2015 v Gwent team photo
Devon u10 v Gewnt u10 31st May
A grey and windy West
Buckland School was the setting for the next Devon game. Despite heavy overnight
rain, superb work from teacher/parent Dom Ford and the school ground staff meant
the teams were presented with a hard, dry wicket and only slightly damp
outfield.
Gwent won the toss and elected to field (Devon would have
batted - we must get better at winning tosses though!) and Devon tried a
re-jigged batting order with Lawrence Walker (freed from wicketkeeping
responsibilities through the inclusion of Morgan Couch) partnering debutant
Harry Southgate.
Once again the pre-innings chat was about the need
to set a platform in the first half of the innings and for one of the top order
to try and bat through the full 35 overs. A big ask for these young players, but
one they rose to in amazing fashion.
Things, however, began badly.
Southgate dragged the 2nd ball of the match from wide outside off stump back
into his stumps to leave Devon 1/1. This brought in Jake Pascoe and the
Ashburton left-hander became slightly bogged down in the face of defensive field
settings and slow bowling which was never going to suit his touch-play style of
batting. Pascoe, perhaps frustrated by lack of runs, eventually holed out to mid
off for 8 off 30 balls.
With 2 wickets down in the 8th over, Devon
were in danger of another collapse. However, what materialised next was a
superb, mature display of stroke play, running and concentration which belied
the age of the 2 batters.
Cam Ford joined Lawrence Walker with the
score on 34. The batters were eventually parted in the 34th over with Ford
bowled for 51 and the scoreboard showing 166.
A 3rd wicket partnership
of 132 runs in Under 10s cricket must be something of a rarity (?), as must
scoring 51 runs and not being close to the man-of-the-match award. Such was the
nature of the Devon innings.
For as Ford deprted, opening batsman
Walker still remained at the crease and when the Devon innings ran out of overs
9 balls later, the East Devon man walked off having carried his bat for 80 not
out.
After a lovely tea and a several warming mugs of tea, Devon
took the field. The aim was to build on the learning points from the Dorset game
and set more sensible fields, whilst also thinking about using different bolwers
in different ways.
This meant Jeacock - perhaps under-bowled in the
Dorset game - taking the new ball with Popham whilst Butler was reserved for a
partnership-breaking role if needed.
The Gwent openers got off to a
solid start although the scoring rate was immediately under pressure as the
Devon bowlers again bowled immaculate lines to keep the concession of extras to
a minimum. After good opening spells, Popham and Jeacock gave way to Whittaker
and another debutant in Agnew who gained the first breakthrough in the 10th
over, thanks to a smart catch at short cover from Walker (who obviously hadn't
done anything else in the game!)
However the visitors looked to
have a star batter in the shape of Rayner and the Welshman was just getting into
his stride and reaching the boundary when Butler was summoned for his
partnership-breaking role. With perfect execution of pace bowling, Butler blew a
quick ball through Rayner to knock back middle stump and then repeated the trick
next ball - a second Devon bowler on a hat-trick in the space of 4 days.
Although Butler's next ball was better than Tapley's in the Dorset game, he
could not find the elusive 3rd consecutive wicket - however he did claim another
scalp in his following over - a third clean bowled with pace and movement being
too much for the visitors.
From this point just after drinks, the
game rather meandered to an inevitable Devon win. The home side took the
opportunity to give all of their players a bowl whilst the Gwent batters -
perhaps shellshocked by the thought of facing Butler - decided to pitch in and
defend without too much concern for scoring rate. The final 17 overs yielded 31
runs and 2 further (well deserved) wickets for the returning Jeacock.
Butler ended with figures of 4-1-6-3 whilst Jeacock (2/11 off 7),
Popham (2/13 off 6); Whittaker (0/13 off 6) and Agnew (1/8 off 4) all played a
major part in the subsidence of the Gwent innings.
A team total of
16 extras in 35 overs included zero byes - a superb effort by young Morgan Couch
behind the stumps, playing his first game and handling the pace and movement of
Devon's quick bowlers with great bravery and skill.
Sterner tests
lie ahead this season, but here was a great example of what this team might
achieve if they execute their game plans as well again in future as they did in
this match.
