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Match report - Incorrigibles v Barnstaple and Pilton ..CUP GAME  4th May 2014

Good start for the cup side on Sunday away to Barnstaple & Pilton. Skipper Alex won the toss and chose to bowl. Barnstaple made it to 220-5 at the end of their 45 overs on a pitch that was slow, making it difficult both to score and take wickets. It was a nail-biting, last-over finish thanks to a blistering half century from Max Hardy and great support from Andrew Crossman, who made 40. When both were out in quick succession, 33 runs were needed off six. It was down to brothers Selwyn and Alex to try and see us over the line, which they did, thanks to Seller's favourite sweep picking up regular singles, and a penultimate over six that sailed straight up before plonking itself over the deep midwicket rope from Alex. There were other smaller, but valuable, contributions from most of the order, as well as some tight bowling by Ryan Bowden, and Greg Cole, who took the new ball.

Match Report - Incorrigibles v Heathcoat 22/04/13

With no pre-season friendlies or net sessions behind us, facing promotion-favourites Heathcoat in our first game on a typical early season pudding was a prospect about as ugly as a mistimed Dave Gooding cover drive. Having won the toss, new skipper Russ elected to bat on the basis that the pitch would get no better and our chasing against such sides in the past has been very poor. There was a canvassing of opinion and consensus among the rest of the team that this was a wise move, though this was later forgotten by all but the skipper himself and later reflected upon as possibly the worst decision since Selwyn’s last sweep shot.

Andrew Crossman, in form, after months of plundering runs indoors, missed the first ball of the over/match/season and was bowled for a duck. Things went from bad to worse in the next over when Russell dragged a delivery back onto his stumps after facing 6 consecutive wides the previous over. Ed Pincombe was the only batsman to make it into double figures, and was looking solid before throwing his wicket away when Owen Rendall joined him as last man. It was a bad pitch, but not a 58 all out pitch, that total being helped along by 21 extras in any case.

After tea, Alex Elston opened up with the wind behind him and managed to remove both openers, the first being a clean-bowled by one that kept low, before an outside edge off the bat of Ned Menheneott somehow made it to Ed Reader behind the stumps, but a perplexing number of ill-advised slower balls, including one which was dispatched for a towering six by former Witheridge player Jason Parr (who came in at 3), eased any pressure the batsmen may have been feeling.
Those two wickets brought the left hander, and Heathcoat skipper Dylan Penberthy to the crease, and Russ made the brave decision to remove Les after just two overs, replacing him with Ryan Bowden, who was quickly into his stride finding a perfect length and even turning the first ball he has ever turned in the process. With Parr and Penberthy keen to administer the last rights upon the hosts, and with six runs needed for victory, Russell brought himself into the attack to spare his men the indignity of losing the match for their team. The first ball was hit straight to Andrew Crossman at mid-off… and dropped. A single brought Penberthy on strike who proceeded to do exactly the same as Parr and drive a catch to the safer hands of Alex Elston… who also dropped it.
Jason, obviously remembering his strong friendship with our skipper and Russell’s tendency for holding grudges, then played inside the line of a ball which pegged back the middle stump. A few dots more and the ignominy of defeat was then passed over to Ryan, who was clipped for four by Dylan to bring the chase to a close in the twelfth over.
Many excuses were sought after the game, with players citing a lack of preparation, a team packed with opening batsmen who refused to open the batting, everyone bowling from the wrong end, the decision to bat first, the ruthless axing of Devon Over-60s up-and-coming prospect Dave Gooding, and the presence of Peter Blight as a spectator. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between the latter and that we batted very shit.
Incorriibles 58ao, 26.2 overs (E Pincombe 15, Extras 21, M Hodson 3-12)
Heathcoat 61/3, 11.1 oves (J Parr 32, D Penberthy 17*, A Elston 2-32)

Match Report - Beaford vs INCORRIGIBLES (2nd June 2013)

