Season Opener, Exford CC vs Dulverton CC 15/4/2012

Kicking the 2012 season off, Exford hosted Dulverton for a pre-season friendly. In true Exford style, the temperatue was more suited to skiing, but, in a bizarre turn of events, nearly all of Exford CC had visited the 1970’s over the Winter period and were now donning slightly dodgy cricket jumpers.

Dulverton, still suffering from a combination of altitude sickness and feeling the sharp drop in temperature compared to lower grounds opted to bat first on Exford’s newly spruced up ground, now complete with a lightening quick outfield.

Dulvertons openers were greeted by fast, full, ginger bowling by Spencer-Watts, who beat the bat on several occasions, much to the annoyance of the keeper, who was trying to not wear out his new gloves. From the other end, Jones decided slower ball bouncers were the way to go, every ball. Either way, the odd partnership worked, and runs were very difficult to come by as Dulverton only managed to tick the scoreboard over slowly, with the odd boundary flowing from Hoopers bat. The introduction of Northern Monkey and son, Ellis further tied the batsmen down with hostile, fast bowling from the latter particularly un-nerving the batsmen. However, both remained, determined to see the innings off to a good start, and Hooper started playing more shots off the bowling of M De-Wynter Smith, including a sweep slog for 6. Soon, Hooper retired for a well made 50, as regular Exford opposition J Abbott made his way to the crease, and soon made his way back, courtesy of an express, reverse swinging yorker by Will.I.Am. Next to fall was R.Snell who, unfortunately for many had ‘been backed for big runs by the bookies’. Ellis got one to rear off a good length, find the outside edge, and was pouched superbly by Spencer-Watts at 1 and 3 quarters slip. The introduction of young J De-Wynter Smith brought the long awaited wicket of C Dubery, going for 26 after attempting to hit one down the ground, and missing. Cheesy, next to fall, after Northern Monkey found the outside edge once more, only for the ball to hit Spencer-Watts just south of the nether regions, for him to fall over, and hold on. A small partnership between R.Dubery and ‘I play for Leeds uni’ developed, with the former playing some aggressive strokes to advance the innings, after some slow scoring to begin with. After some slightly elevated scoring rates, and two further wickets courtesy of S.W, the innings came to an end on Dulverton 157-7 after 40, with J Smith picking up the final wicket of R.Dubery off the last ball for 28.

Exfords reply to the modest score started off well, with Northern Monkey flat batting the opening bowlers down the ground for a brace of 4’s, while Will.I.Am from the other end went for the gentle approach and found the boundary behind the stumps. With edges, I should add, not deft glances. Although there was one leg glance, which, lo and behold, was played with both hands! With both batsmen blasting, and edging Exfords way to victory, all was going well, until the introduction of Cheesy, who instantly dismissed Northern Monkey with a yorker for 33, then N.Hosegood for a well made 3 ball 0, following it up with M. D.W.S caught behind by the keeper. This brought Williams to the crease, who saw Will.I.Am fall trying to smack one over cover in dubious style, finding the cover fielder after launching it into orbit, but not before a very useful 25, or debatable 28. A small partnership evolved with between Smith and Williams, with the former using ‘Ian Bell’ chip shots (read mis-timed slogs) to try and ‘drash on’ with the score. Smith soon fell to the spin of cheesy going for a hoick across the line. E. Taylor and Williams built the next partnership of slow singles, and mows across the line. The slower bowlers of R.Dubery and J A.W tieing them down for a few overs, before finally managing to time (ish) something off the square. Dulverton, sensing victory slipping away, brought on steaming angry ‘I play for Leeds uni’ fast (medium) bowler, who went for several in his first over, courtest of E Taylor being dropped behind, then Williams finding the big edge to the boundary, then the somewhat smaller middle to the straight boundary. Williams retired for 52, sweeping a slower ball. This brought Paul Jones to the crease, who hit a 4 whilst prooving the speed of the outfield, as he flatbatted it down the ground, bouncing off the angry medium bowlers kneecap, changing its angle considerably, before going to the mid on boundary. Confusion entailed with the scores, as it was believed we were chasing 2 more than we really did, so Jones went for further glory, got out, bringing Spencer Watts to the crease for a well played 1. However, due to his innings not actually being needed, I will record it as a duck, just for the sake of it. Ellis the remaining batsman on 20.

