Devon went into their furthest away fixture of the season in good heart
after a resounding victory over Gwent last time out.
Another round
of squad rotation saw 3 changes from the Gwent squad with opening bowler Will
Popham, batter Nic Jones and seamer Jake Agnew rested, allowing the fit-again
Harry Passenger to make his County debut following a broken arm whilst Alec
Holifield and George Tapley returned to the match-day 12.
Devon
skipper Ford won the toss and opted to bat first on a hard track with a fair
covering of grass. The top 4 batters remained unchanged from the Gwent game, in
which Walker and Ford added a 132-run partnership for the 3rd wicket, with the
manager and coach keeping faith with young Southgate after his unfortunate 1st
ball dismissal the previous week.
The early Oxfordshire bowling was
steady and probing good areas, but Southgate and Walker immediately looked
confident and secure against the new ball. Sensible shot selection and good
running kept the scoreboard ticking over without any real risks being taken, as
Southgate in particular peppered the boundary in the opening exchanges.
By the first drinks interval after 15 overs, Devon had made serene
progress to 66/0 as the heat and good batting track all contributed to
difficulties for the home bowlers.
The middle overs were a
slightly turgid affair as Oxfordshire's change bowlers started to get a break on
the free scoring Devon batters, whilst the young Devon openers perhaps began to
wilt slightly after more than 90 minutes together at the crease. The scoring
rate slowed slightly - especially runs from the bat - as a sensible Oxfordshire
field started to cut off boundaries and it was only a healthy contribution of
extras that kept the Devon inning going forward.
Perhaps feeling
the pressure of the slowing scoring rate, Devon had a mini collapse in the
middle of the second session as Southgate departed for an excellent 39 and then
Pascoe was again unfortunate to be caught at deep square leg as he attempted to
get off the mark from a leg stump full toss.
Wary of not sliding into another full batting collapse like the Dorset game,
Number 4 batsman Ford went out in defensive mood and by the second drinks break
at 30 overs, the Devon score had only just crept over the 100
mark.
With wickets in hand and just 10 overs remaining, Devon
needed to put the hammer down and Ford led the charge with a breezy 15 off just
18 balls and this impetus also spurred Walker on to some more positive running.
After Ford departed caught trying to launch the Oxfordshire spinner, Couch
picked up the mantle and more positive running took Devon beyond the 150 mark.
Walker was eventually dismissed at the end of the 37th over for a
patient 50, having faced 195 balls without being out since the start of the
Gwent game. The Devon score at the end of 40 overs was 171/5 - 4 short of the
manager's target but still a good score in the situation.
Devon
opened up after tea with Butler and Whittaker sharing the new ball. Once again,
as in every game this season, the opening bowlers were immaculate in their line
and length and the scoreboard was creaking along at little over 2 and over from
the off. The Devon plan as always was to build scoreboard pressure with minimal
extras and sensible field placings, and the plan was being executed perfectly.
After these great opening spells, the home batters may have
thought the change bowling would bring them more scoring opportunities, but they
encountered an excellent spell of controlled seam bowling from James Tyler.
Tyler claimed a first wicket with the first ball of his spell, but tanks in no
small part to Jake Pascoe taking a superb catch running in from the square leg
boundary (almost) and diving full length forward to grab the
ball.
This stunning catch set the tone for the rest of the innings
as Devon produced one of the most outstanding displays of team fielding probably
ever seen in Under 10s cricket, and leading some of the home parents to declare
that they had never seen anything so good at this age.
Ed Butler
followed up with wicket number 2 thanks to amazing work at square leg - diving
full length to stop a well struck ball and then throwing the stumps down from a
kneeling position with just 1 stump to aim at to force a run out. Shortly after,
Tyler claimed a well deserved second wicket and ended his spell with figures of
5-0-9-2 as Oxfordshire limped to 38/3 after 15 overs. The 4th wicket came
shortly after drinks as Pascoe swooped in the outfield with the batters debating
whether to take a 2nd run. A lazer throw to the keeper and calm nerves from
Couch saw a second run out in the first 17 overs.