Even after 3 successive defeats to kick-start the season, morale was still high for our trip to Beaford, thanks largely to the late inclusion of Maurice Blight in the playing eleven and the interesting banter that would inevitably be provided by Spencer. First up was a conversation about body parts not required by men. After listing the appendix, tonsils and nipples, it was suggested by Ben Hall that the forehead was also superfluous. “But then where would you keep your brain?” asked the skip, to which Spencer replied: “where your appendix is…”

Onto the cricket then and on what looked a benign batting surface, Russ was persuaded to put the opposition in by Ryan Bowden and chase down whatever the home side could manage despite the captain’s reservations about this particular ploy. As our best batsman, you might say the onus was on Ryan to ensure this gameplan would not later backfire…

Alex Elston nipped out Ali McMillan early on, but Beaford were able to build their innings from then on through a combination of Paul Heard (26) and Nigel Lake (27), before two wickets in an over from Russ removed Lake to a smart juggling catch from Ed Pincombe in the gully, and then Jon Vooght, who was clean bowled for a duck. Beaford collapsed from 85-1 to 85-4 when a quicker ball from Ryan Bowden found its way through Heard’s defence.

There was then a period of toil in the field for Incorrigibles as Pete McMillan hit the ball cleanly on his way to 52, in partnership with Dan Lane, who made 62. Spencer Dawdry looked to be struggling the most, with his running likened to “a man trying to run through a swamp”, or “Gordon McGovern in a headwind” by his unsympathetic team mates. There were one or two chances; Russ dropping a bullet off Al Elston at first slip probably the closest, although the pair batted largely without alarm. The scoring rate crept up, but a timely wicket from Ryan in his final spell broke the partnership at 229-5. Selwyn’s return to bowling rewarded him with figures of 4.1-0-23-2, proving he’s still the biggest sub-63 year old swinger in town. The verdict from spectators was that this fightback had come a little too late for Witheridge, but Beaford closed on 250-9 when something in the region of 280-300 was looking likely with Lane and McMillan going strong. Pick of the bowling was Russell Hilton (9-1-29-3) and Ryan Bowden (9-1-31-3). Alex Elston also collected 2-45, but we suffered again for not having a proper fifth bowler.

Now I could commit a very large section of this match report to tea which was without doubt the best tea I have had for a long time, but I won’t, other than to say that an hour would not have been long enough for me, and I might see if Beaford can bring tea with them for the return fixture.

There was a bit of a shuffling of the order this week, with Russ dropping down to number 6, as the opening pair of Steve Carmody and Ed Pincombe made their way to the middle in an attempt to cobble together a new season’s best partnership for the first wicket. They came agonisingly close, equalling our 2013 best when Steve was trapped LBW with the score on… 4. There followed the usual clatter of wickets as we subsided tamely to 35 for 4, Andrew Crossman collecting a second duck and maintaining 100% ‘duckness’ for the first eleven, which I’m sure will make Sellers happy, although there is still plenty of time yet for someone else to make a charge in this particular contest, which could only be contested more hotly in this club were it a competition for Dave Gooding’s least funny joke, or Gary Say’s wendiest throw.

Describing what followed with adequate suspense and drama would be a task about as difficult as not being involved in a run out whilst batting with Spence. Alas, I will try…

The score had still not reached 90 when drinks arrived in the 23rd over, and there was further circumspect play between Ryan and Russell immediately after. With the required rate nudging ten an over with fifteen overs still to go, Ryan cleared the longest boundary for a 4 and the first six of the innings to wake Beaford from their slumber and take us beyond the 100 mark. With the field now spread, the pair began to find singles and twos and Ryan continued to hit boundaries almost whenever they were required to keep us somewhere near the asking rate, which hovered between 9 and 10 for the next half an hour or so.

