Scorecard

Lympstone v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Thu 31 May 2018 at 6.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 7 Runs

Match report On the morning of this match Mark Phillips had been sledged by his dentist. After having a bit of work done of his nashers Mark had been advised to follow the usual advice for the rest of the day: no hot drinks, no exercise… ‘Actually’ Mark confessed ‘I was planning to play cricket tonight’. ‘That’s fine – I said no exercise’, quipped the dentist. The irony, as Mark pointed out when relaying this exchange post-match, was that he hadn’t actually fielded a single ball in the 20 overs we were in the field.

If it was primarily an evening of watching on for poor Mark, the same cannot be said of the sizeable contingent of Erratics newbies, who were in the thick of the action throughout. Fraser—looking increasingly at home in the role of Captain—opted to have a bat, I believe, on a ground that was new to us: St Peter’s Prep School, just up the hill from Lympstone, and according to Gary Abrahams the most expensive school in Devon. One of the things the money buys you is a set of fantastic views across the Exe estuary. Or so we were told: as it happened an impenetrable haze lurked on the hillside all evening, but thankfully it didn’t quite develop into a full Harberton and engulf us entirely.

Anyway, the most striking feature of this ground, apart from the unviewable views, was the short boundaries, and both Ben Pullan and David Shackleton continued their impressive starts with the club by frequently taking advantage of them. In defence of the bowlers on both sides the run ups were awkwardly sloping, which resulted in quite a few full tosses that were brutally dispatched, accounting for a large proportion of the over 300 runs scored in the game. Fraser also cashed in, and it looked like a record T20 total was on the cards, but the rest of us slowed things down a bit towards the end. Still, an impressive 156 would turn out to be just enough.

Lympstone were always in with a chance though, and never fell far behind the rate—thanks in large part to the familiar accomplished bustling of Ben Abrahams, once of this parish. Arguably the key moment was when Ben Hayes, who also has Erratics appearances on his resume, was dismissed cheaply thanks to a sharp catch from debutant James Davey at midwicket. The ball was middled by Ben Hayes and he had every right to assume it had cleared midwicket—but a combination of being well north of 6 foot, and having lightning reflexes, allowed Davey to clutch the ball above his head. After that Roshan joined the parade of impressive newcomers, bowling with composure to keep a late onslaught in check and Lympstone at bay.

We retired to the Saddler’s Arms—a new pub to go with the new ground—for generous platters of chips and sausages, and a chat (well, perhaps its was a more of Hailwood monologue) on the worrying sexualisation of fabric softener branding. Spirits were high in both camps and there was no doubt this run-fest had been enjoyed by all. I reflected on the way home that a few years ago this fixture had become an unpopular one with many Erratics, for a variety of reasons. But now, thanks in large part to the efforts of old friends like Gary Abrahams and Olly Creighton, the character of Lympstone CC has swung back towards the genuinely friendly, and this has become a fixture to really look forward to.

Summary by Mark Hailwood

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 6 wickets
0
156		        
Ben Pullan Retired Not Out  40 3 3 1
Jayakrupakar Nallala Caught  4 1
David Shackleton Retired Not Out  36 2 3
Roshan Kumar Singh Lbw  3 1
Fraser Chave Caught  33 1 4 1
Matt Crawford Bowled  2 1
Mark Phillips Bowled  4 1
Mark Hailwood Run out  10 1
Ben Youngman Not Out  11 1
James Davey Not Out  2 1
John Curtis  

Lympstone Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Lympstone Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
149 (20.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ben Youngman4.0037312.339.25
Mark Hailwood4.0015115.003.75
Fraser Chave4.0114114.003.50
James Davey3.004200.0014.00
Roshan Kumar Singh3.002400.008.00
John Curtis1.00800.008.00
Ben Pullan1.00600.006.00