Scorecard

Chumleigh v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 04 May 2014 at 2.00pm
Match was Drawn

Match report By Martin Wright

Chulmleigh. The very name reeks of mid-Devon, doesn’t it? It conjures up ancient thatch andshady lanes, with a side order of UKIP and cows. That sort of thing. (Well, cows anyway, and plenty of them. For all I know it’s solid Lib Dem…).

Apparently the name derives from Ceolmund, an eighth century Wessex thegn, whose valour in battle was rewarded with a virgin bride and a royal decree granting him the right to settle anywhere he chose in the land of the Dumnonii – the original Devonians. History doesn’t record what they thought of the deal, or if there was a Dumnonian Independence Party to rail against these dreadful Euro-thegns, coming over here, taking our wurzels…

Anyway, like many later visitors to Devon, Ceolmund seems to have gone down the 303 to Exeter, turned right on the A377, got lost and ended up on top of a hill. And (presumably) saw that it was good. And with fine, wide views stretching away over the forested slopes of Eggesford and across to Yes Tor, you can’t blame him. He must also have been clad in thickly woven Wessex wool, for the weather in Chulmleigh flatters to deceive. The gentle breeze, which cooled our sweaty fielders’ brows in the afternoon sun, turned evil after tea, chilling fingers to the bone. Fortunately by that time we were gloved and padded…

Fresh – I use the word only in its metaphorical sense – from a civilised victory at Stokeinteignhead, we crept into Chulmleigh. Crept, because we were nervously respecting the 10 (or was it 5?) mph speed limit on the approach track, while trying to work out which of the three neighbours had developed the pathological loathing of cricketers which seems, bizarrely, to infect so many of those who buy a house within slogging distance of a ground. (What do the estate agents tell them? “Oh, that. Er, that’s just a couple of acres of tranquil pasture with a bijou little lawn in the middle. It’s a common landscape feature in these parts…” ?).

Well, ten of us crept; Harry Molins was AWOL. Fielding first, we missed his youthful athleticism, his fierce fast bowling, even his irrepressible self-belief. But we started well; Rutherford and Price keeping the openers honest with some tight lines; Forrester tidy behind the stumps, the fielders sharp. Rutherford trapped Campling in front, and Price deceived Darch, and life was good.

That brought the powerhouse to the crease though, in the form of the twin turbines of Heinmann and Sheaman – Chulmleigh’s substantial South African pro. OK, maybe not a pro as such, but he has a certain Protean swagger about him which is probably worth 20 runs before he takes guard. Confident, powerful batsmen, ruthless on anything loose, watchful with the good stuff. Gradually, they went up through the gears. Skipper Kirby turned to his brace of Chaves. Both Duncan and Fraser bowled well, regularly defeating both batsmen with some nicely flighted deliveries. But anything wayward (and we’re not called Erratics for nothing) went flying. And with a 40 yard boundary on one side (the other was lost in the distant haze, about halfway to Crediton), the sixes mounted up.

A fine herd of Friesian (?)- subs, please check with agricultural story editor - bullocks seemed unperturbed by the regular intrusion of small red missiles into their afternoon’s grazing, and Chulmleigh’s youth equally unfazed by plunging into their midst to retrieve them. That the wheels didn’t come off the Erratibus entirely was a credit to all our bowlers, none of whom lost their nerve.Rutherford, returning for his second spell, was exemplary, tying down two batsmen who’d both passed 50, and finishing with excellent figures of 3-37 off 13 overs. Williamson, in his second game in 14 years, completed the line-up with some nicely nagging medium pace. We also owed a lot to Skipper Kirby’s thoughtful field placing, turning fours into ones or twos.

Wright, grazing jetlagged at deep square, rather let the side down when he fluffed a chance off Heinmann, the ball ricocheting off his unsoft palm into the boundary. (There followed a Minor Wobble – cap flung on ground, series of expletives, you know the sort of thing, more hissy fit than full-fledged Wobbler, to be fair.) But he made up for it a few overs later when the returning Rutherford induced a leading edge from Sheaman (who’d made a fine 67), which was gratefully snaffled at mid wicket.

(Though I can’t really claim any credit, as our tame House Witch, Mistress Annie, confessed at tea that she’d muttered some spell to the effect of “I think he’ll be out this ball” as Nigel ran in to bowl.)

Heinmann continued impressively, peppering the bullocks, but now he had quieter batsmen for company. The rate slowed as Kirby starved him of the strike, pushing the field back, inviting singles, then throttling the other end. So what looked at one point as though it could be 250-plus ended up as a slightly less daunting 211, with Heinmann finishing with an excellent 116 not out.

A gettable score, but also a gettable, if need be, draw. Tea taken with the game nicely poised, the sun dipping towards Dartmoor, the mercury falling…

Kirby briefed his top order: “The first goal, as ever with Erratics, is to avoid abject humiliation” – qualifying it with a suggestion that we get to 20 overs with most wickets intact, and see how we’re fixed.