Ryan passed his century with an imperious hit over long-off for four, but with 63 needed off the final seven overs, and with Russ still struggling to find the fence, his work was far from over. The first ball of the 39th over was reverse swept cleanly for four by Russell, before a scampered single into the leg-side brought Ryan back on strike for the remainder of what was to prove a pivotal over, dispatched as it was for a total of 20 runs, with a huge straight six the pick of the lot. Incredible hitting with limited pace on the ball. Thirteen more off the next over brought the required rate down to a run-a-ball, with Russ getting to his half-century along the way by clipping Heard off his legs.

For the first time in two hours, the game was now Incorrigibles’ to lose, and even with Heard returning a further over for three runs, our intrepid duo saw us to the end with an unbroken partnership of 218; thanks largely to Ryan’s phenomenal strike-hogging contribution of 146 not out from 141 balls, made in 2 hours and 45 minutes batting. Russell also batted more than two hours for his slightly less impressive 56 not out from 82 balls.

A great first win of the season. Excellent banter as always, some decent bowling (Alex) and one incredible knock from Ryan, certainly the highest individual score by a Witheridge player since I joined the club.

Well done lads.

Beaford 250-9 (45 overs) D Lane 62, P McMillan 52, R Hilton 3-29, R Bowden 3-31
Incorrigibles 253-4 (43.4 overs) R Bowden 146*, R Hilton 56*, A Jones 3-60

Match Report – Incorrigibles vs Shobrooke Park on Sunday 05 May 2013

A glorious day and the glorious setting of Shobrooke Park greeted a depleted Incorrigible’s side on their visit on Sunday as we sought our first win of the season. We batted first and Gary did something stupid that I didn’t see as I was in the changing room changing my pants or something, but it was still our best opening partnership of the two games played so far, totalling 3.

Selwyn Elston then walked to the crease at first drop and settled nerves with some solid looking defensive shots, before shredding them all again by practicing some wild back foot slashes straight after. It was a back foot slash that brought his demise as a thin edge off the bowling of left-armer Chris Simpson, bowling outswingers from around the wicket, nestled into the gloves of Justin Dollow behind the stumps

Selwyn’s second duck in successive innings brought the skipper in at number four, who, sporting a combination of his brand new luminous green boots and Gary’s neon batting gloves, played with absolutely none of the flamboyance that his appearance might have suggested. Matt Millward at the other end was looking solid and played the shot of the innings with a sumptuous drive through the covers. In true Witheridge style however, he was out next ball. Russ continued to knock the ball around with the occasional uncharacteristic moment of excitement (a six over long-on) and characteristic excitement (falling over and nearly being stumped off a wide), whilst the middle order did their best to hang around, particularly Ed Reader, who saw the away side through to drinks with careful shot selection and a straight bat.

After Ed was bowled for 9, new boy Spencer Dawdry strutted to the crease and took the advice of “play straight and score off the bad ball” a little too literally as he slashed at a ball that was due to pass outside of the return crease and was caught at cover. Russ passed 50 and got the customary clap for his half century when he was on 56 but then a lazy prod back to the bowler only known as ‘Bomber’ until I see a full copy of the scorecard, saw him caught and bowled for 64.

At least this then allowed the assembled crowd to then enjoy a trademark Reader Senior mow over cow corner for four, and then a trademark Reader Senior mow straight to the man at cow corner to bring the innings to a close. We battled quite well, considering our inexperienced batting line-up (and only ten men) to at least do our selves no disservice and total nearly thrice the score we managed against Heathcoat.

Let’s just not talk about the bowling and fielding.

Shobrooke Park won by 10 wickets.
Match Report - Incorrigibles v Heathcoat 22/04/13

 With no pre-season friendlies or net sessions behind us, facing promotion-favourites Heathcoat in our first game on a typical early season pudding was a prospect about as ugly as a mistimed Dave Gooding cover drive. Having won the toss, new skipper Russ elected to bat on the basis that the pitch would get no better and our chasing against such sides in the past has been very poor. There was a canvassing of opinion and consensus among the rest of the team that this was a wise move, though this was later forgotten by all but the skipper himself and later reflected upon as possibly the worst decision since Selwyn’s last  sweep shot. 

