Scorecard

Stokeinteignhead v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 12 Apr 2026 at 1.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Lost by 89 Runs

Match report After their long winter hibernation, the Erratics arrived at Stokeinteignhead in varying states of readiness for the first game of the 2026 season. Mark Hailwood finished his 2025 summer on 397 wickets, and had presumably spent all winter salivating at the prospect of adding 3 more scalps to his total - so busy focusing on his bowling in fact, that he forgot to pack his bat. JK had also made preparations for the new season, striding out for the Erratics fielding innings like a knight at Agincourt; in a gleaming, brilliantly white new set of wicket-keeping pads that creaked tremendously when he walked. Despite forecasted showers, the weather offered bright sunshine and biting wind - a proper April cricket match!

After winning the toss, Captain Fraser chose to field. Seeking to make early inroads towards his 400-wicket target, Mark Hailwood was handed the new ball, and began with a maiden over to Stoke opener Prestt. At the other end, despite telling his skipper “I’ll probably have to give up after two overs”, Nigel began with a blistering 4-over spell finding zip and bounce and finishing with exceptionally tidy figures of 4-2-8-0.

Mark was also regularly beating the bat, but neither bowler made a breakthrough, and Fraser turned to Chris Cook and Lee Grant to try and dispatch the set batters. Stoke #2, Joseph Liyo, took a liking to the new bowlers and began finding the boundary with regularity, retiring at 50 off Lee’s third over. Evidently this frustrated Lee, who bowled the number 3 first ball, before promptly leaving the field with an injured back.

Fraser replaced Lee, and continued bowling in partnership with Chris as Stoke youngster Abs came to the crease, making some crisp controlled drives through cover before playing slightly early to one from Chris and spooning it to TJH at mid-wicket.

The next batter to the crease, after failing to be selected for the Erratics XI and defecting to the opposition, was the dangerous Harry Everett, and both Fraser and Chris, and then Fraser and Phil plugged away diligently but without reward at the Everett-Prestt partnership, then the Everett-Hughes partnership after the opener retired at 50 after 26 overs at the crease, finishing with figures of 7.2-1-42-0 for Fraser and 4-0-34-0 for Phil.

As the score climbed over 160, Fraser returned to the canny (/uncanny? See last year’s match report) bowling of Milestone Mark, who managed to get rid of Everett in his first over, who retired at 52. Now, with the score on 168-2, things started to fall into place for the intrepid Erratics, as Roger Putman, today starring for the Erratics, joined Mark in the attack. Wickets now started to fall more regularly, as Roger bowled Hughes, then held onto a nice catch from Mark’s bowling to dispatch Vivek (wicket total: 398). In the next over, Fraser took a fantastic knee-sliding catch to add a second wicket to Roger’s total.

Mark, seeing the chance to gobble up the tail, took his chances and outfoxed Matthews LBW (399!), before Number 11 Ashish ran past one, allowing JK to dirty his gleaming pads with the first stumping of the season, bringing up Mark’s 400th wicket for the Erratics! Roger and Mark finished their spells with figures of 3-0-25-2 and 8-1-55-3 respectively.

Now, with two wickets to go before the dangerous retirees returned, Fraser sought to stem the flow of runs with Chris Cook and TJH. Both bowlers rattled the stumps in the first overs of their spells, seeing off the tail and being rewarded by the return of Joseph and Everett returning. Chris finished with figures of 8-1-50-2, while Tom restricted the batters to ones and twos and managed to sneak one past Joseph, bowling him for 78 on the penultimate ball of the match. Opener Prest returned with one ball to go and smashed it for 6, making TJH’s figures 3-0-21-2. Stoke’s innings closed on 269-10, leaving the Erratics with a lot of runs to score.

After a lovely tea break, Roger and Jon Perkin walked out to the middle to begin the chase. The first wicket stand was short lived, as Roger played his third ball off N. Paul into the hands of Prestt, departing for 0 off 3, and bringing Hugh Sheridan to the crease. Hugh and Jon attempted to rally, but Hugh was given LBW for 1 off Matthews, who two overs later claimed a second wicket, bowling Jon for 7.

