Devon youth cricket returned to the Recreation Ground, Torquay after far too long an absence and the club went out of their way to make the Board more than welcome. The Inter Counties match with Worcestershire was another close encounter, very much similar to the game the previous year at Bromsgrove where a late flourish with the bat had ensured a win. Luke Bess won the toss, on a ground that the week before had been under water, it is remarkable the work that those on the ground had undertaken to enable cricket to take place. Fresh from a close game with the seventeen’s, the previous day at Marlow, and a late night the openers Bess and Burke both scored 5, with the score on 10 Bess was leg before and as he had two days earlier Burke flashed and was caught at slip on 11. The Heathcoat pair of Williams and Smith put on 32 with both looking reasonable comfortable when Williams gave a tame catch to Flower at slip. After twelve overs Devon were now 43-3 looking to the middle order to build the 220 plus needed. With Thompson giving his full support Smith started to unleash some real power play taking a liking to the shorter rugby stand boundary and the bowling of his name sake with two big sixes in an over. With Smith having scored 33 of the partnership of 39 he again disappointed his admirers when he should have already realised that he was unable to clear the longer pavilion boundary. On his second attempt he put the ball down the throat of Cheshire, now positioned for the job, three short of his 50 and 53 short of his first county ton which he must achieve if he is to fulfil his immense potential. Thompson and Metters then put on the best stand of the day - 86 and it was only broken by a piece of misfortune for the Torquay keeper, Thompson, playing in front of a surprisingly large fan base for a youth game. The pair were well on top with the tempo increasing steadily and the game plan was that they would t-off in the last ten. Disaster struck in the first over of the last ten when Metters struck the ball back to the bowler who got a hand on it to find Thompson out of his ground. He had batted for 86 minutes facing 93 balls to be run out one short of a deserved fifty. Metters was looking a very fine batsman and with Stephenson, who was also run out, Gilmour caught on the charge, Evenden trapped in front and Shergold bowled took the score up to 211 in the penultimate over. Enter I should be batting higher Dibble and there was carnage for ten balls as the pair put on 23. Dibble just opened up his front leg and smote – remarkable hitting. The final product had ensured that Devon, provided they fielded well were in with a reasonable shout. Metters was undefeated on 45 having faced 61 balls in an outstanding 103 minute stay at the crease.

A lengthy but splendid tea meant that Devon had three hours to bowl their 50 overs before the agreed cut off time of 8.00pm. In view of their previous over rates this was likely to be a big ask. Worcestershire opened with two of the better batters seen this curtailed summer and they rushed to 70 off only 13 overs, well ahead of the required rate. James Burke, had been originally included in the side purely as a batsman as he is in the middle of a hectic period of cricket but Bess turned to him and he made an immediate impact as the bat was beaten regularly for the first time in the innings. He bowled Flower with his eighth ball and then took out the real danger man, left hander – the bat – Cheshire when Stephenson failed to hold a sharp chance at second slip only for the amazingly alert Cross to hold the rebound at first. It all looked very simply but the reflexes of the Civil Service man were exceptional. Having looked on the back foot, Devon were now getting back into the game. Burke made it 3-26 when in the same and his sixth over he trapped Powell in front - 102-3. Nelson again struck when the returning Dibble bowled Mullett. Worcestershire advanced their score to 179 with some careful batting by their captain Banks and keeper Butler. Bess was pulling the strings to good effect and Cross was supplying a controlled spell of off spin but the batters were looking increasingly comfortable. The run rate at  the fortieth over had now gone up to 5.6 but the visitors still had half their side intact. It was time to break the partnership and it was a most unusual caught behind that did the trick. Gilmour now on at the score box end then found the edge of Butlers bat and a juggle plus astute use of a stump provided Thompson with a vital catch. For the final ten the side were marshalled well by the captain, who also put in another important spell of bowling, and the keeper, who could not put a foot wrong. Devon now reached heights in the field not previously achieved this summer. Smith lasted five balls, Thompson dived wide to his right and held a stunning catch a millimetre off the ground off his captain.  Metters and Thompson ran out Riddle, 202-7 with 37 balls left, 33 runs needed and three wickets remaining. In fact it only took ten balls to wind up proceedings,  Banks was run out for 47  with both batsmen heading to his end Thompson threw to bowler Bess, Burke was too good for Robinson and was bowled, the alert Smith out sprinted Whitecross in a race to the bowlers end stumps and it was all over. The final ten overs had been magnificent in the field and the side have now set their standards for the rest of the summer. One standard that must be improved, certainly for next summer, is the over rate as the bowlers were in overdrive at the end to get their allocation in by 8.00pm. The game finally finished at 7.55 in a temperature more akin to autumn not mid summer. All in all many many pluses. The middle order fired and apart from poor shot selection, bad luck and a shortage of overs one would have gone on to make the big score required to win matches, Dibble's onslaught was extraordinary. In the field Burke, for the second day running, turned the game with his bowling, Bess set a fine example in the field and led his troops well, the ground fielding approached the standards sought (although a couple of half chances were not even attempted) and Thompson put on a faultless performance behind the stumps.