Andrew Crossman, in form, after months of plundering runs indoors, missed the first ball of the over/match/season and was bowled for a duck. Things went from bad to worse in the next over when Russell dragged a delivery back onto his stumps after facing 6 consecutive wides the previous over. Ed Pincombe was the only batsman to make it into double figures, and was looking solid before throwing his wicket away when Owen Rendall joined him as last man. It was a bad pitch, but not a 58 all out pitch, that total being helped along by 21 extras in any case.

After tea, Alex Elston opened up with the wind behind him and managed to remove both openers, the first being a clean-bowled by one that kept low, before an outside edge off the bat of Ned Menheneott somehow made it to Ed Reader behind the stumps, but a perplexing number of ill-advised slower balls, including one which was dispatched for a towering six by former Witheridge player Jason Parr (who came in at 3), eased any pressure the batsmen may have been feeling.

Those two wickets brought the left hander, and Heathcoat skipper Dylan Penberthy to the crease, and Russ made the brave decision to remove Les after just two overs, replacing him with Ryan Bowden, who was quickly into his stride finding a perfect length and even turning the first ball he has ever turned in the process. With Parr and Penberthy keen to administer the last rights upon the hosts, and with six runs needed for victory, Russell brought himself into the attack to spare his men the indignity of losing the match for their team. The first ball was hit straight to Andrew Crossman at mid-off… and dropped. A single brought Penberthy on strike who proceeded to do exactly the same as Parr and drive a catch to the safer hands of Alex Elston… who also dropped it.

Jason, obviously remembering his strong friendship with our skipper and Russell’s tendency for holding grudges, then played inside the line of a ball which pegged back the middle stump. A few dots more and the ignominy of defeat was then passed over to Ryan, who was clipped for four by Dylan to bring the chase to a close in the twelfth over.

Many excuses were sought after the game, with players citing a lack of preparation, a team packed with opening batsmen who refused to open the batting, everyone bowling from the wrong end, the decision to bat first, the ruthless axing of Devon Over-60s up-and-coming prospect Dave Gooding, and the presence of Peter Blight as a spectator. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between the latter and that we batted very shit.

Incorriibles 58ao, 26.2 overs (E Pincombe 15, Extras 21, M Hodson 3-12)
Heathcoat 61/3, 11.1 oves (J Parr 32, D Penberthy 17*, A Elston 2-32)

MATCH REPORT INCORRIGABLES V Lynton and Lynmouth 1st July

 In a late starting sunny day the game at Lynton we were put into bat on a damp wicket with a slow outfield. Yet again our innings got off to the worst possible start with Selwyn being bowled for a duck.  Ryan and Jake struggled against an accurate opening spell with both bowlers getting movement  but no bounce at all. Jake got bowled by a swinging outswinger for 4 leaving us on 6-2 before Ryan and Will Denford steadied the innings.  Ryan score a patient 23 before being caught but Will looked in impetuous form cracking the ball around with impunity and looked certain for a big score until he misread a straight one and was bowled for a jug avoiding 48. At the other end a stylist yet strangely agricultural Andy Crossman was doing what he does best, smacking the ball around. With Ben Slaverio the score accelerated until Ben was caught and bowled for 24. Crossy was now joined by James Hope and the two  pushed the score well past the 200 with Andy getting a well deserved 50 and 250 looked on the cards until James spooned a catch to midwicket for a good 39….his best score in nearly 2 seasons for the club! With 36 extras our innings finished at 237-8.

