Scorecard

Belstone v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Wed 29 May 2024 at 6.15pm
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 2 Runs

Match report ERRATICS' DANCING MAIDENS DISTURB BELSTONE

This was a game that had it all: express pace bowling, towering sixes, stumpings, a pulled hammy, catches dropped, catches held, a nailbiting finish and, at the end of it all, a memorable victory for the Erratics.

With dark clouds gathering and a chill wind whipping off the northern slopes of Dartmoor, a dramatic stage was set for this Twenty20 fixture against Belstone. Rew Meadow is a picturesque ground, reputedly one of the highest in the UK, overlooked by the rugged peak of Belstone Tor and the Nine Maidens stone circle, the petrified remains of a group of village girls who were punished for having the temerity to show off their dance moves on a Sunday. Local legend has it that anyone who disturbs the maidens will suffer "serious misfortune". The Erratics, meanwhile, had more pressing issues to contend with: not only was it flippin' cold, but they were about to face a formidable-looking opposition side bolstered by the inclusion of overseas signing Shaquan Glasgow, fresh from Barbados and already notching up hundreds in the North Devon Cricket League.

He bowls at a decent lick, too. The visitors batted first on a stodgy, tacky wicket, with Glasgow steaming in from the Nine Maidens End to Fraser Chave and Anuj Tiwari. The Erratics openers stood firm against some testing pace but struggled to get the ball away, and by the fourth over Chave decided he'd had enough, dancing merrily down the wicket in an attempt to deposit a half-tracker from the other end several rows back over long on. Some onlookers might have judged him foolhardy in risking to inflame the puritanical wrath of the village-folk with his dancing antics, but fortunately this was a Wednesday rather than a Sunday. Rather less fortunately, he swung, missed and was comprehensively stumped.

Hugo Longrigg was next to the wicket but was quickly scooped up by an excellent low catch at mid-off. When Tiwari followed for 11 to another catch, the Erratics were rather precariously placed at 27-3 in the 8th over.

In came Lee Grant to join Matt Crawford at the crease. As Belstone continued to rotate their bowling attack, the Erratics batters upped the tempo with some sweetly struck boundaries, including a towering six from Grant. Together the pair put on a valuable 35-run partnership at more than a run a ball, and after both were dismissed in the 13th over (Crawford 14, Grant 23), Richard Lindsay kept up the pace with a crucial 21*, valiantly supported by Martin Weiler and Paul Molins. Along the way, though, some serious misfortune was visited on Molins's hamstring, leaving him spread-eagled half-way down the wicket when attempting a quick single. Graciously the opposition chose not to run him out and the Erratics finished on 99-6 off their 20, which looked a little light.

The Belstone opening pair were in no mood to hang about. James Ewen unfurled a premeditated switch-hit to his very first ball from your correspondent, while Glasgow was teeing up to launch Mark Hailwood over the Okehampton Bypass. Their full-blooded heaves met with rather more misses than hits, but by the 6th over Glasgow had already chalked up 30*, forcing him to retire (rather reluctantly), with Ewen not far behind. Two overs later the home team had romped to 50 without loss, and high on the hillside the Nine Maidens were limbering up for a celebratory sprinkler dance.

But the Erratics, marshalled expertly by skipper Jonathan Kirby, had other ideas. First-change bowlers Fraser Chave and Lee Grant immediately stymied the flow of runs, buoyed by some sharp and energetic fielding from the visiting side. Chave got the first breakthrough, clean-bowling Belstone's number 3, then followed up in his final over with 2 more wickets in 2 balls, first an LBW and then a beautifully pouched slip catch by a leaping Molins (not so hamstrung after all). Chave finished with the fine figures of 3-16, but by that stage Belstone only needed 35 more runs off the last 8 overs, with 7 wickets in hand.

With a mischievous glint in his eye, Kirby now brought his ace-up-the-sleeve Crawford into the attack. Immediately the bowler repaid his skipper's faith, sending down the first maiden over of the match. But this was no ordinary maiden: it was an all-singing, all-dancing double-wicket maiden. Crawford continued his happy habit of picking up a wicket with his first ball, the catch snaffled by Grant at midwicket, and then the replacement batter was caught 4 balls later by Kirby. Another catch and a run-out in Tiwari's first over, followed by a smart stumping by Lindsay off Crawford (3-10), meant that Belstone had lost their last 7 wickets for 9 runs, with 28 still needed. But the problem was that Glasgow was striding back to the wicket, intent on wreaking some havoc...

Crawford continued to toy with the opposition in the field, uncharacteristically allowing himself to be nutmegged in the deep -- a cunning ruse if ever there was one -- and then catching the same batsman the very next ball. This brought Ewen, the other retiree, back to the middle on 30*. But the Erratics maintained control, thanks largely to some seriously impressive death bowling from Tiwari against two very capable batsmen. His penultimate over was a crucial maiden that included four perfectly pitched yorkers on the trot, and then, in the last over, with just 2 runs needed off 2 balls, came the coup de grâce, when he forced one off the edge of Glasgow's bat and on to the stumps.

A thrilling end thanks to a strong all-round team effort and two game-changing maidens from the Erratics.

by Tim Fawcett

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
6nb 6w 4b  
for 6 wickets
16
99		        
Fraser Chave st A Hooper B. A Fillingham 3 11 27.27
Anuj Tiwari ct S Glasgow B. T Boother 11 18 1 61.11
Hugo Longrigg ct M Walters B. A Fillingham 3 12 25.00 1
Matt Crawford b R Drake 14 18 2 77.78 1
Lee Grant ct & Bowled R Drake 23 22 2 1 104.55 1 1
Richard Lindsay Not Out  21 18 2 1 116.67 1
Martin Weiler ct A Hooper B. M Dennis 6 10 60.0
Paul Molins Not Out  2 11 18.18 1
Tim Fawcett  
Mark Hailwood  
Jonathan Kirby   1

Belstone Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Shaquan Glasgow3.00800.002.67
Alex Fillingham4.001628.004.00
James Ewen2.00400.002.00
Thomas Boother2.00919.004.50
Niall Leahy2.001600.008.00
Marcus Walters1.00900.009.00
Richard Drake2.00924.504.50
Abigail Drake2.002000.0010.00
Matt Dennis2.00414.002.00

Belstone Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
8w  
for 10 wickets
8
97 (19.4 overs)		     
Shaquan Glasgow b A Tiwari 44 32 4 2 137.50
James Ewen Not Out  30 38 78.95
Marcus Walters b F Chave 3 7 42.86
Andrew Hooper lbw F Chave 4 12 33.33
Matt Dennis ct L Grant B. M Crawford 1 3 33.33
Niall Leahy ct P Molins B. F Chave 0 1 0
Alex Fillingham ct H Longrigg B. A Tiwari 3 5 60.0
Abigail Drake ct J Kirby B. M Crawford 0 4 0
Richard Drake st R Lindsay B. M Crawford 0 3 0
John Waite run out (L Grant) 1 2 50.0
Thomas Boother ct M Crawford B. A Tiwari 3 6 50.0

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Tim Fawcett4.002200.005.50
Mark Hailwood2.002000.0010.00
Fraser Chave4.001635.334.00
Lee Grant4.001800.004.50
Matt Crawford2.011033.335.00
Anuj Tiwari3.411133.673.00