Back

The Under 17 2008 Season

The 2008 Squad

S.Smith (captain); C.Metters (vice captain); L.Bess; Z.Bess; J.Burke; A.Carr; J.Debenham; M.Gilmour; L.Gregory; M.Hickey W.Gater; B.Huxtable; T.Ingham; P.Randleson; R.Shergold; P.Steer; M.Thompson L.Tuckett.

For the second successive summer Devon entered the final game of the season needing a win on first innings to gain promotion and for the second year running they were unable to take the points. Up until those two final fateful days, which were the most unpleasant and, in some ways, the most embarrassing experienced both on and off the pitch at youth level, Devon had performed exceptionally well. As in 2007 the performances produced in the other games were the total opposite as they played some exciting and invigorating cricket.

An innovation in 2008 was an early season friendly against Somerset which for a number of reasons, but particularly due to poor availability from the independent school sector, was not as successful a venture as was originally intended The under 17 programme in 2009 will include both a one day and two day game in early July so it is likely that a similar problem could possibly arise again next summer. The difficulty has been brought to the attention of the Board and a policy statement will be issued before next season. It would be unfortunate if a future clash deprived the county of players and some young players the opportunity of a full summer’s county cricket. Despite the complications on selection, up until 11.57am on the second day Devon was surprisingly in with a reasonable chance of taking the first innings lead. Unfortunately they then capitulated to 214 all out just before lunch, falling short by 40 runs. With James Burke called away to play for Somerset IIs, Chris Metters, who had just made his full County debut, took over the helm. With Taunton School coming second at the Dulwich schools’ festival, the Blundells’ captain leading his school against Kings, Shane Evenden and Justin Williams retiring from county cricket and a rugby tour ruling Harry Stephenson out of the reckoning, only five of the side that came runners-up at the Isle of Wight Festival the previous August were present at the well appointed Taunton Vale Cricket Ground. An interrupted day’s play was the weather forecast but amazingly the only rain that arrived was a sharp shower immediately after close of play. Chris Metters called incorrectly and Somerset batted. Apart from an easy chance to the keeper off opening bowler Lewis Gregory their openers, Haggett and Beal, were in no difficulty as they put on 76 in twenty overs. After 67 minutes Metters turned to spin and this had an immediate effect on the game as Beal was caught by the captain after an assist from first slip, Gregory, to give leg spinner Gilmour his first wicket. Three runs later Gregory dived to take a fine slip catch to remove Jenkins off the captain. The situation improved even further when the dangerous Callum Haggett was trapped in front for a seventy-two ball 45 by Gilmour, whose figures were then 3-19 off six. Metters was employing attacking fields as debutant Peter Randleson and Luke Tuckett auditioned for the helmet role for the summer. With a ring of fielders putting on pressure, Walker and Ellison were able to put on twenty-four when the Metters/Gilmour combination struck again with an excellent one handed catch by the South Devon vice captain. Lunch was taken at 113-5 as Gilmour took his fourth wicket when Thompson held the catch. The England under 17 coach Andy Pick had been in contact to advise that Lewis Gregory had deservedly been selected to play for the national under 17 team against the Combined Services the following week and the good news was passed on. Twenty-eight runs were added post lunch before Gilmour took his fifth wicket thanks to another excellent catch, this time by Tuckett under the lid. The second debutant Peter Steer bowled an economical spell but his wide in the thirty-ninth over was the first extra of the day. The seventh wicket pairing of Walker and Skidmore took the home side on by another 40 runs to reach 181 when Lewis Gregory bowled Walker for 42 with the seventh ball of his second spell, all of which had been dots. Forty-six runs were the product of the eighth wicket when Barney Huxtable gave the captain his second wicket. Somewhat annoyingly a number of chances were not being accepted and the general standard of out fielding was nowhere near the required standard. Joe Smith succinctly summed up the situation in his first post match review but there was a need for a huge improvement. Encouragingly Lewis Gregory and the other close fielders were excluded from any criticism. With the score on 254 the Plympton seamer again dived to take his second fine catch off the captain. Matt Thompson took his second catch of the innings to give Alex Carr his first victim with no addition to the score. Extras were a real plus with the side conceding just three wides and three leg byes in the final total. Tea was taken and Somerset was to be confronted by a new opening partnership who we were hoping would give the side a sound start.

The new pairing of Thompson and Randerson responded well putting on 67, when in the twentieth over spinner Jack Leach dismissed Thompson, luring him forward to be stumped by the then understudy keeper, Jenkins, who  had only just replaced the injured Smit. With under fifteen Barney Huxtable playing with his own age group the next day (shades of what was to happen later in the summer), he was promoted over Lewis Gregory with the object of hopefully demonstrating some of his immense talent over the remaining 47 minutes of play. However he was out in a somewhat odd manner after only ten minutes at the crease when he was bizarrely run out. Having made his ground, he appeared totally unaware that the fielder had returned the ball to his end to hit the stumps direct with his bat in the air! A stiff learning curve this seventeens’ cricket but it was hoped, and considered unlikely, that he would repeat this basic error in the future. Despite thunder in the background and increasing cloud cover the now restored Gregory and Randleson took the side up to close of play at 128-2. There had been one hundred and ten overs in the day, as Matt Thompson had ensured a more than acceptable over rate of 20.4 per hour. Randleson passed his first fifty off 78 balls and was undefeated on 60.

The second day weather forecast had again predicted showers, some of possible prolonged length but, although Devon manned the covers for half an hour, play was fortunately not interrupted despite a few spasmodic spots. Throughout the two days the host club could not have been more co-operative with their ground team and caterers being exceptional. The captain’s day did not start well with a three pointer and a loss of £60 but improved as Randerson and Gregory took his side up to 174 (partnership of 96 off 142 balls in 74 minutes) when Randerson’s impressive first innings ended 16 short of a record hundred on county debut. He was Leach’s second wicket trapped in front. It had been one of the most remarkable first performances at this level and he looked at ease in this environment. He had faced 133 balls in 155 minutes hitting forty of his runs in fours. The alarm bells were not yet ringing but were soon to be turned to full volume as Gregory was bowled by Leach for an eighty-five ball 52. The proverbial wheels then did fall off as one run later Gilmour was leg before for a duck and at 200 (off 13 less balls than the hosts) the captain was caught behind for 20. Fourteen runs and eighty balls later it was all over as Devon sadly disintegrated. Leach finished with the fine figures of 6-45 off 27 overs of which 11 were maidens. The last four batters all reached only 2 with Peter Steer unbeaten. This had been a very, very sorry demise. Agreement was reached that for the final two sessions a 35 over per side game would be undertaken and Devon would have declared to get it underway had Toby Ingham not holed out on the penultimate ball before lunch.