Witheridge opened the bowling with a slightly rusty Jack McGovern bowling his first overs of the season at one end and the evergreen Alex Elston at the other. With little or no bounce it was obvious scoring was going to be difficult for the home side and the first 5 overs saw only 12 on the board including 2 wides, 2 no balls and 4 byes. McGoverns 3rd over was a wicket maiden and their 2nd wicket fell in the 8th over courtesy of the finest touch on the bail that just dislodged it…unheard  by the batsman and keeper. The batman accepted he had been bowled despite the umpire stating he was unable to give him out….good sportsmanship shown here.  At 19-2 after 8 overs the Lynton innings was much as ours but unknown to all the innings was now all but over. Alexs’ 5th over despatched their South African player thanks to an excellent diving catch from a leg cutter in front of 1st slip from the stand in keeper. A change of bowling at both ends saw a complete collapse with Ryan Bowden and Ben Slavario (bowling in his sweater!) each take 3 wickets for no runs in the next 4 overs. Ben collected his second ever hat trick and Ryan is on a hat trick first ball in the next match. The last 5 batsman lasted 6 balls and all got ducks so there is still hope for Russell. Lynton were all out for 22 and now look certain for the drop to Division 3 next year. Highest score was 6 wides, followed by 4 byes and equal third with 3 …no balls and M Falkiner. A sad day for Lynton with not too much celebrating from both sides.

Witheridge 237-8, Lynton and Lynmouth 22 all out
Witheridge 20 points Lynton and Lynmouth 0 points
Crossman 56 no, Denford 48, Hope 39.
Bowden 3-0,  Slavario 3-0, McGovern 2-4, Elston 1-12
 MATCH REPORT INCORRIGIBLES V Lynton and Lynmouth 27th May

On a dry day we won the toss and decided to bat. The Incorrigibles innings got off to the worse possible start with Ed Pincombe caught behind for a golden duck to be followed the next over with in form Russ Hilton being run out by a country mile by James Hope. James Hopes form continues to concern and he fell for 7 leaving us at 22-3 after 6 overs. However Ryan Bowden and new boy Chris Crook put together a small stand before Chris fell for 5 with the score on 50. Ryan was now beginning to play well and progressed into the 40 before being bowled for a useful 41. Score 64-5 and things were looking quite shaky. With Andy Crossman still out sillaging…this can only happen in village cricket….Dave Gooding joined Ed Reader and the two began to put the innings back together. The slow resilient Gooding held up one end and suffered a painful blow to the face attempting a pull…never again. The now fluent Ed Reader began to get the score moving and the pair put on an excellent 52 before Ed was bowled for a good 46. With Crossman now present and with 7 overs still to go the canny lefthander punished the bowling. Gooding fell…literally…somewhat earlier and was bowled for a plucky and painful (for all watching) 14. Andy bludgeoned his way to a 20 ball 25 that included 5 boundaries. A returning Alex Elston fell for his customary first ball duck and it was left to our new player Mel Vaggers to ease the score forward with Ed Strong to 160 before Ed also fell for a duck. Overall the score was a little smaller than expected but at least it gave us something to bowl at.

The Lynton innings started in much the same way as ours losing 2 quick wickets to the fiery Alex. Ed Strong bowled well beating the bat on several occasions but to no avail. After 9 overs they were 12-2 to become 15-3 with the introduction of Ryan Bowden. Russell bowled a tight spell of 4 overs for 5 runs before Hopes introduction into the attack from the road end in order to stem the runs. James and Ryan strangled the rate and James took 3 wickets for 18 of his 9 overs. Newcomer Mel Vaggers took over from Ryan from the farm end and after a shaky start bowled a tidy 6 overs with figures of 3-9. Ed finished off the Lynton inning with a deserved wicket and their innings concluded at 81 all out.

Reader 46, Bowden 41, Hope 3-18, Vaggers 3-9, Elston 2-2

It was also noted that Ed Pincombe wore his funny hat.

