the pressure began to mount. With lunch half an hour away and plenty of overs left, determination to occupy the crease, pick up singles and the occasional boundary was required but 5 more wickets fell leaving Devon in trouble on 110-9. A brief rally after lunch by "Scrumpy" Mark Orchard and Harry Walker- Chapman promised but Devon were soon all out for 113 with 11 of their 50 overs left.
Wales with the advantage of knowing how the pitch was going to behave and the runs required, were not under any pressure but if the Devon bowlers could bowl in the right areas and could be backed up by excellent fielding they could put some doubt in the Welsh minds. Jenkins (35) and Goddard (51*) had other things on their minds and put on 71 for the first wicket before the excellent Jenkins, who played straight, eventually getting out, playing for the first time, across the line. Some pressure was exherted by Mark Orchard (9.4.19.1) who bowled well hitting the deck and the right areas, letting the pitch do the work for him ably supported by Gareth Tidball (9.4.3.26.2) and Eliot Acton (5.1.17.0) but half chances were not taken and Wales won with 19 overs left by 7 wickets.
The journey home gave plenty of time to reflect on the day and one's performance.
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