Metters lost his second toss in two days, Calam Haggett scored a 93 ball 103, Chris Jones back from his game with Somerset twos the previous day scored 54 off 62 and Ellison was unbeaten on 24 (23mins; 23 balls). Devon eventually took 8 wickets with Alex Carr taking 3-55 and Lewis Gregory 3-23. The final score of 224 at 6.4 looked an improbable target. Gregory fell at 34, so did Shergold and 29 runs later Gilmour was caught for one run more than in the morning session. Randerson now passed his second fifty of the match (43 balls) and was run out for 57 as both he and Metters tried to convert a misfielded one into what should have been a comfortable two and failed. It was game over at 106 as Metters and Ingham were dismissed. Matt Thompson and Luke Tuckett put on the best partnership of the innings (54 of 65 balls in 37 minutes). Tuckett was the second poor run out victim of the innings for a promising 33 (31 balls, 37 mins, 4 fours). Jack Bradbury, who had very kindly filled in at very short notice the void left by James Burke and the injured Sam Smith, who had been present all day, added five runs to be out to a useful outfield catch. Peter Steer felt that he should not be unbeaten twice in a day and skied his first and the innings’ last ball to leave Thompson with a red inker and 21 to add to his first innings 28. The final 170 was much higher that had been estimated at 106-6 and reflected an improved batting performance. Skidmore took 3-17, Brookwell 3-43 and Leach wicketless as he was struck for three sixes in his thirty runs off seven. In many ways the second day had been a major anticlimax after what had been a promising first day. The Taunton School contingent of Bess, Dibble and Debenham joined the side for tea. It was pointed out that over the season the general standard of fielding would have to improve and fortunately it did. Peter Randerson returned home in the knowledge that he had completed one of the more memorable starts in county youth cricket, but it was disappointing that he did not build on this start as his form tailed off towards the end of the summer as he became more accustomed to the environment of county cricket.

Due to a variety of circumstances, including the original date for the National Under 17 Regional Festival and freeing up the Isle of Wight festival week, Devon embarked on an intensive tour to Hertfordshire and Sussex involving four hard days of cricket. The side was due to leave Devon from Seaton in good time to enable the party to make the long trip down to Hertfordshire and the scorer would follow when the under 18/16s match against the much vaunted Western Juniors was over. However an easy win for Devon, enabled the whole party to leave together and stop for a most pleasant meal at the Fox where it was most certainly worth waiting for the chocolate puddings! This gave both old and new an opportunity of getting to know one another as this was a much changed squad travelling under a new coach, Joe Smith, and a new captain, Sam Smith. Indeed only four - Thompson, Bess, Smith and Gilmour - had played competitive under 17s cricket before. When eventually found, after TOTOM had navigated us around a couple of residential estates, the Travel Lodge was of the new variety with a built in breakfast bar and very hot rooms that also suffered from noise from the nearby A10. Haileybury College had been the venue for James Gibson’s under 16s victory over Warwickshire to win the national title, but unfortunately remembering how to access the playing fields had been lost in the mists of time. The toss went as expected, an exuberant home side and a disappointed set of visitors. The Hertfordshire openers, Keenleyside and Pettet, put on 80 in eighteen overs with little mishap apart from a very confident lbw appeal in Hickey’s first over. On 80 the captain bowled Pettet and the home side slowed up against Smith and Metters, taking another ten overs to reach 98, when Bess held an outstanding slip catch diving forward off Metters to send back Keenleyside. Thompson had again made sure that the over rate was more than satisfactory as lunch was taken after 41 overs with the score standing at 114-2. Devon had got themselves back into the game. After lunch Hertfordshire scored at 1.65 an over up to 61 overs with the score on 147-4. Anthony was Debenham’s first under 17 wicket when he was caught by Ingham and Simmons his second as he caught and bowled him. At 180 Metters had taken his second wicket, thanks to his reliable slip fielder, to remove the opposition's captain, Small. Southgate fell at 193 when Smith caught him off Gilmour. Tea was taken after 79 overs when the score had increased to 212-6. The opportunity to put in some more overs before the tea break was not taken as the rate slowed and in hindsight this was critical later in the day, as it would have put the home side under more pressure when they were chasing their final batting bonus point. From tea to close of play Devon bowled another 35 overs picking up their seventh wicket at 281 when Metters caught Weston off his captain. Herts reached 300 off the fourth ball of the hundred and second over. Devon had been showing signs of tiredness and a couple of uncharacteristic misfields had assisted their hosts in picking up the fourth bonus points. The relevance of bonus points for and against cannot be over stressed. Devon bowled 115 overs in the day as Herts finished on 346-7 with their batters Nolan, Weston and Stewart unfortunately taking the game away from their opponents. The cool down included the first ever walk off, presumably the player had heard of the strikes due to be held the next day and there was a lesson to be learnt by all parties. The pre-ordered meals at the Coach and Horses were adequate if nothing special, particularly as they were also out of the Jaffa pudding.

It was another hot and noisy night but the second day started in sunshine, one of our spies had heard that the target was 380 in the seven remaining overs (4.86), our target was the two wickets needed for the fourth bowling point, unfortunately both sides were content as Herts reached 375 and Debenham/Thompson ran out the top scorer, Nolan, for a match winning 68, Thompson was unlucky on a stumping shout, and Gilmour gave Metters his third wicket. Any score over 350 is a big ask when batting second and normally a draw is the result or a straight loss on first innings. Devon gave it a go but were all out for 301 with seven of the last hour seventeen overs unused. Thompson went early as he was trapped leg before on 14 having contributed eleven, Bess and Randerson took the score up to 27 when Bess was bowled by a good one and thoughts turned to how to get the message of drawing across without appearing to having totally lost confidence. The message was not relayed as the Heathcoat pair of Smith and Randerson demonstrated the confidence needed to run well as they put on an excellent, season’s best partnership of 125 for the third wicket. If Devon was to take first innings, a hundred was needed from someone. It was Smith who went first for a cameo 47, cameo might seem a bit harsh but he needs to score hundreds at four, something he frustratingly did the following weekend for his club and reassuringly later in the season for the county. His east Devon team mate disappointingly fell six runs later, thirty-three runs short of the century needed. He had batted for over two hours facing 99 balls and again looked a useful acquisition to the squad but was filling large boots. A recurring theme in these annual reports is that it really is essential that wickets do not fall in pairs, as Devon fell from 152-2 to 158-4, the old maxim of add two wickets on to the score had again come true. Metters and Hickey added twenty when the umpire responded to the fifth appeal from the home side to give Hickey out leg before. The very impressive William Gater and Metters took the score up to 233 putting on 55 when Metters was bowled by Southgate six short of his fifty. The two G’s - Gater and Gilmour - took Devon past their third batting point and Gater past his maiden under 17 fifty, on debut, when he was bowled. He had shown that he can apply himself when he tries and this should be his natural approach whenever he bats for the county in the future. It was now looking as though the fourth batting point would not be achieved as Debenham was bowled at 283 and Gilmour looked very unlucky to be adjudged leg before on 286. Fortunately Luke Tuckett and Alex Carr had other ideas as the 300 was passed in the eighty-eighth over, the scoring rate had been perfect for the chase, unfortunately the number of wickets lost was the problem. Carr was twice out in the next over and Luke Tuckett left unbeaten for a twenty-seven ball 10. The last wicket partnership of fifteen had ensured a most valuable eighth point for Devon.

