DEVON V GLOUCESTERSHIRE
And so to picturesque Cornwood CC and our encounter with Gloucestershire.
The pre-game warm-up focused heavily on the areas Julian and I had raised after the first two matches – hitting the ball and fielding with intensity and passion. It worked.
We batted first on the sloping wicket and lost openers Dan Powell and Dominic Bess early on. But skipper Marcus Hoddinott – not for the first time this season – played a key role in turning the innings around with his steadying 38. His partnership of 56 with Luke Cummins (13) provided the impetus to drive on and give us wickets in hand which allowed others to come in and bat with freedom.
Henry Gater did just that with a quick-fire 40. There were a useful contribution from Jack Maunder (17), and Todd Rossouw (11no) and Jack Thomas (18) gave us the late push we needed. The innings closed on 166-7.
Bowling on the slope was always going to prove challenging but all the bowlers stuck at it and played their part in keeping things as tight as possible. Luke Cummins’s spell of 2-19 from eight overs was key. Jack Thomas’s 1-28 from his eight showed he is growing in confidence. There was another miserly spell from Dominic Bess who went for just 23 in his eight overs. Jack Maunder showed tremendous promise with his 1-27 contribution. Ben Roberts once again gave his all and Todd Rossouw – making his county debut - only went for 10 runs in his four overs at the end.
The bowlers were supported by some exceptional fielding – Seb Ansley was a class above the rest – as Gloucester finished 17 runs short.
It was a superb victory in more ways than one. As I say several issues were raised after the first games – not getting bogged down, playing proper shots, running between the wickets, being alive iin the field and driving through the periods of the game when it wasn’t going our way. All these were taken on board and out on to the field of play. A good day all round.
SCOREBOARD
Devon 166-7 (Hoddinott 38, Cummins 13, Gater 40, Maunder 17, Rossouw 11no, Thomas 18no), Gloucester 149-8 (Cummins 2-19, Maunder 1-27, Thomas 1-26, Bess 1-23).
Devon won by 17 runs.