Match reports

Torquay Tour 2: Chudleigh Cricket Club - Away 14/06/09

Scorecard

Cavs vs Chudleigh CC

After an eventful evening out (Step forward E Thorpe) and some lovely pied-ing around sunny Torquay, the Cavaliers descended upon the exquisitely named Chudleigh CC for their second and final fixture of their 2009 tour. The fixture had only been arranged days beforehand, with the Cavaliers' intended hosts leaving the purple-and-blacks somewhat in the mire by pulling out at last notice. Fortunately, some last-minute jiggery pokery saw this fixture slotted in - for which the Cavaliers are very grateful to Chudleigh.

As the Cavaliers arrived in varying states of dishevelment, queasiness and exhaustion, they were greeted by a worryingly young and athletic looking outfit. The sounds of resident antipodeans didn't help either, as they, on the whole, tend to be quite good. As the temperature topped 80, the Cavaliers marched out to field, knowing that a good start was imperative and the first over could set the tone for the whole match. Fraser Tant, therefore, going for 16 in a 9 ball over, wasn't ideal. Simon Foster, at the other end, was much more controlled, and indeed got the breakthrough when the aggressive young opener drilled a hard return catch back to him. Tant had recovered his poise and his skipper stuck by him, and both got their reward when Tim Foster held a fine catch at gulley to reduce the hosts to 45 for 2. Foster Jr replaced his brother and bowled 8 tremendous overs straight off, deserving a couple of wickets. Crucially, Jamie Wise's fielding proved his nemesis once more, dropping the Chudleigh Aussie opener on the boundary in his 30s. He would go on to make 61, before becoming the first of Ben Rankin's three victims, with Tant the man under a steepler at Cow Corner, by which time the score had progressed to 124. The next ball saw Rankin repeat the trick, with Russell Timms holding on to a catch on the square leg boundary, and moments later a jaffer of an off-spinner clipped the off stump. Ellis Thorpe picked up a further wicket, and Chudleigh were teetering at 166/7. However, an unbeaten partnership of 66 runs from the last 7 overs, with Thorpe, Burton and Tant particularly punished, saw Chudleigh end on 232/7.

Rankin and Wise Jr opened the batting, and looked relatively untroubled, although the complete lack of bounce from one end made runscoring somewhat difficult. Together they put on 45, until Rankin fell to a mistimed pull on 11. Joining his brother in the middle was Paul Wise, but two balls later he was back in the hutch embarking on a 24 hour strop, having been triggered by umpire Lloyd. Jim Handford carelessly ran himself out on 8, Thorpe scored just two before seeing his stumps splayed, while Lloyd also found himself short of his ground having score just one. When Jamie Wise fell 7 runs short of his second 50 of the tour, the Cavaliers were in trouble, at 80 for 6.

Foster and Timms set about rebuilding, and put on a patient 40, but when the former was bowled for a fine 30, the game was good as up. With over a hundred need from 8 overs, there was only one way to play - the incoming batsman Fraser Tant started with two fours and followed it up with a six over long on, but his 9 ball cameo ended on 19 and with it all hope of a Cavaliers victory. Tim Foster (6) and Nick Francis (0) came and went in not time, and the Cavaliers finished 148 all out, a long way short of their victory target.

"Notwithstanding the result, it was great to get a game and Chudleigh were a really nice crowd" said skipper Simon Foster. "Maybe if we had bowled more tightly and taken our chances, we could have really challenged them, but it wasn't to be.!