An uneventful ninety minute journey down from Hertfordshire to Sussex enabled Devon to avoid two five hour plus trips later in the summer in the high holiday traffic season, another of the reasons that this exhausting tour had been undertaken. We arrived too close to last food orders at the Sportsman, so the specials had gone and there were only two Eton Messes left. Jonathan Debenham had a crash course in bar billiards, as he made contact with the more elderly locals, and Chris Metters was uncertain which county he was in. The gammon and burgers went down well and the Hickstead Travel Lodge was old school, cooler and quieter and with the most efficient Little Chef experienced in years as breakfast was enjoyed in unusual leisure.

The actual game against Sussex was one of the most remarkable performances from this age group. It was surreal and the coach had to be restrained on a couple of occasions from joining in the celebrations. We might give up the option of tossing, as for two summers it has been a worthless enterprise. An interesting conversation was overheard from a top order parent who felt it would be safe to go off and do something as his son was unlikely to be at the crease for some time. The Post Office was however a necessity to get the match details off in the post to the 21s and 16s but, before the car had even left the ground, Sussex was remarkably three down for nine! Debenham swooped, Thompson took a difficult half volley and Johnson was run out, 7-1. With Toby Ingham injured and unable to take any part in the match, the captain opened with Matt Hickey, on nine Smith bowled Adlam and next ball had the opposition's captain Thorpe caught behind, you had to sympathise with his parents as they had left the ground! The really encouraging news was that Thommo was back! Not keeping regularly at club level he had been struggling but not any more he was his normal exceptional best. Sussex reached 19 in seven overs when opener Jones was out to the Smith–Thompson combination. At 20-5 it really did become dreamlike as Chapman became Hickey’s first wicket with an edge to the keeper. The sixth wicket put on the highest partnership of the innings when 47 were added, then Endersby was well caught by the diving keeper leg side off Hickey and lunch was taken on 88-6. One run later the alert Thompson noticed that Marsh's foot was not on the line and he gave Gilmour his first wicket and his own final fantasy points of the innings. Peter Randerson, who had been complaining of minor strains and pains, then caught the keeper Sewell, who was to score an outstanding ton the next day, and Rebbetts to give Gilmour and Hickey more wickets. Sussex were now 110-9 as four were added for the final wicket as Gilmour took his final wicket trapping Geffen leg before. Awesome! The Devon openers put on 41 in seven overs when Randerson was leg before to Geffen, Luke Bess lasted only six balls to be caught behind when tea was taken at 45-2. After this game Bess went off to join his school’s rugby tour to South Africa, where he aggravated an injury he had been carrying all summer, and was not to appear again. It was a sad, if not unexpected, end for the previous summer’s excellent captain. Play was delayed by 20 minutes for bad light before Smith and Thompson took their side up to 79 when Smith played one of his more infuriating shots to be caught for 21. Fortunately Thompson fully understood his batting role in this side and he was playing it perfectly. The hundred was reached in the thirtieth over but three runs later Thompson left the field for the first time in the day when he was bowled for an invaluable 95 ball 33. Metters was also not to bat on the second day but the important first innings points were taken in the thirty-eighth over before he was caught for the third 21 off the innings. Luke Tuckett was promoted to bat through with Matt Hickey to close of play, which they did most successfully. There was no need to discuss the day's play everyone knew that Devon had been outstanding. The football was energetic, which was a major surprise and Debenham then put his new knowledge into practice at the Sportsman which was now well stocked with Eton Messes.

Bonus batting points were now the order of the second day but disappointingly only one was achieved as Devon was bowled out four runs short of the second one. After not looking in any trouble at all, Matt Hickey was not quick enough to beat a throw and was run out having put on 24 with his South Devon colleague. Tuckett seemed to be aware of his role when he had helped achieve the first batting point but then frustratingly lost concentration and he tried to pull a ball from outside off stump to be well caught at slip, a very unsatisfactory end. Gater, who was batting with authority, was joined by Mark Gilmour and it was anticipated that at 164-7 at least a couple more batting points could be achieved. At 178 Gater was caught and four runs later Gilmour slashed to be brilliantly caught by a diving third man!! This had been a poor spell and Debenham and Carr, for the second time in the week, now had the responsibility of scoring the required 18, they failed by four as at 12.20pm Devon was all out. Sussex batted for thirty minutes and off eleven overs were 25-0 with no indication of what was to happen in the post lunch session. In these two hours Devon remarkably reduced their hosts to 97-7 leaving them fifteen in front. Jones was caught and bowled by the captain, Metters trapped Adlam in front first ball and then bowled Johnson through the gate. Endersey was Smith's second wicket when he was bowled by a cut back, Hickey’s amazing direct hit from the furthest boundary ran out Chapman and Sussex were astonishingly 42-5. With parents now watching, the Sussex captain was grinding it out but after a forty-nine ball four was superbly caught by the diving Alex Carr at cover point – inspirational! With tea approaching the Sussex seventh wicket had put on 44 when Smith turned to his fellow wicket-keeper Luke Tuckett for a wicket. It came with the first ball of his second over when he bowled the first innings’ top scorer, Marsh. Many different celebrations have been witnessed but none like this one! Tuckett sacrificed tea to ensure that the South Devon area had been fully advised of his exploits. Sadly, although this wicket had taken Devon up to 18 points, it was to be the last as Sussex‘s eighth wicket partnership put on an unbeaten 149 to grossly flatter the home side. Sewell batted beautifully for his 195 ball hundred and Rebbetts gave excellent support in scoring 49 off 122 balls but Devon was now running on empty, an experience the scorer was to enjoy later in the day. Bowlers and fielders alike were shot, the luck that had been with them for five sessions deserted them and the bowlers had reached their maximum overs not just in the innings but the week. Fortunately they were able to slow down the rate in the last hour when they needed to bowl seventeen but looked like bowling 20 plus with Tuckett on a loop running back to his mark. They bowled nineteen and only just stopped Sussex reaching a fourth batting point which another over would have given them. It was a disappointing way to end but in no way could it cloud what had gone on previously, it had been an extraordinary performance. So much was taken from this game, all most encouraging and the players had dug very deep inside of themselves (our thanks to Heather Small).