MATCH REPORT INCORRIGIBLES V HEATHCOAT 21st May by Russell Hilton
At change of innings at Knightshayes, news began to filter through that Les Rendall had made an unbeaten hundred at Nomansland against The Men Of Rackenford. He later went on to pick up five wickets in the visitor's innings.
With the spectre of Les's hundred hanging ominously over an under-pressure batting line-up, only Jason Parr and Ryan Bowden fifties saved Incorrigibles from complete embarrassment. Jason was fluent throughout his innings, and particularly dismissive of Martyn Williams left-arm spin, using his feet well to play a succession of lofted drives in the arc from long-on to extra cover. Ryan was not as fluent as usual, but still saw off the main threat posed by quicks Matt Hague and Small, whilst compiling 54 from number four in the order. After Jason was bowled leaving an inswinger from Small, the rest of the order fell away quickly. Russell Hilton edged to slip for his second duck in three NDL innings, and the only other score into double-figures was from the helmetless Dave Gooding, who smashed three fours with such power that, if he was black, you could be forgiven for thinking it was Viv Richard's out there batting.

Earlier, Russell Hilton bowled through the pain barrier to collect four wickets and keep Heathcoat in check just when they appeared to be heading towards a total in excess of 1500. Ed Strong opened well with the new ball, along with Parr, who with a more attacking field, may have picked up a wicket or two in his first spell. Ed unsettled the batsmen early on with his outswing and aggression, reminiscent of a fat Dale Steyn, but was not rewarded with a wicket. Most of the Heathcoat batsmen got in, with overseas player Chris Small producing a ton before being removed next ball by Hilton. Ed Strong gave him a send-off, shouting "Premiership litter. Get back in the hutch!", and spectators will look forward to the duel between these two when the sides meet again at Gratten Park later in the year.
Despite a relatively decent fielding display, including yet another superb catch from Ed Reader, and Ryan Bowden bowling his offbreaks with good pace and bounce, Heathcoat were able to ammass 307, which in the end was just out of reach for the Witheridge side.
Heathcoat 307-6 (Hilton 4-54)
Incorrigibles 146ao (Bowden 54, Parr 52)
It was also noted that Ed Pincombe also said something funny at some point.

Match report.1st v Shebbear (a) 14th May.
A difficult week for the two captains. Other commitments elsewhere meant the we were only able to raise 20 players between us so it looked as though we would both play with 10. However a late cancellation by Victoria Park meant we were able to take a full 11 with Ed Strong and Les Rendall  making welcome additions to our bowling attack. Ed Hosegood volunteered to stand down as he had pressing work at home. Thank you to everyone who was willing to turn out.
Winning the toss yet again we decided to bowl hoping that the soft pitch and damp outfield may have given us an advantage despite Shebbear only having 9 players. And a low slow pitch it turned out to be. The 2 experienced Shebbear openers struggled against some accurate bowling by opening pair Ed Strong and Ben Franks and only a bit of luck kept them at the wicket. At 31 after 19 overs their skipper missed a swinging full toss from Ben which smashed the stumps. However a good stand of over 50 put Shebbear in a position to reach about 180 with still 20 overs to go. Les Rendall eventually trapped Wickett, the other opener LBW  for 36 and with an injured Russell Hilton bowling well at the other end the runs started to dry up. Les got their no 3 Chappel , who was beginning to look dangerous for 35 and Ben picking up his third wicket to remove Nigel whose one swinging shot had already bagged him 16. A cameo bowling appearance by our Skip, bowling his pacey swinging seamers, nipped out their middle order with 2-17 and Ed Strong Ed polished off the tail with a C & B leaving us to chase 135.
A subdued Andy Crossman and Ed Pincombe led the chase but runs were hard to come by and Ed fell to an excellent ball that nipped back and clipped his off bail. Enter Russell Hilton, always looking the part but usually unable to deliver. The pair put on a steady 60 or so with hardly a boundary in sight. The unusually quiet Crossman didn’t/ couldn’t hit a boundary for 27 overs,  but then like a bus 3 came at once, 4,6,4. Russell advanced to the 40’s and looked a certainty for a jug but fell LBW and Andy Crossman got caught for 45 shortly after. Double jug avoidance! Jittery times remembering the 2nd team collapse the week before. Still needing 36 off 13 overs the experienced McDonald and Vice Skip Ben Franks steadied the innings and the Franks stamp of finishing the innings with a massive 6 won us the game with 5 overs remaining.
Overall we played extremely well with some excellent fielding by all, especially by Mark Reader who threw himself around the field stopping several 4’s. His exploits broke his glasses!! Also well done to Ed Reader who kept for the whole innngs with no byes or extras! The only blemish of our fielding performance was the skipper who dropped a sitter of Ben. In his defence he did bowl him 2 balls later! What a difference a week makes.

