Day 4: Devon's Worcester Sauce Wobble Woe

Thanks to the magnificant efforts of Dennis Breakwell and his team a 40 overs per side match got under way on pitch 4 at 1.25PM. The toss all important again was won by Devon who inserted Worcestershire on a grassy very damp track. Shane Evenden got the first wicket, caught Smith before Ben Robins joined the party taking 2 for 18 off a fine 4 over spell, the first a sharp catch by Shane at short mid off which included a third wicket if it hadn't been a no ball! At 68 for 5 Worcestershire were in trouble thanks to a suberb piece of fielding- Shane again. A small partnership helped them before another direct hit run out, Luke Bess this time made it 87-6. By now Tom Cross and Matt Clarke were bowling really well but Clarke didn't take a straight forward caught and bowled which turned out to be very costly indeed- the batter hitting 27 runs including two 6s off Clarke in the last over! Worcestershire 139-7 off 40 overs.

Against tight bowling Devon lost James Burke caught on 22 and on 48 Smith also caught with 18 overs gone. Bess who top scored  with 28 was forth out dissapointingly, batting out of his crease and well down the track. Devon then lost 3 more quick wickets including Harry Stephenson, the ball after a wicket had fallen, who ran himeslf out when he was batting sensibly. Tom Cross then helped put on 25 with some big shots including one huge 6 and Adam Dibble was bowled after a great chip for 4 off his legs.   At 106-9 it was left to Matt Clarke and Ben Robins to try and win the match. All was going to plan but a Worcestershire coach intervened by directing the field placings and changing the bowling whilst on the field of play- the umpires not saying anything until after the match- dissapointing as this subject had been raised by umpires earlier in the week!  Nevertheless with 3 overs still left Devon required less than a run a ball and should have won but Clarke played one big shot too many and was caught. It wasn't to be. Devon 126 All Out.

Devon's Scorecard v Worcestershire

Bess	LBW	28
Burke	Caught	8
Smith	Caught	13
Evenden	Caught	0
Williams	Caught	1
Stephenson	Run Out	6
Denford	LBW	4
Cross	Caught	18
Dibble	Bowled	5
Clarke	Caught	15
Robins	Not Out	5
	Extras	23
	Total	126 All Out

Devon's Bowling Figures v Worcestershire

Evenden	3-1-2-1
Burke	5-0-14-0
Robins	7-0-31-2
Dibble	3-0-11-0
Cross	7-1-21-0
Bess	2-0-11-0
Clarke	10-3-37-2
Cload	1-0-3-0
Williams	2-2-0-0

Day 5: Devon's Channel Island Cream

Put into bat on a wet pitch 2, Devon's openers Luke Bess and James Burke initially made slow progress against due to the lack of singles and tight bowling, but after the first drinks break picked up the tempo. Bess was first to his 50 shortly followed by Burke, before Bess was out for an excellent 65- an opening partnership 137. Shane Evenden promoted to number 3, played himself in but once he had clipped his first 4 through mid wicket started to bat fluently and with Burke now in fine form agressively put on 104 in 14 exciting overs, with the two players trying to out do each other in the 6 hitting festival competition. Once Evenden was out for a super 55 off 50 balls, Tom Cross up the order to put bat to ball joined Burke and together they smacked 31 in two overs with Burke hitting a 6 into the trees to bring up his second hundred of the week. Luke Bess declared, to some players and others' annoyance on 272-2.

Mark Gilmour and Will Denford opened the bowling and after a couple of low scoring overs the Channel Islands started to score runs, which actually was a good thing to keep them interested, before Ben Robins who came on first change took a wicket and then another, removing both the openers. A partnership developed but it was broken by Tom Cross whose bowling got better as the week went on and his confidence grew thanks to his outstanding fielding and adventurous batting. There was no keeping Robins out of the game when he took a great catch off Will Deford then another off Matt Clarke and another off Denford who was by now bowling with pace and swinging it late. With overs running out Bess turned to Burke again who took 2 more wickets beating the numbers 8 and 9 for pace but even with the 2 extra overs Devon just could not get the last wicket. Channel Islands 195-9 off 52 overs. Match Drawn. If only Devon could have declared earlier? Our thanks to all the parents and families for their support, Malcolm, Ted and Ian and their teams, Dennis and all his team and anyone else I have missed out, for yet another superb week under trying circumstances.

Devon's Scorecard v Channel Islands U15s

Bess	Bowled	65
Burke	Not Out	110
Evenden	Caught	55
Cross	Not Out	9
	Extras	33
	Total	272-2 off 48 overs

Devon's Bowling Figures v Channel Islands U15s

Gilmour	4-0-27-0
Denford	10-4-31-4
Robins	6-0-26-2
Dibble	3-1-8-0
Burke	8-2-22-2
Evenden	7-0-28-0
Cross	10-4-23-1
Clark	4-1-9-1
Bess	1-0-2-0