Despite two of the best ever individual performances at this level, Devon still failed to take a first innings win against Berkshire and lost out on what could have been seven critical points. The sun shone on the beautiful Sandford ground for two full days but for the second successive game lady luck did not shine on the home side. Having foolishly advised the team that Gregory and Zak Bess would provide them with an additional 28 overs a day, a long term injury to the captain and an achilles problem when batting resulted in a loss of 43 vital overs from Smith and Gilmour. The net loss of 15 overs is likely to be the main reason a first innings win was not achieved. At last a toss was won, Thompson and Randerson put on 53 in sixteen overs with Randerson showing excellent shot selection and timing. A tired Thompson, who had admitted to problems with concentration, was bowled after successfully blunting the new ball, facing 41 deliveries. Seventeen runs later Randerson was disappointingly bowled for yet another fifty off fifty-seven balls, he had hit forty-four of his runs in boundaries. Although beginning to establish himself in the side, he should have been looking to become a county centurion but unfortunately he appeared to have lower aspirations, he had clearly shown the ability but perhaps lacked the concentration and possibly the desire. One player who has also suffered with a similar problem is the captain but the presence of his club team mate inspired him to make a huge personal breakthrough. On joining Lewis Gregory he was to embark on one of the finest and most certainly quickest county under 17 hundreds. His talent has never ever been in doubt; his critics have just been disappointed that he did not convert his good starts and wonderful ability into some really big scores. His natural gift is as good as anyone’s, he should have been amongst the most successful batters that has ever played for Devon. At Creedy Park he proved he was. Gregory was in overdrive playing some imperious shots of the highest pedigree. The pair batted a mere thirty-nine minutes together facing sixty-nine deliveries and they put on 70. It was like watching 40/40 cricket at its best, it is unlikely that a Devon youth side has ever batted a first innings at such a tempo. Gregory was caught behind three short of his fifty, having hit two magnificent straight sixes and seven fours. His partner’s dismissal did not stop the captain, as lunch was taken after thirty-three overs with the score on 159-3 and Smith past his fifty. With vice captain, Chris Metters, he took Devon up to 248 in, amazingly for a two day game, under fifty overs, their partnership was 108 off 114 balls. It was no nervous nineties for the captain as he reached his hundred in the most incredible manner and one that is unlikely to ever be repeated in this form of cricket. Smith was on 76 at the start of the forty-seventh over which was to be bowled by a new bowler, McGeer. Smith would obviously look at a couple. James Carr was on duty preparing some useful information for the squad with his PitchPad system and this particular over should be stored in the archives. The first five balls were pulled leg side for 4, now on 96 Smith then delicately placed the ball down to the third man boundary for a memorable, magnificent, maiden county hundred. It had taken just ninety-seven balls and one hundred and four minutes – it was a totally unforgettable experience that will rank up amongst the best ever moments in Devon youth cricket. Chris Metters had been providing good support but was the first of three Devonians to get out on the score of 17, with the scoreboard reading 248-4. Matt Hickey is the Man for all Seasons, he has a great ability to play to the situation and has a rare brand of intelligence to assess what is actually needed. With Smith a further 44 were added off 47 balls before the captain’s historic innings game to an end. It might have been only the ninth highest score at this level, sandwiched between two current county players, Neil Bettiss and David Lye, but it most certainly is likely to remain in the memory of all those present. It had been an innings of classical destruction with shot play out of the top drawer. He had been let off a couple of times early, disconcertingly he tried his 2007 Torquay shot before he had reached three figures but he had been devastating. He got himself out in an identical manner to his demise at Sussex. He chipped to mid on, his first shot in the V all day! His innings had ensured that he should have been able to dictate terms for the remainder of the game, but his own injury and the loss of Gilmour made it substantially more difficult. Smith left eight runs short of the final batting point, it was remarkably reached in the fifty-ninth over as Zak Bess and Hickey put on fifty. Bess had created a good impression the previous day with the sixteen’s in Wales and from the seventeen’s' point of view, it was disappointing that the success of the fifteens ruled him out of contention for the next game. He batted for a minute over three quarters of an hour for twenty-three useful runs. Gater joined Hickey to play four of the best shots of the day, including an effortless six. He then played a sweep, a shot he had only started playing the previous week, and was bowled. This was a minor tragedy as another half an hour would have ensured the game plan would have been met without giving the opposition more bowling points. What happened next was a major tragedy. Mark Gilmour was continuing the good work when he pulled up whilst running. As the captain had not done much else in the day and there was a disappointing reluctance by others, he agreed to act as a runner. It was a worthless exercise for as soon as he entered the arena Gilmour was out! The most serious aspect of the injury was the loss of twenty-five vital overs of leg spin the following day and as Gilly very rarely fails to provide wickets probably a first innings win. The game plan had been 420 leaving an hour to bowl before close of play. At 402 the reliable Hickey was well caught on 48 (105 minutes, 90 balls, 3 fours). In the circumstances his had been the perfect innings, he had been at the crease whilst a hundred and ten essential runs had been added. Luke Tuckett (21 off 24) and Alex Carr took the side up to 411 (a new record highest under 17 score) with eighteen overs left in the day. The instructions had been get to 410 and tee off and perhaps the return of just one run was disappointing.

Wickets were now the order of the day and the Gregory/Thompson combination took two. Bowling up the hill and into the wind Gregory found the edge twice and Thompson, now rested, did the rest. The only clouds on the horizon were that the star Berkshire batsmen were either not out or still to come and the bowling resources were again likely to be stretched as Smith lasted only two overs before withdrawing and Gilmour was on the RICE. The next day, Debenham ignored the message that could not have been spelled out clearer, resulting in the East reaching the ground late, borrowed time was the thought at the time but in fairness the line was not subsequently crossed. The side knew what was needed but there was a possible feel of lethargy in the warm up, had this been the previous week it would have been just about acceptable. On a decent Sandford track, this one had been re-laid and was in use for the first time, it was always going to be a matter of patience and this was exactly the trait that the side achieved. Somehow they took wickets at just the right time and they were in the game right up to close of play. This was mainly due to one of the finest spells of bowling seen at youth level from Lewis Gregory. It was off spinner Jonathan Debenham who took out the Berkshire main man Taj, a batsman with a proven ability of scoring big hundreds. Debenham, who was carrying a nasty social toe injury, held a not too easy caught and bowled at full stretch over his head to send him back to the pavilion for 44. Berkshire was now 65-3 after twenty-nine overs. The fourth wicket put on the highest partnership of the innings, 95, with Din digging in and dropping anchor and the captain Gumbs playing all the shots. Just before lunch Gregory, having now changed ends and bowling from the top end, struck for the first time in the day, when a change of ball resulted in an immediate wicket as Bess held the captain at mid on for 70 - a wicket to lift the side’s and supporters’ spirits. Berkshire was 168-4 at lunch still needing 243 with six wickets remaining. A second splendid lunch did not help as another sixty-seven were added before Metters took his sole wicket of the innings, thanks to a mid off catch by Smith. McGeer departed plus 21 for the game. It was now all Lewis Gregory, who first removed the anchor Din caught and bowled on 232. Din had batted for three and three-quarter hours facing 192 balls and had been holding his side together whilst the stroke makers performed at the other end, he should have been pleased with his 55. The fourth batting point was the visitor’s first aim but Brook was cleaned up by Gregory at 271, when with the new ball a stump was left horizontal. Three wickets were now needed but Smith was experiencing major problems as most of his bowlers were approaching their full quota for the day. Tea was taken as Berkshire had taken their final batting point and the scorer complained that there had been ten bowling changes since lunch and demanded overtime! Inwardly there was concern that Berkshire would come out of the game with more points than the home side who had dominated the game. The Rowe's did their stuff for the second day and the captain had calculated what he had left from his bowlers. The coach ensured that Devon would not bowl more than the statutory seventeen in the last hour with Tuckett getting another bowl and a complement from an umpire as being the best Devon wicket to wicket bowler. In the one hundred and eleventh over (a semi Nelson) Gregory uprooted the stumps again to remove the set Beavon, who with Hirst he had put on 57 for the eighth wicket. Gregory repeated the feat next over to bowl Hirst and he had one more over to take the eighth. Gregory had ensured full bowling points which had prevented the perceived travesty of justice. Indeed Devon had ten overs to break the final pairing. These were bowled mainly by Metters and Debenham and despite ringing the batsman the final coup de grâce was not applied. If only………… There is no real point on dwelling on it, as this had been a good game of cricket played exceptionally well by the home side and left Devon in good heart for their forthcoming trip to Buckinghamshire, who were then five points behind them in the table and the only side to beat them in the Isle of Wight the previous summer. This game will be remembered for the individual performances of Smith and Gregory but no one should forget what the other ten players had put into a remarkable performance.

