Chumleigh v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 17 May 2009 at Unknown

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Chumleigh v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 17 May 2009 at Unknown
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 7 wickets

Match report With the weather brilliant - crystal clear blue skies and temperatures pushing up towards the twenties - the drive up the A377 to Chulmleigh was a pleasure and it was equally pleasing (if, perhaps, slightly unusual) to find a full complement of Erratics assembled well in advance of the scheduled start. Chulmleigh weren't quite so fortunate and had to borrow the services of Jim Thomson, who was part of the large Thomson clan which had arrived in the hope of witnessing a rare Erratic victory on this magnificent ground.

After the pitch had received a late trim which left it looking as stripey as a Devonian zebra but somewhat slower, it seemed obvious that the captain who won the toss would bat. Matt Cook, in charge of the Erratics for the afternoon, lost, and so we were condemned to spend the first part of the afternoon in the field. If, however, any of the Erratic eleven were unhappy about this it didn't show (in contrast to Matt's previous experience of skippering on this ground in 2007 - see my report elsewhere on the site), and we turned in a largely tidy bowling and fielding performance

The new ball was taken by James Burrows and Gareth Oughton. Both 'put the ball in good areas' (as the modern professional cricketer's argot has it), swung the ball and ensured the home umpires were awake with a few lbw shouts, but neither made a breakthrough as the left-handed opener Brian Dartch settled in for his customary feast on the Erratics bowling. However, once the change bowlers - David Pearson and Phil Ellis - had been introduced, we started to chip away at their batting order, leaving the tail to be mopped up by Chris Ferro, who was both economical and lethal and Simon Orpen, who recovered from a shaky start to take two late wickets as the home side closed on 148-9 at tea, Dartch top-scoring with 74. Ferro took 3 for 4 off 6 overs, Orpen 2 for 17 off 4, Pearson 2 for 27 and Ellis 2 for 32.

Overall we fielded well, with no easy catches dropped and Kirby and Pearson setting a great example with some athletic covering and accurate returns. With a powerful batting line-up including the sometime Clyst St.George trio of Ferro, Cook and Chave at our disposal and the conditions excellent, we certainly looked favourites at tea.

However, we were soon on the back foot. After several tight overs from the Chulmleigh openers in which he'd eked out one single, Carpenter was bowled playing an expansive on-drive to a straight ball and was rapidly followed by Kirby, who lofted one into the off-side and was brilliantly caught by the Chulmleigh deep mid-off, running back and diving full-length. Jonathan left the ground looking pissed off but philosphical, which I suppose is the only attitude to have when you've just been on the receiving end of what, at any level, would have been an exceptional catch, and at our level was little short of miraculous.

With Ferro joined by Chave and the Chulmleigh change bowlers on, things settled down, and a calm and acquisitive partnership of 75 took the score to 80 before Duncan was caught for 30. This brought Matt Cook to the wicket, and, after dodging the bouncers while playing for Clyst the day before, he was in no mood to hang around against the somewhat tamer bowling that was being purveyed by Chulmleigh. Within about twenty minutes Matt was almost level with Chris, who'd been batting for well over an hour, and, after a volley of boundaries off the other bowlers and some initial circumspection against Jim Thomson's wily off-spin, Matt decided to bring the match to a close with two consecutive straight sixes off the President's son.

This was a very enjoyable match, played in outstanding weather, on a beautiful ground and in a competitive but friendly spirit. We’ve been playing Chulmleigh on their patch since 1999 and have rarely (possibly never) beaten them, so it was nice to achieve what was, ultimately, a comprehensive win.

If Ferro and Cook continue to bat with such a potent mixture of technical rectitude and judgement (Chris) and wanton brutality and dismissiveness (Matt), and the rest of us can chip in here and there, there should be many more victories to come this season.

Chumleigh Batting

Player name		Runs
extras TOTAL :	for 9 wickets	0 148 (0.0 overs)
Dartch	b Orpen	74
Gidney	lbw Pearson	17
Martin	lbw Ellis	2
Lincoln	b Pearson	9
Davies	b Ellis	14
Badcock	b Ferro	2
Woodman	ct Ferro	12
Jacobs	lbw Ferro	0
Angell	ct Orpen	0
Thomson	Not Out	2
Parcell	Not Out	2

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average	Economy
James Burrows	8.0	0	21	0	0.00	2.63
Gareth Oughton	7.0	2	13	0	0.00	1.86
David Pearson	7.0	1	27	2	13.50	3.86
Phil Ellis	8.0	0	32	2	16.00	4.00
Matt Cook	3.0	0	27	0	0.00	9.00
Chris Ferro	6.0	1	4	3	1.33	0.67
Simon Orpen	4.0	0	17	2	8.50	4.25

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting

Player Name		R	4s	6s
extras TOTAL :	for 3 wickets	0 154
Brian Carpenter	b Parcell	1
Chris Ferro	Not Out	54	6	1
Jonathan Kirby	ct Woodman	0
Duncan Chave	ct Martin	30	4
Matt Cook	Not Out	56	6	4
Paul Molins
Simon Orpen
David Pearson
Phil Ellis
Gareth Oughton
James Burrows

Chumleigh Bowling

Player name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average	Economy
Parcell	8.0	2	18	1	18.00	2.25
Woodman	7.0	2	42	1	42.00	6.00
Lincoln-Gordon	5.0	0	27	0	0.00	5.40
Jacobs	6.0	0	27	0	0.00	4.50
Martin	2.0	0	19	1	19.00	9.50
Badcock	2.0	0	7	0	0.00	3.50
Thomson	1.2	0	13	0	0.00	9.75

Photos and video of Chumleigh v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 17 May 2009 at Unknown

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