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Thursday 1st June

Away v Butterleigh

Lovley evening to play cricket at the Butterleigh Oval (that's really what the gorund's called).

Mike opened up with Robbie after Colin won the toss and batted; and Mike was looking good and just hit the bowler over square leg for 4, but he hit the next one directly at square leg who hung on for a good catch. Colin's visit was breif, but Jeremy and Will stayed there to gain their 25s and therefore retirement. Robbie eventualy missed a straight ball and Boggers was stumped while trying to loft one to the fence. John was also stumped from the last ball of the innings but not before he and Andy Goddard managed to run a 3!!!

The reply centred around two batsmen, both of whome made 25 and came back after the rest of the side were dismissed. Robbie was (again) the star of the bowling attack, just too slow and straight! Hartley got a leg spinner's wicket for once, Boggers picking up the stumping. By this time, the game was already won but the two retired batsmen were back at the crease. Jeremy was called upon to finish it off and he did so with the final ball, taking a caught and bowled to leave Butterleigh all out and 24 runs short of victory. AHoking good and just hit the bowler over square leg for 4, but he hit the next one directly at square leg who hung on for a good catch. Colin's visit was breif, but Jeremy and Will stayed there to gain their 25s and therefore retirement. Robbie eventualy missed a straight ball and Boggers was stumped while trying to loft one to the fence. John was also stumped from the last ball of the innings but not before he and Andy Goddard managed to run a 3!!! AH

Sunday 4th June

Away v Ilfracombe II NDL

With five of the eleven named on Tuesday pulling out there was a slightly makeshift look to the team taht made it's way to Ilfracombe on Sunday. Even more concerning to the captain was the very erratic way in which they arrived, but to his great relief they all made it in the end.
Charles lost the toss for only the second time this season and we were put in. Given the very hot afternoon and the fact that only 6 of us were there this was not a problem.
Mike and Peter opened on a patched and very dusty pitch that promised to help the bowlers if they could get it in the right place. This they did, but not often enough to trouble the experienced openers. Once we got to 50 without loss, peter started to play his shots and the scoring rate rose. Neither looked in trouble at any point, but both went, Peter for 36 and Mike shortly afterwards for 58, giving catches while attempting to push on.
Ben and Anthony both looked good but missed straight ones while Charles scored relatively freely at the other end. When he was joined by Ted a big score looked possible, but Ted got a shooter and trudged back having scored at more than a run a ball for his 12.
When Charles missed a yorker it was left to Steve to marshall the tail. This he did well, and combined with some good hitting from Will and the trusty "Poughill Shovel" got us to 217 all out off 43.1 overs.
A feeling of a job well done on a difficult pitch at tea was only slightly clouded by the fact we had only 4 recognised bowlers. If it went the full 45 overs we would struggle!
Ted over-ruled his captain on choice of ends, while Rob was overcome to see the new ball for the first time in many years. Rob bowled his 9 off the reel (9-2-25-4) while Ted had to come off after a while. Maybe he will listen next time!
Will replaced Ted and showed waht could be done bowling a fantastic spell of 9-4-11-2. Of the 11 runs, 4 were wides and there was a drop at square leg. As Peter said, "almost as god as David"!
Anthony replaced Robbie from thr town end and bowled a good spell, swinging the ball away from the right handers to collect 2 for 14 from 6 overs, to go with a very sharp catch off Will's bowling at short mid off.
One over from Mike was enough for the captain, who replaced Anthony with Ted who wrapped things up to leave Ilfracombe on 92 all out.
A good result and a useful workout for the bowlers. Next week's pitch may not be as helpful! CS

Thursday 8th June

Home v Yeoford

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Friday 9th June

Away v Beer Engine (at Newton St Cyrs)

A strange but ultimately enjoyable game of cricket. Colin's desperate pleas for players during the week worked wonders and we turned up with 12 players! The Beer Engine were a couple short, so as Roy was the last to arrive he got to play for them!
Our team was a mix of youth and age, ability and inexperience. Two overs a bowler was the agreed plan which we knew would make things interesting giving our line up!
The Beer Engine batting first, went for it from the start, and despite some early breakthroughs, they continued to put together a decent score. Robbie had decided he wanted to keep wicket, and showed to us why we consider him a bowler! Having put the gloves on, he used his legs to stop the majority of the balls that came his way, including returns from the field. His best moment was late on in the innings when Steve was bowling. Having already taken one wicket with a ball that hit the wickets with it's third bounce, the next batsman had skied one straight up. It rose 5 feet above Robbie's head, Robbie meanwhile gazed towards the boundary behind the bowler. The ball kept going up, 10 feet, 15 feet, still Robbie stared straight ahead. Calls from the boundary of "catch it Robbie", sparked him into life. The ball had reached it's apex and was now on it's way down. Robbie finally managed to work out where it was, but by now it was dropping fast and to safety! However due a mix up in the running the batsman had got stranded halfway down the track and Robbie ran him out! Pure farce!
This epitomised our fielding and our luck on the whole. I lost count of the times the ball was hit at catchable heights only for it to drop between 2, 3 and even 4 fielders on one occasion. Colin had a wretched time on the boundary letting 3 shots get through him for 4. Of the other fileders, Gavin Avery was solid and threw himself at, and stopped everything that came his way, as did Dick Holmes, while Andy Hartley was theatrical in the manner in which he stopped the ball. Jim Cutler made an excellent diving stop to deny a boundary and took his second wicket for the club.
Chasing 164 was going to be difficult, but Colin's opinion was that this was only a friendly, so the result really didn't matter. So he sent out Andy Hartley to open the batting, giving him the opportunity he so craves for week after week. There was talk of how quickly he'd be on his way back, however it was suggested by one of the 'senior pros' that it was a good opportunity for him to get his best score for the club - "records are there to be broken". Gav, relaxing now, found this amusing, telling us his best was 3!