Captain Chave joined TJH at the crease, where Prest managed to extract surprising bounce from the April wicket and Tom ballooned a rising ball to the waiting hands of Everett, ending his charmed life after multiple drops. In the next over, seeing the required rate climbing, Fraser threw the kitchen sink at a straight one from Ashish, and was bowled for 16. Now, in the 14th over, with the score on 35-5, Chris Cook and Jonathan Kirby (now in not-quite-so-shiny batting pads) battled through a disciplined 98-run partnership over 14 overs, taking advantage of Stoke’s fielding errors and overthrows to bring the Erratics up to a respectable total, before Chris fell C&B to Everett for 54.

Martin Weiler now joined JK, scoring 7 off 9 before being bowled by Everett off the 7th ball of the over… no idea who the umpire was there… Nigel and JK fought hard, but the cause was long since lost, and JK fell, bowled by Chacko, just 3 runs short of becoming the “oldest Erratic to score a 50”. Nigel fell shortly after in the same manner, granting Chacko two consecutive wicket maidens. Phil was bowled by Joyce in the 39th over for 4, leaving Mark 0* from 2, and the Erratics on 180 all out from 39 overs, 89 runs short of their target.

As season openers go, perhaps this was a typical one. A long day with lots of layers, an early injury, and a losing cause. However, a glance at the scorecards for last season, where a loss to Stokeinteignhead in the season opener was followed by 9 wins in 11 games suggests bright times still to come. I’ll leave it up to Fraser to determine which milestone will be reached next, but this reporter suggests that Phil Power’s current “oldest 50” record could exchange hands this season…

Tom J-H

Stokeinteignhead Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 10w  
for 10 wickets
13
269 (40.0 overs)		     
Chris Prestt Not Out  57 78 8 1 73.08
Joseph Liyo b  T Joshi-Hartley 78 53 8 5 147.17
Nomy Paul b  L Grant 0 1 0
Abs Liyo ct  C Cook 2 11 18.18
Harry Everett Not Out  59 45 9 131.11
Jay Hughes b  R Putman 12 12 3 100
Joy Joice ct  R Putman 2 5 40.0
Vivek Vithlani ct  M Hailwood 10 7 1 1 142.86
Siby Matthews lbw  M Hailwood 10 3 1 1 333.33
Ginhoy Joseph b  T Joshi-Hartley 8 11 1 72.73
Ashish st  M Hailwood 12 9 2 133.33
Chacko John b  C Cook 6 8 1 75.00

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Mark Hailwood8.0155318.336.87
Nigel Rutherford4.02800.002.00
Chris Cook8.0150225.006.25
Lee Grant2.4034134.0012.75
Fraser Chave7.214200.005.73
Phil Power4.003400.008.50
Roger Putman3.0025212.508.33
Tom Joshi-Hartley3.0021210.507.00

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
22w 4b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
27
180		        
Roger Putman ct  N Paul 0 3 0 1
Jon Perkin b  S Matthews 7 20 35.00
Hugh Sheridan lbw  S Matthews 1 12 8.33
Tom Joshi-Hartley ct  C Prestt 6 20 30.0 1
Fraser Chave b  Ashish 16 27 1 59.26 1
Chris Cook ct  H Everett 54 54 6 1 100
Jonathan Kirby b  C John 47 58 8 81.03 1
Martin Weiler b  H Everett 7 9 77.78
Nigel Rutherford b  C John 11 18 2 61.11
Phil Power b  J Joice 4 12 1 33.33
Mark Hailwood Not Out  0 2 0
Lee Grant  

Stokeinteignhead Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Nomy Paul4.00919.002.25
Siby Matthews4.00824.002.00
Ashish4.0012112.003.00
Chris Prestt3.00919.003.00
Joseph Liyo4.002700.006.75
Vivek Vithlani3.001300.004.33
Jay Hughes4.003800.009.50
Harry Everett4.0023211.505.75
Chacko John5.021628.003.20
Joy Joice4.0020120.005.00
 
Photos and video of Stokeinteignhead v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 12 Apr 2026 at 1.00pm

Team Photo Opening Game 2026

vs Stokeinteignhead 12 April 2026