For the second successive year Devon made the long trek down to the Buckinghamshire Hotel in High Wycombe. Devon was playing the team that had cost them the Isle of Wight title in 2007. It was an horrendous journey with the mini bus seeming to remain below the clouds that were producing persistent misty rain which only stopped when the M4 was left. The joining of the M4 from the M5 was reministant of the awful M5/M6 junction with its long queues and delays. Every cloud (although this one was interminable long) allegedly has a silver lining and the rain had enabled the scorer to pick up Chris Metters early from Salisbury from the full county game, which had been called off on the third day without any play. It was déja vu in the front of the mini bus with Joe Smith and DJ Debenham playing a similar car journey game as James Gibson and Marc Bettiss had done in days of old. Unfortunately Debenham was experiencing some problems with colour tones, in particular blue. The Buckingham put us in a separate building, purportedly eight houses down from the main hotel but counting had never been one of the side’s strong points. It was however ideal, despite the fact that Hickey had to break up the openers and share their accommodation at the main complex. The Cricketer had been chosen for the evening meal in order to enable Metters and the scorer to join us on their way, as it had originally been anticipated that they would have struggled to get to our normal hostelry, the Whip, by last orders. The location was superb, on an old village green with its own cricket ground (Littlewick Green C.C.), but the meal only adequate with a shortage of burgers, dry chocolate fondues and Tuckett experiencing the taste of single cream for the first time not putting it amongst the best.

A broken down lorry on the roundabout and an accident causing a section of burnt tarmacadam on the A404 resulted in a twenty-five minute journey turning into one of just under an hour, as it took thirty-six minutes to amble the first four miles. Burnham Cricket Club was another impressive venue, due to host a county match in a couple of weeks. There was plenty of activity on the square, two sets of covers in use plus a separate covering of the county strip. Eternal optimist, Joe Smith, was confident that play would take place, despite some more overnight rain and he was successful in pushing his case as play started only thirty minutes late. Sam Smith won again! Being a positive captain he batted when others might have dithered, totally the right decision. Bucks would have fielded. The opening partnership is often critical as it sets the tone, not the writers words but SKY’s Mike Atherton, and a big one was now due from this year’s current combination. It did not materialise in either innings as neither opener played his natural game and a rethink on the batting order was an agenda item for the selection committee with the possible return of James Burke on the horizon. Peter Randleson’s success to date had been based on playing to his own strengths and Matt Thompson’s role is to bat the innings. Randleson had needed to stick to his initial successful formula that brought him 292 runs in his first five games but he only scored 64 in his three final innings of the summer. Thompson should be looking at a hundred every innings, in balls alone, but at Burnham he only faced 133 in his two knocks and even worse admitted he had trouble concentrating. This was not a valid excuse as he had not batted for at least the previous four days. There was a feeling that a wicket could fall at any time and it was no real surprise when on 35 Randerson was caught behind. The pair had only batted 39 minutes facing 62 balls, in this instance mission most certainly not accomplished. Thompson’s time was up twenty-one runs later when he gave Myatt simple catching practice at gulley – as he played the shot he nearly mouthed “catch this”. Five runs later Lewis Gregory followed suit to give Goss an easy catch off Alex Walker, who was undertaking a very rare bowl, hence the Tuckett like celebrations. Devon was now 61-3 with twenty-four minutes to the lunch interval. Smith and Metters successfully negotiated to lunch with their side not so well placed at 93-3. The chosen menus were devoured and after lunch Smith scored his fourth and final four off the post interval’s second ball and on the fourth ball became Myatt’s first victim, bowled. The Imodium had arrived too late, the obvious pun avoided. The second under the weather player entered the arena, this year’s curse of the 17s continued, as Matt Hickey, like the captain, was decidedly unwell. From 97-4 Devon deteriorated to 112-6 as Metters was well caught behind to be Myatt’s second victim and Hickey’s brave vigil ended when he was also caught behind. Devon had dug in after lunch and had taken eighteen overs to score 19 runs, losing in the process three wickets. There was a need to change the tempo and Tuckett, playing the anchor role, and Gater did just that. They put on 43 in 32 minutes off 62 balls. Gater had nearly done his job although, as in the previous game, another half an hour could have been critical and probably would have gained the final batting point. Tuckett had played his role to perfection and was on his way to a very deserved half century when tea intervened. The second bonus point had just been taken as Devon was 201-7 with Gilmour playing the attacking role. There was some confusion prior to tea as to how to get a message out to him to play for tea, the letter T, which was gesticulated, could have been construed in two ways, fortunately the liquid meaning was taken as opposed to the off. Tea kyboshed Tuckett’s personal milestone, perhaps he believed all the plaudits he had deservedly received at the interval, as first ball post tea went for four byes, the second was a dot and the Wales under 16 shot came out of the locker for the third and he was caught with a nothing effort trying to hit over the top – it was an awful end. It transpired that some more of pre-tea Tuckett and post-tea Gilmour would have ensured Devon reached three hundred. Tuckett had batted for the longest in the innings – 92 minutes facing 103 balls and, until he played it wrong, had done an outstanding job in seeing 101 runs added, of which he had scored 38, and putting on 50 with Gilmour. Debenham in a twenty-nine minute innings helped Gilmour pass his maiden county half century, a somewhat surprising statistic in view of his natural batting talent but perhaps we saw second dig why he had not scored more. Debenham departed at 246 contributing 15 towards another important partnership, this one of 42. Alex Carr then devised one of the more unusual solutions to gaining the third batting bonus point. He cleverly glanced opening bowler Crick on to the stationery fielder’s helmet via the sawdust pile for five penalty runs. It was an unselfish act as his run did not count as he had not crossed by the time the ball struck. Two balls later he was the last Devonian out, bowled. Gilmour was in his element as he returned to the pavilion to a magnificent reception; his 52 had come off only 49 balls in only nine minutes over the hour. He was allowed to mention his career best until the next morning, an offer he maximised to the full. His innings along with the contributions from Tuckett, Gater and Debenham had at least given Devon a chance. There were twenty-three overs remaining in the day and they bowled twenty-four. With Hickey laid low on the bench with pads acting as pillows, it was Toby Ingham who opened with Gregory. The much vaunted Alex Walker, who had scored 168 v Berkshire and 151 v Wales, has the rare gift of being able to score big hundreds regularly, but Ingham gave him a thorough going over and was unlucky not to dismiss him as an lbw decision did not go his way and an extra coat of paint would have resulted in a bowled. Walker’s partner Goss had faced 38 balls and contributed two runs to the opening partnership when Tuckett held a reflex catch off Metters at gully. Close of play came at 51-1 with the game evenly poised. The Whip was the evening venue, they were also catering for a group of young female receptionists and nurses from a medical centre. Again burgers were in short supply as was the lasagne but another most acceptable meal was enjoyed, sadly the last for this group. They had been excellent ambassadors for Devon whilst on the road. An electric show was enjoyed on the horizon as lightning was striking and that most attractive village of Wycombe was viewed twice as the wrong blue car with bar break light was followed! It was uncertain who was more concerned as both car and mini-bus came to a stop in the middle of the Buckinghamshire countryside. Somehow without the navigator or TOMTOM the Buckinghamshire was found with both invalids feeling better.

