Devon E West

Babbacombe seconds v Tavistock seconds

ON Saturday, Tavistock second XI travelled to struggling Babbacombe with a somewhat weakened side themselves.

With just eight players on the Friday, they managed to get to the magical 11 on Saturday morning. With skipper Lewis and vice captain McGahey away, the leading role was given to the veteran Gauler. He won the toss and chose to make first use of the wicket.

Stephens (40), Evans (25) and Webber (25) all had good starts but got out playing poor shots. Debutant Joe Organ chipped in with 11 and Gauler (15) were the only others to make double figures in a final total of 164 all out.

After tea, Tavistock took to the field, defending what seemed a par total on a deteriorating wicket. Debutant Organ and Proctor opened the bowling very well. Organ finished wicketless from his nine overs for just the 22 runs. Proctor also bowled tightly, picking up two wickets in the process.

Some early calamitous running between the wickets reduced Babbacombe to 21-4. They never really recovered. Gauler picked up three wickets, Evans one, with three run outs and Downham picked up the last with a stumping off a wide after a 35-run stand for the 10th wicket.

These were 19 valuable points for Tavistock.