First up were Heaton and Chave (D), two natural openers. Heaton in particular exudes a sort of quiet correctness at the crease which is a calming sight for those to follow. Never extravagant, always solid, unflappable, she gives the impression of being in charge of the game at all times. Even when she possibly isn’t. Or when Wright’s trying to run her off her feet in pursuit of unlikely twos. Chave meanwhile, always has something of the air of a cricketer from another age - the early 1950s perhaps, with A Good War behind him (something in Burma, doesn’t like to talk about it, not that sort of chap) and now a reassuringly calm demeanour (well, after the things he saw on the Irrawaddy, takes more than the odd bouncer to ruffle him).

Together, they laid the foundations of humiliation avoidance, blunting the attack of Chumleigh’s whippy Skipper, Parcell, and the slower, wilier Jacobs (‘AJ’). A couple of youthful spinners offered more generous pickings, until Chave, after a solid 26, contrived a run out from nowhere, and Wright came to the crease. The Skipper’s advice (“plenty of time”) fresh in his ears, he opened his account with an ugly french cut, a whisker from the stumps, and then tried to make amends by treating a series of soft loopy leg breaks as though they were hand grenades, muffling them with a timid forward lunge.

By drinks, when it looked as though humiliation was off the agenda, but death by boredom might be creeping on instead, Kirby instructed Wright to chance his arm. By great good fortune, this coincided with the introduction of Povey, a capable young spinner who gave the ball a touch too much air in his opening overs. With the leg side boundary within spitting distance, even the ugliest of Wright’s rather agricultural heaves landed in livestock.

Heaton, meanwhile, carried on serenely until, against the run of play, Povey drew her forward and she was stumped for a fine 25. Forrester joined Wright and together they kept the scoreboard moving, even if the latter’s McRae-esque enthusiasm between the wickets nearly made an end of our keeper-batsman.

Wright enjoyed a brief tussle with Sheaman, complete with a genuine if rather tame Siffrican-style sledging exchange. (After getting him away for a streaky four, Sheaman loudly asked his captain “Is he going to do that again next ball do you think? Shall we put a man there?” Wright replied, “You bowl it in the same place, mate, and let’s see what happens…”. He managed to clump it for a couple past the bowler, and honour was satisified. That’s what passes for needle in these parts.)

With the run rate down to around 7 an over, Chulmleigh decided enough was enough. Captain Parcell, to date the pick of the bowlers, brought himself back, and introduced Heinmann’s testingly accurate medium pace at the other end. Wright managed to drag the first ball for four to reach his 50, tried again and was bowled. Forrester soon followed, also bowled by Heinmann, for a determined 19. In tandem with Parcell, these two choked the scoring – recording impressive economy figures of 1.83 and 1.91 respectively: no easy task with Rutherford at the crease, looking to push on.

Gradually the target receded, but there was still a draw to secure when Thistlethwaite joined the fray. He looked reassuringly solid at the crease, and with a newly acquired backlift, even some of his defensive shots tested the field. He hit one lovely crisp four through mid on before being bowled by Parcell. Rutherford eventually connected with with one mighty blow over long on, tried to repeat it, and was bowled as well. Chave (F) and Kirby played out the last few balls in safety, and we finished with a thoroughly respectable 167-6.

A good game, played in a good spirit throughout. And, once Williamson had deflected a late challenge by the former barmaid at The Old Court House, we could say that we left Ceolmund’s breezy hilltop with our honour (and in Williamson’s case, his marriage) intact.

Chumleigh Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 1w 1b 1lb 
for 4 wickets
4
211 (42.0 overs)		     
B.Darch b  Price 2
M.Campling lbw  Rutherford 10
B.Sheaman ct  Rutherford 67
A.Heinmann Not Out  116
D.Pacell b  Rutherford 5
A.Jacob Not Out  7
S.Campling  
J.Povey  
K.Yarnley  
B.Murch  
A.N.Other  

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Nigel Rutherford13.0237312.332.85
Penny Price7.0025125.003.57
Duncan Chave8.005100.006.38
Fraser Chave6.004600.007.67
Danny Williamson8.005000.006.25

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
9nb 3w 5b  
for 6 wickets
17
167		        
Duncan Chave Run out  25
Jan Heaton st  Povey 26
Martin Wright b  Heinmann 52
Andrew Forrester b  Heinmann 19
Nigel Rutherford b  Parcell 8
Daniel Thistlethwaite b  Parcell 9
Danny Williamson ct  Parcell 0
Fraser Chave Not Out  1
Jonathan Kirby Not Out  1
Penny Price  
Harry Molins   Did not play at all

Chumleigh Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
D.Parcell11.012137.001.91
A.Jacobs7.013700.005.29
B.Murch6.003400.005.67
J.Povey6.0017117.002.83
B.Sheaman3.001300.004.33
A.Heinmann6.021125.501.83