There was more heavy overnight rain but it was heavy drizzle that ensured Graham Smith’s first ball drop by Cook off Harmison could be viewed, with disappointingly the coach and captain struggling on their own to get the training kit into the dry! Fifteen minutes later the team photograph was taken with three players missing but fortunately all but one heard what was expected of them over the next three sessions. As last year a key had to be returned to the Buckinghamshire but the trip was delayed whilst another fifty runs were added, thirty-nine by Walker and then the break through. With Hickey replacing Gregory, Toby Ingham picked up the prized wicket of Walker with his sixth ball of his eleventh and final over of the game when, now bowling back of a length, Walker spooned up a high catch that went over the slip cordon and Tuckett spun around. It is not true he spun twice with a reverse pike but he did hold the catch slightly away from his body – it never looked in doubt but it was the turning point of the game, as Bucks tend to bat around their talisman. A wrong turning was taken in getting the keys back which meant a journey of over an hour but the scoreboard was a joy to behold on returning – 108-6!! At 81 keeper Suter was bowled by Metters. The keeper’s delightful seven year old sister had loyally supported Devon throughout the two days and her education had been enhanced on what her brother’s contributions to the game of cricket were and how retrievers were originally utilised. Two short of the hundred the home side’s captain was magnificently held by Gregory diving sideways at slip of Gilmour. One run later Metters took his third wicket by trapping Shiel in front and on 108 Gilmour had Webster leg before. The hard hitting Myatt was the final wicket before lunch when he lobbed Metters to one of his inner ring – Randleson. In the morning session Devon had taken all the honours taking 87-6. Patel, who had been putting up stiff resistance, was to fall in the first over after lunch sweeping Debenham and Thompson holding the simple catch. Twenty-six were added for the ninth wicket in eleven overs but the returning Gregory took out Crick with his first ball, leg before and next over the captain caught Deal to give Metters another five wicket haul (seventeenth best return). Over a third of the seventy-five overs bowled by Devon were maidens. All of the bowlers had made important contributions, bowling as a very tight unit and well supported by good catching and ground fielding. There was no chance that Sam Smith could enforce the follow on as it had been avoided by 13 runs. Smith was continuing to enhance his growing reputation and amazingly only he and Gilmour had played in the corresponding game last summer. This makes the achievements of his current squad even more impressive. They indeed put their heads above the parapet and achieved an enormous amount. It was therefore unfortunate that the momentum that had been built up was lost in the concluding phase of this game and the final two games at Exmouth against league leaders Wales and Dorset.

In the past chasing second innings bonus points had never been a major problem as some memorable run chases up to 100 and above have been witnessed. It is considered easier to score runs than take wickets but not on this Thursday. Devon had 50 overs to get to 250 plus to pick up four important batting points, they only got one but unfortunately gifted Buckinghamshire four bowling points. To put it politely, this was an inept attempt that, like the last session at Sussex, took some of the gloss of an otherwise fine win. It all started well at tea Devon was 56-1 with Randerson leg before on 45, ten more than the first innings. Thompson was given licence to play his shots post tea, perhaps it would have been better to tell the batters to accumulate and run hard. All fingers and toes were crossed, as Gregory, seeming to be regaining some lost confidence, got into double figures, hit beautifully straight and carved a full toss savagely over cow. He was looking so much better then Myatt had him caught on 22, when he appeared to be caught in two minds, straight or mid wicket, in the end he chose cover – the third option. The keeper flashed again to be caught with the fielder falling forward and confused but no scope for the third umpire. He had in many ways done his job, having batted for 67 minutes, but the first three batters had all fallen on 22, none had batted on and indeed no one else really got in. At 90, Smith, obviously appreciating that the following day was the anniversary of his dismissal at Torquay, celebrated by getting out in an identical fashion, bringing Walker forward at deep square leg to take another diving catch. Three runs later Metters was bowled and, in hindsight, once the bonus point had been achieved by Hickey and Gater that might have been the appropriate time to call them in, 187 ahead with seventeen plus overs left in the day. Hickey was bowled at 104, on 116 Gilmour chanced his arm and skied to mid off who did not have to move, on the same score Gater played an identical injudicious shot and the captain should then have definitely called it a day with Bucks needing one more wicket for a fourth bonus point and Devon needing 34 runs whilst the last eight wickets had only yielded 43. It had been truly awful cricket and it was fortunate that all the egg sandwiches from tea had been eaten otherwise it might have been all over our faces! Debenham was Wells fourth wicket, his spin had taken 4-8 off 28 balls. The previous day he had gone for 44 runs off 36 balls what a difference a day makes. Smith then did call them in. The football was eagerly contested, the threatened rain that had kindly held off since start of play returned and the services, where Gareth Tidball had purchased his infamous strawberries the previous summer, was revisited. The pressure of the order having a rather disconcerting effect on the branch manager at the BurgerKing. All in all the players did really well but the stiffest game of the season was next on the agenda.

In fact it was one of the biggest anti-climaxes of all time. The cancellation of the first day’s play at Exmouth without a ball being bowled confirmed that the 2008 season was the worst ever for the three older age groups of Devon youth cricket, as this was the sixth complete day’s play washed out. The cancellation of the second day was nothing short of ridiculous. On Wednesday there was again optimism from the coach, indeed the warm ups were commenced with a scheduled 11.30am start with David Fouracre at last able to start preparing the pitch. Ten minutes later all were back in the pavilion, lunch was brought forward to 12.30pm but with another half an hour of heavy rain play was abandoned for the day. A further hour’s persistent rain put the second day in some doubt and for the second game running telephone numbers were exchanged with an 8.00am inspection planned for the next day. It was naively thought at the time that both sides needed to play, Wales to extend their lead and Devon to wipe off the eight point difference, both requiring the fifth game in their schedule to count for more that the mandatory five points a no play abandonment provides (at least that was what we thought so at the time!). Lunch was taken and the Ingham shortcut to Knowle learnt for future reference. Axminster Tesco’s self service till was experienced for the first time and wine purchased to drown the sorrows which were the  result of the most depressing period of youth cricket experienced by players and management alike.