Franks 3-18, Rendall 2-44, Strong 1-14, Gooding 2-17

Hilton 40, Crossman 45, Franks 22no 

Match Report 6th May .1st v Halberton (a)
Attempted murder scandal mars new club record
An attempted murder scandal involving the clubs vice-captain and the promising young wicket keeper has rocked the club. Club vice– captain Benjamin Lawrence Franks (23), single, a council officer working in Mid Devon has been accused by the fines committee of the unprovoked and deliberate conduct likely to cause harm to the promising young wicketkeeper Edward Reader (15). This follows what the committee consider to be violent conduct against Reader during an NDL game. Franks, from Sampford Peverell is accused of maliciously deciding to collide with the keeper as Reader dashed 40 mts to catch the ball. The committee consider that Franks, despite his good knowledge of the game decided not to call for the high ball that, in the opinion of the committee, was falling virtually into his hands and thus managing a situation where collision was inevitable. After the collision both seemed to be unconscious and only urgent medical attention brought them both around. Readers local minder, Sue, rushed onto the field to her injured son with the words “are you alright darling”. Franks was heard to murmer “I think so” to which Ed replied “I think she means me”. In a hearing after the game in a local hostilary Franks refused to appear stating he was going home for a shower. He was found guilty in his absence, fined 50p for a dropped catch and faces a lengthy spell at third man and several weeks of cleaning the clubs latrines. He is not allowed to appeal.

This sad event overawed the new club record set by Jamie Tapper. Tapper (17 going on 26) had 32 spanked of his 8th over….a club record. Congratulations Jamie.   James Hope’s fine batting record continued with a classy 1 before he retired to get a cup of tea for Eds Minder. Jason Parr set a record for himself scoring his first run off the first game of the season for the first time in 4 seasons. He went on to make a good 91 that include 1 single. He was later fined, in his absence, for jug avoidance. In a game where we bowled badly, could not catch a cold and batted poorly we lost.
Following the lengthy deliberations over the Franks scandal the fines committee had to sit yet again at yet another public house to consider the problems of the day. It is fair to say that fining was particularly heavy following the result. However, on appeal, the Maximum £3 fine placed over veteran Dave Gooding (61), working in a posh school in Exeter, was upheld by the Club Captain. Mr Gooding was fined for new boots, new pads, new gloves, a dropped catch and nose diving. The Club Captain …a fine gentleman, upheld Mr Gooding appeal on all counts. He stated that Mr Gooding always turned up at games dressed immaculately, and had the finest standards in the club. He went on to say that many of the younger players would do well to follow his fine example instead of turning up in a scruffy mix of Ashes helmets, a mix of  Devon club shirts, coloured vests and wearing various items of jewelry. The club has standards but unfortunately most people fail to meet them. He applauded Mr Goodings standards of dress. The nose diving incident was of particular interest to the Club Captain who stated, “ I was very close to this incident and it is my opinion that this player, in the finest traditions of the club chased down a ball that was obviously going for 4. Even at the last moment he put his frail body on the line and took a final fantastic dive to try and stop the ball. Unfortunately it trickled through his desperate reaching fingers and crossed the boundary. Rather than being fined he should be applauded for such dedication.  He also upheld Mr Gooding appeal over the catch. “this ball was destined to be a 6. Mr Goodings fine effort, leaping into the air and to his right meant he managed to slow the ball sufficiently to turn a 6 to a 4”. He added the the fines committee should not continue to make scapegoats out of the elderly as they were able to do that for themselves…if they remember how…and the fines committee would be better placed if they picked on others that had more money.