Francis Clark

Devon League A division

Tavistock v Abbotskerswell

IT WAS a familiar tale of woe for Tavistock on Saturday as they were beaten by league leaders Abbotskerswell.

As so often this year, having got themselves into a good position, they collapsed and gave the game to the opposition.

The day started brightly when Steve Luffman won the toss and asked Abbotskerswell skipper, Terry Farkins, to bat. Tshepo Legodi and Steve Nicholson started well and restricted the scoring until James Boase drove at Legodi through frustration and gave Dave Manning a simple catch behind.

Tavistock had a confident appeal against new man Steve Scarr turned down but it made little difference as Legodi bowled him shortly afterwards for a scratchy 14 made from 34 balls.

Andy Kaitiff, who replaced Nicholson, bowled Farkins three runs later with a sharply turning delivery and at drinks Abbots were 46 for 3.

Carl Mitchell joined Warren Wyngard and they carefully built the biggest stand of the game. Wyngard reached his 50 in the 39th over and there was no sign of any increase in the run rate.

Kaitiff and Andy Gauler were bowling well and a total of about 150 looked to be the best Abbots could expect. Finally the charge arrived and Wyngard proved effective, particularly when dragging the ball through the leg side. Mitchell went first, losing his off stump as he tried to slog Legodi, who returned in place of Gauler. He had made 35 from 71 balls and Abbots were 144 for 4.

Ex-Devon opening bat Rick Twose came and went, stumped Manning bowled Nicholson for 8, followed two balls later by Chris Earnshaw, caught Manning bowled Nicholson for a duck.

With the score on 176 Wyngard tried once more to heave Nicholson over the mid-wicket fence only to give Luffman a good running catch in the deep.

Nicholson was in the middle of a purple patch and clean bowled Howard Crocker for 5 as Abbots limped home on 177 for 8.

Tavistock' reply got off to the worst possible start, when Mike Pedley bowled Simon Crawford for a duck. Kaitiff and Dave Watson did a good job of repairing the damage, Watson producing an exquisite cover drive to open his account.

With the total at 32 Pedley got a ball to jump off a length and forced Watson into giving a catch to Ronnie Owen at silly mid-off.

The wicket had been getting lower all day and Watson remarked on his way out, 'Why me?' That may yet prove to be a suitable epitaph to Tavistock's season.

Luffman joined Kaitiff for what proved a fairly attritional spell to the game, Farkins and Pedley bowled straight and the two batsmen hung on grimly although Kaitiff punctured the field with a couple of well struck drives.

At 44 for 2 Farkins replaced Pedley with Owen and his innocuous looking left-arm spinners. Luffman smashed the last ball of his first over straight at Farkins, fielding at silly mid-off, who grabbed the sharp glance with glee.

The drinks interval found Tavistock 44 for 3, almost identical to Abbotskerswell's 46 for 3.

Manning started carefully but was soon striking the ball sweetly when Kaitiff had a rush of blood to the head and tried to slog Wyngard's off spin out of sight, to the delight of the South African who had only just replaced Farkins.

Five runs later and Manning was back in the hutch caught on the fence by Twose, bowled by Wyngard again. 71-5 did not look so good but 71 for 6 looked worse when Dave Jeffery was out in the next over after giving a bat-pad catch to Twose from Owen's bowling. Jeffery 'walked' despite not being given out by the umpire.

Legodi and Nicholson were now together, both on nought, and the team in some trouble. However, they batted well, Legodi looking for the chance to attack. Farkins switched his bowlers around but the pair took the score past 100 and reached 112 when disaster struck.

Owen threw the ball up to Legodi who could not resist the challenge. He aimed down the ground but was deceived in the flight and only succeeded in giving a simple return catch to Owen.

The end came in a rush seven runs later. Nicholson, who had defended stoutly, had struck a couple of fours in the last few overs and let his confidence get the better of him. He advanced down the wicket to Mitchell's off-spin, missed and was stumped for 14.

In the next over, Dave Downham was bowled by Owen who finished the game three balls later when Ben Neale gave Scarr a catch close in on the off-side.

Abbotskerswell remain at the top of the table after claiming 19 points whilst Tavistock continue the grim fight against relegation with their five points.

The only good news for Tavistock came from South Devon where Seaton had lost and only secured two points. This means Tavistock entertain Axminster this week, only 8 points behind Seaton and safety.