Dave Fouracre was at the ground before seven, busily working away, cutting new tracks. The good news was relayed to all before 8.30am and we were about to experience one of the best days of the summer (weather wise if not cricket), blue skies, bright sunshine, drying breeze the umpires had inspected, start 11.00am, 120 overs in the day, real optimism. A disconcerting discussion with Joe Smith revealed they are not keen – surely not. Wales asked for a further look at 11.00am. The sun was beating down; all was right with the world. In this awful summer any day’s play has got to be surely the objective, young players playing cricket. How naive we must be in Devon! A young welsh voice states an opinion, as the inspection is about to be undertaken, that it is too dangerous. One can only construe that in Wales all cricket is cancelled at the first hint of moisture. Conversations later in the summer with Dorset refuted this suggestion. The inspection determines that there will be no play! As no toss had been made the umpires were unable to intervene. One can only surmise the five guaranteed points for a non starter are the total ambition of the leading side in the table playing against the strongest Devon team of the summer. Having been involved in cricket for more years than one would care to remember, this was the most farcical situation and a total waste of scarce resources. David Fouracre and Exmouth had done everything in their power to ensure that 24 young cricketers would get in a day’s play. The sun of course shone for the rest of the day, the Archers lunchtime edition heard for the third successive day, a cream tea was enjoyed in the brightest sunshine of 2008 and presumably some of the Devon players had a decent game on the beach. Wales returned home for some practice!! It had been a travesty.

The final game with Dorset produced two of the most embarrassing days’ play both on and off the field with some unfortunate assertions coming the way of Devon, not only during the two days’ play but for days afterwards. This match will in the future be known as Ballsgate! Devon entered the game with a chance of gaining promotion. In fact Devon was only on top on perhaps two occasions, as they allowed their opponents to score virtually three hundred runs on the first day while they fielded and bowled to an unacceptable standard. So instead our opponents deservedly took the twenty points that saved them, at the time, from the drop. For the second successive summer, with promotion in the offing, the management was unable to inspire and motivate a group to just take the final step and, for the first time in seventeen summers, real self doubt had entered the mind. Dealing first with the off field embarrassment - for a county set up, who pride themselves on honesty and integrity, to be accused of shenanigans by an opposition parent and even worse by an ECB official a few days later was extremely hurtful. The alleged shenanigans / sharp practice was initially a simple, human error when an umpire took a ball from the box of balls used for the Bob Bridges Finals, which had been held at Exmouth on the preceding Monday, instead of from the box marked Under 17s. This ball was used in Dorset’s first innings. An eagle eyed opposition coach with first class experience (the relevance of the latter with regard determining whether it was a Readers or a Boundary ball is still uncertain) spotted it, although apparently the matter had already been raised with the umpires by the Devon captain. The error was rectified by a one hundred and twenty mile, two and three quarter hour round trip to get five more similar balls. This was not a major problem, except that it deprived Devon of the use of a second new ball in the first innings. The second shenanigan was presumably the ECB’s Performance Department’s desire that our vital all rounder, James Burke, should travel up to the Oval on our second day to bowl at the England batters – what an honour for the England under 17 all rounder. As Devon was notified at 8.56pm the previous night and with Dan Winsor having already cried off at the eleventh hour and three under 17 squad members on holiday, there was no real decision to be made as one day from Burke was better than none or playing with only eleven. We actually considered ourselves to be the injured party by this late withdrawal and so it proved to be but incredibly, the opposition’s “someone important in cricket” took issue with the umpires at the start of the next day. Dorset should have taken the matter up with the ECB not the umpires. Something we never considered doing. Before casting aspersions perhaps they should have looked closer at home particularly with regard to their slow over rate, which should have been contested but for the second time in the season, to avoid ill feeling, it was not – ill feeling! It should however be noted for future reference that the moving of sight screens is now apparently included in assessing over rates and that playing first class cricket does not necessarily give a full and detailed knowledge of Tom Smith’s section on retirements.

Now turning to the cricket Devon were simply pitiable. As last year, the game plan to achieve the required promotion points was to bat second to dictate the game and, as last year, we batted second and came second by the proverbial country mile, indeed in this case at least two. In future the side would be advised to stick to batting first. All seemed to be going to plan, as at lunch on the first day Dorset was 77-4 with stumps being uprooted by Burke (twice) and Gregory. Luke Tuckett held a good catch diving away at mid off of Gilmour. This was the first time that Devon seemed in control, it did not last as forty-seven were added for the fourth wicket, and 107 for the fifth. First Carter was held down the leg side by Thompson to give Hickey his first wicket and Ingham bowled top scorer Trembath for a 91 ball 78, the highest score of the game. Devon then got back into the game for the final time as Ingham took his second wicket in the same manner as his first, the Burke/Thompson combination took out Kendrick and Dorset was reduced to 195-8. It was from the entry of Wilson that Devon was never again in a position to win the game. Sixty were added for the ninth wicket, Thompson/Hickey taking out Ladd Gibbon two overs after the new ball was available but could not be taken as the spares had not yet arrived from West Buckland. Another 38 were added for the tenth, when eventually James Burke took his fourth and the final wicket when he bowled Blake in the ninety-fifth over. With Burke away the next day it was still agreed that it was worth his wicket to bat him for the seven overs available that evening. If this was to be successful, Thompson had to be not out as two wickets would have been a huge waste. Thompson was caught behind fourth ball of the innings making the plan a total failure! Burke did his stuff hitting the final over of the day for twenty. The gamble had not been a success with Burke now departing for South London Devon was now precariously placed at 37-2. Had we been the opposition we would have been delighted to learn that a batsman, who had scored two premier league centuries and played for England Under 17s against New Zealand, would not be returning to the crease, instead it created the opposite response – remarkable. Was the gamble of playing him worth it? The answer must be yes. In view of the lack of notice and the known availability that had already been tested following the withdrawal from county cricket of Dan Windsor at 3.00pm the previous day, four wickets and 31 runs was a reasonable return. However had he been available for the second day, it is possible that he would have had a major influence on the result, altering the whole atmosphere of the home dressing room as Devon was now not well placed. In addition there would not have been the eagerness to bat second, if he had been available for the full game.

