Devon B

Tavistock firsts v

Shobrooke

TAVISTOCK firsts welcomed Shobrooke to the Ring on a humid day for cricket.

Missing three regular bowlers, Tavistock won the toss and chose to field first, with the view that their experienced batting line up could chase down whatever total was posted.

The balls used by the Devon League allows swing for a maximum of eight overs from new. This makes it crucial to maximise the use of the new ball. Senior bowler James McGahey opened and had too much swing and struggled to make the batters play enough.

David Ball opened from the other end and after a shaky first over, bowled with good pace and thought. McGahey and Ball bowled excellently without any luck. Callum Worth, aged 16, replaced McGahey once the ball stopped swinging and bowled with excellent discipline, going for just 14 runs from his opening seven overs.

Shobrooke were struggling to score against Tavistock’s three seamers but did have wickets in hand. The introduction of Shaun Daymond’s off spin opened the game. A mixture of good balls and sloppy batting produced three wickets.

Allied with some excellent fielding, in particular a direct hit from McGahey to dismiss the dangerous Shobrooke overseas batter, it restricted the visitors to 205-6 off their 45 overs.

A wicket from 13 year-old James White and a tidy spell from veteran Andy Gauler completed the bowlers.

Getting through the swinging ball was the challenge for the Tavistock opening pair of Ian Grey and David Ball. A blend of watchful and aggressive batting allied with some luck against a fine opening spell from their overseas, saw the home side reach 49 before Grey was bowled shouldering arms to one that cut back in.

James White was out lbw and this bought Dave Manning to the crease. He and Ball stroked the ball to all parts and when Ball departed for a well made 48, Manning started smashing the ball around in his belligerent style. Daymond 31 not out and Manning 81 not out, put on 102 for the fourth wicket, with Tavistock winning by seven wickets with 10 overs to spare.

With the young Tavistock second XI chasing down 280 to win at Kingsbridge, it was another good day for the club.