The chat at
drinks was that Devon could seek to punch home their advantage and seek an early
finish, which led to some positive and imaginative captaincy which Brendon
McCullum would have been proud of. Skipper Ford brought himself into the attack
for some leg spin and crowded the bat with close fielders, enticing the home
batters to go over the top.
Two of the Oxfordshire players obliged
as Pascoe (again) and Harry Southgate both made tricky chances look easy to send
Oxfordshire into further trouble at 68/6. This in turn created the rather
unusual (but quite justified) sight of 3 slips and a gully in an under 10s
match, although some work is needed in training to get the spacing and
organisation of the slips correct.
More outstanding fielding led
to the next 2 wickets to fall in successive balls with Butler intelligently
brought back into the attack before the second drinks break. First Butler found
a thick outside edge which went into the ground and headed towards the third man
region. The batters set off for a seemingly obvious single, but they had not
counted on the agility of Ford at 3rd slip diving full length to stop the ball
then throw a direct hit from a prone postition - much as Butler had done earlier
- to run out Driscoll (who had been identified by the home parents as a
"potential match winner") for 24 from 27 balls.
Then the following
ball a tempting 5th stump half volley was prodded at by the new batsman Marsh
and as the ball flew through the air towards the slips, Whittaker took a
stunning reflex catch. There are not many bowlers in Under 10s cricket that have
the pace of Butler, and probably not many fielders who could confidently hold a
chance at second slip off his bowling. It was a champagne moment for the pair of
North Devon players which brought applause from all parts of the
ground.
With the game seemingly there for the taking at 89/8 off 27
overs, Devon proceeded to have a terrible wobble. Perhaps we had not taken
account of the home team 're-jigging' their batting order to leave one of their
gun players at number 10. Maybe we got carried away with the close fielders.
Maybe the heat and long drive began to take its toll on the bolwers who became
unusually wayward with several no balls and wides.
Whatever the
cause, in a few overs the equation had changed from Oxon needing 80+ runs from
13 overs to needing 12 runs off 3 overs. Eventually smart captaincy from Ford
saw a more orthodox field restored, but the fly in the ointment was
Oxfordshire's Turner, who had raced to 30 with a series of classy drives and a
strike rate well over 100.
Suddenly the pressure was fully on the
Devon team, but with amazing character and maturity, the death bowlers Whittaker
and Jeacock produced a superb spell of accurate deliveries which gave very
little opportunity to score. The fielders played their part as the intensity
grew ball by ball and after a succession of dot balls put the pressure back on
Turner, an aggressive stroke produced a steepling catch which Ford never looked
like dropping. It was a critical moment in the match and the travelling support
erupted in celebration as a dejected Turner trudged off.
The final
pair in for Oxfordshire tried their best to manufacture runs, but a terrific
final over from Whittaker looked to have done job for Devon... but there was
still time for more drama.
Oxfordshire needed 7 from the final 4
balls and the plan for Devon was simple - no boundaries and they win the game.
However on the 3rd ball of the last over, Oxfordshire tried a desperation
single. A brief mix up in the middle saw both batters stranded mid pitch but a
rush of blood by Tyler was a full blooded overarm throw at the bowlers end. A
hit was the 10th wicket, but the bigger problem for Devon was lack of anyone
backing up. The throw missed the stumps and suddenly the superb Ford appeared
with another full length dive saving the inevitable 4 overthrows which would
have left Oxfordshire needing 2 from the last 3 balls.
In the mean
time, the batters had decided to complete their first run and Ford threw
strongly at the bowlers end with a half chance of a run out. That throw missed
and the batters immediately sensed a second run on the second overthrow. Luckily
for Devon, Tyler was the coolest man on the pitch. He calmly fielded the ball
and threw it into Couch (the second coolest man on the pitch) who removed the
bails with both batters again stranded mid-pitch.
A win by 5 runs
was a far closer outcome that looked likely for most of the game. A few good
lessons could be learned from this game - run scoring in different match
situations and the need to change fields more quickly for different batters -
but the outstanding feature was the quality of the fielding and the bravery of
the players in a tense finale.
A long, hot drive home was made far
more bearable by the victory and Devon move onto their next game away at
Cornwall on the back of successive victories.