Next morning the Chairman of the Devon Cricket Board witnessed the discussion between the umpires and opposition manager and there was an unusual tension in the dressing room that did not bode well in the quest for 226 runs for the remaining eight wickets. The quest never really got started, Randleson and Gregory started well until Randleson was bowled for a disappointing 19, the pair having added 41 without any apparent obvious concerns. Indeed slowly the atmosphere in the pavilion improved as the home side actually started talking amongst themselves again. They shouldn’t have. The captain had started patiently, but began to time the ball in a similar manner to Gregory and then was caught at deep square off leg spinner opposition captain, Stickland. His own response to this constant weak link in his armoury said it all. They had added 56 when a partnership at least twice that size had been needed. Gregory got past his dreaded forty but was caught flashing at the leg spinner to be out to a juggle at slip. Game over, Metters hit a straight six and one over mid wicket but he had been very much a spent force for a month; he had played too much cricket but he was such a vital name on the team sheet, rest had not been contemplated. Indeed Winsor's original inclusion had been intended to take the pressure off him and a new Gray-Nicolls had never been a starter. He was Stickland’s third victim as the ball bounced, Hickey was his fourth caught behind and Gilmour his fifth stumped as three wickets fell quickly after lunch. There were no last rights, Zak Bess tried but he was not in the side to play the major innings, Tuckett was unlucky but had he lasted another fifty balls it would have made little difference. We had needed at least a hundred from one of the top order and for the others to provide fifties. Gregory’s innings of 72 off 106 balls with eleven fours was a top effort but he knew and the side knew that we were only going to get the runs if he or someone else in the top order had passed three figures, Gregory will make a huge impact in the game and has added much to the side over the summer but another thirty should have got us home as the others would have batted around him. This may read rather harshly but he does accept the comment and it is one of the pressures of being an exceptionally talented player who is also a great bloke. It was the pressure of the situation that took most of the wickets and was created by first conceding virtually 300 the previous day, now batting second they had to score them; it was never going to be easy. Once again it is an ‘if only........’ situation, then we might not have bowled the opposition out second day so there is no real point dwelling on it but you do! Dorset then made it 512-17 on a typical flat Exmouth track. Devon increased their point tally by a sufficient amount to come third in a metaphorically pointless 188 minutes, six minutes longer than the home side had survived. This had been a most disappointing end to the season. At the time Devon was faced with the prospect of playing Essex, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Dorset and Buckinghamshire but following the review of the competition they were placed with Cheshire and Staffordshire in the country’s top divisions and they will now be playing one and two day games against Hampshire, Somerset, Wales and Worcestershire.

Some of this report might initially appear critical, but this most certainly is not the objective as the side generally punched well above their weight and performed to a high standard. When one considers some of the problems that were experienced over the summer, they did exceptionally well. What could be construed as criticism should be taken as constructive comment for it was a pleasure to be involved with this group. The problems started earlier than normal with an unfortunate injury to last year’s admirable captain, Luke Bess. The injury had restricted his cricket and it was not until his school’s trip to the Dulwich Festival that he regained his place in the Taunton first team. Irrespective of the injury, he was also undertaking a rugby tour to South Africa which ruled him out of  contention for the Berkshire game. In view of his limited availability the very difficult decision was made to appoint another captain. As it transpired this was the right decision as Bess subsequently returned injured from South Africa, which had unfortunately been predicted, and did not play another game. He had always served the county well, he had been a major success at seventeens in 2007 and his experience and presence were missed. Vice captain, Sam Smith, who was cricket captain at Blundells, took over and he did a really first class job in difficult circumstances. As already mentioned in this report, he had come through the system in an established side which had included some outstanding individuals that were now no longer available. They had reached national finals and had been only a couple of points off winning the Isle of Wight Festival. With three of these players - Burke, Dibble and Gregory - all attached to the Somerset Academy and their availability not guaranteed, the net had already been widened. Although Dibble was injured for much of the summer we were fortunate to have both Burke and Gregory in the camp on more than one occasion, which in itself might have been behind the reluctance of Wales to play at Exmouth. Tom Cross had joined the RAF and Shane Evenden had retired from county cricket, both were major losses. Luke Bess played just twice so Smith was confronted from the first to the final game with an unfamiliar squad. The performances over the summer were therefore most impressive with new coach Joe Smith very much to the fore. Following the loss of the successful Burke/Bess opening partnership, there was a new opening combination, who also forged a close friendship over the summer, Peter Randleson and Matt Thompson. As can be seen in this report, the former’s form tailed off over the summer but his initial impression had been astonishing. Thompson has a major role to play in county cricket for years to come. And his keeping was again vital. He had not been keeping for his club but quickly overcame his lack of match practice with his confidence returning. The captain came in at four, although he was not fully fit all summer he made telling performances with bat, ball and in the field. He led the side well, his bowling fundamental in the win over Sussex and his innings against Berkshire was as good as any played at this level. Chris Metters was a key name on the team sheet all summer, having in under twelve months become a regular minor county spinner, he was now an outstanding prospect with two sports at his feet - truly remarkable. It was unsurprising that by the end of the season he was Crawforded (cream crackered). His batting was generally a little disappointing but he was the turn to bowler and never let the side down, he was deservedly nominated the bowler of the year for his 15 wickets at under 25. A most modest senior pro and vice captain. Matt Hickey proved to be another important all rounder making vital contributions all summer with both bat and ball. His runs, wickets and long distance direct hit run out at Blackstone were all memorable. A long discussion with Will Gater at Haileybury proved beneficial, he is a hugely gifted player but another player carrying an injury all summer that restricted his ability to bowl until in the Isle of Wight. He was asked to apply himself and generally he did so, which was a major personal achievement. Mark Gilmour was one of the few old hands, he scored his maiden county fifty, which was vital in the context of the game, took 14 wickets with his leg spin and was an important member of the side. His injury at Sandford had been critical and who will forget his dismissal at Blackstone caught by a diving third man! Jonathon Debenham played a significant role as the third spinner, and his fielding was impressive all summer, the run out against Sussex started the rot. Luke Tuckett might have been the butt of many a joke but was another key cog, regularly batting for the side in not too easy situations, putting on the lid and who will forget his wicket against the south coast side. Alex Carr would probably be disappointed in his actual involvement but he remained cheerful, if under utilised. He was a popular member of the squad and he picked up valuable bonus points and held one of the catches of the season to remove Thorpe. Once Toby Ingham overcame his self doubt he became another useful member of the squad giving one of the best batters in the division, Walker, a right going over and eventually dismissing him. Lewis Gregory rejoined the team at Sandford and proved a huge asset for the rest of the summer. His record breaking performance of taking 7- 68 (24 overs) against Berkshire on a flat track was one of the best spells of seam bowling in the county’s history. He kept coming back and knocking over the opposition just at the right time. His fielding at slip was also something special. His batting talent will result in some very big scores in the future. We nearly had James Burke for two LV games but, in reality, only had him for one day in which he clearly showed what we were missing. Zak Bess appeared in two games hopefully learning a lot and did not let the side down, looking a very bright prospect.

Our hosts, Exmouth and Sandford, were their exceptional selves and it was not for the want of trying that three days were not played at the Maer. This year the umpires were appointed by the ECB but we had Devon based umpires for all our home games and, apart from Ballsgate, they were exceptionally efficient and reliable in timekeeping and decision making. Our travel manager and scorer again got it one hundred per cent right and she will be confronted with at least two electronic scoreboards in 2009 and hopefully opponents bowling at 17 an hour! Joe Smith’s first season as coach and mentor was a total success and he will be able to build on the experiences he gained next summer. His brother Sam was deservedly chosen as both Player and Batsman of the Year for his major overall contribution, both on and off the field. Having been initially thrown in at the deep end, he quickly surfaced and came out totally in control with his new side united behind him, the side was indeed fortunate to have him to take over the helm. He received excellent support from the coach, senior players and, in particular, vice captain Chris Metters.