	Back at the crease Andy was ouscoring Anthony until he missed a straight one. Phil went out a christened his new bat and was soon aided by Ben who quickly got into his stride. Whilst these two were at the crease we stood a chance of making the score, but Phil was caught behind chasing a wide one down the leg side.
Gav relaxing before....... This brought Gav in, who although couldn't help Ben in getting the runs required to win the match, did break his own batting record, and by quite a lot finishing on 17 not out. Any thought of a new career on the cricket ground were cruelly snuffed out the following day as he damaged his knee ligaments playing football against Cheriton's U13 side and is now on crutches and off any sports field for a long time. Perhaps that's Karma Gav. After all, if you dump your girlfriend on her 21st birthday you've got to expect a little something in return!	Andy on his way back to the pavilion Gav during his record breaking 17* Ben and Gav at the end of the match.
Scorecard Beer Engine 162 for 8 Cheriton 137 for 5 Cheriton Bowling A.Mogridge 2-0-13-2 A.Hartley 2-0-10-0 B.Rice 2-0-13-0 J.Cutler 2-0-22-1 G.Avery 2-0-21-0 D.Holmes 2-0-24-0 P.Cutler 2-0-9-1 C.Heard 2-0-8-1 S.Stentiford 2-0-15-2 H.Gavin 2-0-26-0 Cheriton Batting 1 A.Mogridge Caught 9   2 A.Hartley Bowled 7   3 P.Cutler Caught 44   4 C.Heard + Caught 12   5 B.Rice Caught 28   6 G.Avery  Not Out 17   7 R.Keight † - -   8 D.Holmes - -   9 S.Stentiford - -   10 H.Gavin - -   11 J.Cutler - -       Extras 20       TOTAL 137 for 5 Result - Lost by 25 runs

Sunday 11th June

Home v North Molton II NDL

For the second game running, Cheriton had wealth of options playerwise to choose from, so much so that Anthony didn't get a game and Charles was able to leave himself out. North Molton II were trounced in their previous league outing and again looked light of experienced players. However, it's good to see young players getting the chance the play, and given a few more years these youngsters will probably be dishing out the hidings instead of receiving them. That's not to say we handed out a hiding, but after all is said and done, we probably wont have an easier game in the league this season. Despite all this they did have some performances of note. C.Coles bowled well as always, not allowing the batsmen much room for mistakes, although Mike felt slightly hard done by to be given out LBW after putting in a large stride down the wicket. This was cancelled out when the NM II opener went the same way at the start of their innings. Peter put in his usual relaxed and confident performance but was beaten by one that moved off the seam. Ben and Phil chipped in with a few each, but the mainstay of the innings was the partnership between Ted, captaining the side for the first time, and Steve. This pair came together with the score on 112 for 5 when the Cheriton innings was having a slight wobble. The perfect situation for Steve, who was able to play his own measured and patient innings, alongside Ted who, still using that old Harrow bat of his, gradually opened up and recorded his best score for the club. He was on 75 with 3 overs to go, and there was a chance of his first ton but it didn't pan out that way and he had to settle for 84 not out, backed up by Steve's resolute 33 not out. A decent total and one we were confident of defending given the strong bowling line up on offer.

A very good tea courtesy of the Hartleys was enjoyed by all.

Having exerted himself so much with the bat, and being captain, allowed Ted to choose his opening bowlers and not have to worry about bowling himself. He chose to open with Ben and Will, both of whom bowled very well. In fact all the Cheriton bowlers performed well, some just had more luck than others. Phil was especially lucky to find himself bowling to the NM II youngsters, but he didn't turn down the oppotunity to pick himself up his best figures for quite a few years. We had possibly our first Champagne Moment of the season, when Ben raced round the cover boundary to pick up the ball and throw down the stumps with a fantastic throw, which certainly took the batsman by surprise as he looked odds on favourite to make his ground. Andy wrapped things up in the 33rd over, bowling their last batsman and so maintaining our push at the top of the division 5 table. PC

Aah, Mr Ripley!

A boundary for Steve.

Wednesday 14th June

Away v Heads & Tails

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