Scorecard

Crediton Inn v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Thu 21 Jul 2022 at 6.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 25 Runs

Match report Huge hitting at Newton St Cyres saw The Erratics amass their third highest ever T20 total (Thanks for the stat, Fraser) in a closely fought match against Crediton Inn. The Erratics batted first and openers Fraser Chave and Martin Wright made a comfortable start. Martin neatly worked the ball into the gaps in the field while Fraser dealt some devastating shots to the boundary, such as seemingly effortlessly timing a cut through point which flew across the fast outfield (and football pitch) for four. He quickly retired on 33 from just 19 balls. The father and son Kirby combination in the middle order, separated by Richard, found things less straightforward and were all dismissed by the impressive young Crediton Inn bowler, Archie, who despite lacking whites, did not lack an effective bowling action that achieved some late inswing to the right-handed batter. Wright persevered in spite of wickets falling at the other end, including hitting a fine boundary through cow-corner (although not as authentic as the corner at Teign Valley) and retired on 30.

As the cloud thickened in the second half of the innings, which brought some cool relief compared with the 31 degrees heatwave earlier in the week, the lower order clearly had no trouble seeing the bright orange ball. Grant, Crawford, Tiwari and Rutherford were on a demolition mission in the closing stages: Tiles shattered on the Recreation Ground’s old roof; Matt smashed a pull shot into the sturdier brick wall of the clubhouse (the wall won this clash); while Anuj charged down the pitch to hit a huge blow back past the bowler which looked like it was going to be an expensive hit as the ball sailed towards a Chelsea tractor (if there is such a thing in Devon?). Miraculously, it cleared the bonnet and other parked vehicles, bounced once on the asphalt and was lost into the thick brambles on the other side. Captain Grant, who also retired on 30, was pleased with the total, and chuckled that he couldn’t resist sending Anuj in for the closing overs to smash ‘em around. He wasn’t wrong, as Tiwari finished on 25 n.o. from just 13, leaving The Erratics 187-4 from their 20 overs.

Ben Yarde-Buller began the Erratics’ defence and seemed to take inspiration from the archers that were practicing in the next field by being bang on target to twang the springs of the spring-back stumps to bowl the Crediton Inn opener. Although, modestly BYB admitted that he hadn’t quite meant to bowl a yorker, it was certainly effective! Surely the victory was certain from here? Not quite. Crediton Inn knew they had to score quickly as they required more than 9-an-over and effectively went about accumulating boundaries of their own. Apart from a sharp catch at point by Crawford from the bowling of Rutherford, three of the top five batters quickly reached their retirement scores. Perhaps due to the lack of grip on the artificial square, the bowlers were finding it tough to find their rhythm as Extras almost managed to reach their retirement score(!).

The Erratics looked nervously towards the scoreboard as Crediton Inn were ahead of the required rate heading into the second half of their reply. It might have been live jazz accompaniment that echoed over the field from the Beer Engine that calmed the nerves, or maybe the retirements of the Crediton Inn big-hitters, but The Erratics grasped back control of the game by fairly regularly picking up lower order wickets. Victory seemed assured with about two overs remaining as the scoring rate was stifled, the final margin being 25 runs.

Crawford was the pick of the bowlers. The batters struggled against his flighted style, which was made all the more effective from the bouncy surface. He finished with an economic 2-20 from his four overs. He reacted well again to take a catch from his own bowling, so it is perhaps unsurprising that he was leading for so long during the competitive pre-match warm-up game that rewarded catching and punished mis-fields and drops. Drinks, food and jazz at The Beer Engine afterwards was very welcome. Particularly since it has been missed after an extended closure during the pandemic (it was my first visit back there at least!). It may, however, remain a less regular visit in future as there were rumours that Crediton Inn CC might unfortunately be in their final season. If The Erratics can avoid defeat this Sunday, it will be 10 matches and a month unbeaten. Another record for Fraser to look up?!

Richard Lindsay

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
13w 2b 5lb 
for 4 wickets
20
187		        
Fraser Chave Retired Not Out  33 19 5 1 173.68
Martin Wright Retired Not Out  30 29 3 103.45 1
Jonathan Kirby ct Archie 0 1 0
Richard Lindsay b Archie 13 11 2 118.18
Oliver Kirby ct Archie 5 10 1 50.0
Lee Grant Retired Not Out  30 17 3 1 176.47 1
Matt Crawford b Gebler (jnr) 19 13 4 146.15 1
Anuj Tiwari Not Out  25 13 3 192.31
Nigel Rutherford Not Out  12 7 1 1 171.43
Ben Yarde-Buller  
Andrew Forrester  

Crediton Inn Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
M Allison3.003600.0012.00
Moss3.003200.0010.67
Archie4.0033311.008.25
Simon4.002300.005.75
J Gebler (Snr)2.001600.008.00
J Gebler (jnr)4.0040140.0010.00

Crediton Inn Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 21w 1b  
for 6 wickets
23
162 (20.0 overs)		     
Joel b Yarde-Buller 1
Daryl Retired Not Out  32
Mark ct Crawford B. Rutherford 8
Rob Retired Not Out  32
Simon Retired Not Out  30
Stuart ct Grant B. Crawford 12
Julian G ct & B. Crawford 5
Chris ct Wright B. Chave 1
Adam Not Out  7
Julian W b Grant 4
Archie  

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ben Yarde-Buller3.0039139.0013.00
Nigel Rutherford4.0034134.008.50
Lee Grant3.0023123.007.67
Anuj Tiwari3.002900.009.67
Matt Crawford4.0020210.005.00
Fraser Chave3.0015115.005.00