Exford won the game with a little over 14 overs remaining, as we drashed on Exford Style. A great win to mark the start of what will surely be a great season.

Match Reports, or lack of

I apologise for my lack of match reports recently.

I also apologise for the odd way I’ve written them, they’re not going to be published, so I think I just gave up and starting talking utter rubbish. But I had a LOT to write, and I think it was my way of staying sane.

Exford vs Dulverton 31/7/2011

Having read Dulvertons match report, I think it’s only fair if I do it some justice in this report as well.
Exfords captain opted to bowl first to see what sort of target they would be chasing down, much like the previous encounter earlier in the year. Dulvertons opening batsmen struggled immediatedly with the pace and bounce of Max Spencer Watts, a bowler they surely miss, and the canny swing bowling of P. Jones, who confused both batsman with considerable movement in the air both ways. The slow batting continued with the introduction of J. Smith and M. D Wynter-Smith who tied down the batsman considerably, particularly J.Smith, who was unplayable bowling away swing from around the wicket. The pressure showed in the 14^th over when C. Dubery got out going for a cow corner mow having made 7 edgy runs in 14 overs. This led to a solid partnership between the Snell brothers, with the stroke play award undoubtedly going to the younger Liam Snell. De Wynter-Smith and Williams, spurred on by the inspiring move by Indian Wicket Keeper Dhoni to have a bowl beat the bat on several occasions, before both Snell Brothers were dismissed by L. Graham, L. Snell for 36, and R. Snell, on his 17^th change of bat, for 41 in what was truly a bizarre spell of bowling, in which the tactic was to undoubtedly confuse the batsmen into thinking he was going to bowl complete trash with wides and no balls, only to surprise them with a straight one. Whatever the motive, it worked, and L Graham soon made his way through the middle order collecting 4 wickets. Consideration should also be made to the efforts of the slip and keeper who engaged in plenty of friendly banter to unsettle the batsmen. L. Hough provided some typically hard hit resistance racing to 37, before, in another bizarre turn of events, part time pace man Joel Cornish confused all batsman with supreme flight and guile, before getting 4 wickets in an over, including that of Hough, before R. Dubery-who, to continue family tradition, decided hitting it off the square was only a last resort option-A. Nicholas and S. Grosse all fell to Cornish to provide him with a spectacularly unlikely hatrick, but surely one that will be remembered forever. J. Smith then finished off the innings, spearing one into a young number 8’s stumps, to finish with remarkable figures of 4.1 overs, 1 wicket, for 3 runs. Dulverton Finished on 181 all out.

Exfords reply did not start overly well, again, as both openers, bogged down by tight bowling by A. Nicholas and J. Tierney-Jones, and flying ants departed cheaply, before a brilliant partnership between De Wynter-Smith and J Cornish developed with the hard sweeps, and deft touches of each batsman respectively complimenting the partnership perfectly, making Dulverton work hard in the field, the energy, fun and exuberance of Exfords fielding effort lacking somewhat in the tourists reply. The partnership continued to develop well, ticking the score on very well, until De Wynter-Smith was bowled by a good ball from A. Williams, but not before he made 29 very useful runs. L. Graham joined Cornish at the crease, and the quick runs continued, including a big flat bat mow by L. Graham into the leg side for 6, which actually worked for a change. Post match analysis of the notes can reveal that in total, L. Graham played a total of 9 technically good straight bat shots, and 11 attempted flat bat leg side mows. The ration is closing. The glory days of under 16 level will undoubtedly return soon. Dulvertons bowlers were clearly starting to struggle with the scoring rate, with both A. Williams, and particularly R. Dubery going round the park. Astroturf was seen to be the problem for the spinners, but pitch it straight, and it will work, as Exfords premium spinner, Cornish earlier showed. Wides continued to flow off the problem wicket, and Exford were creaping closer to their total. When L. Graham was run out, This brought Williams to the crease, who continued to up the scoring rate with Cornish, before the latter retired for a very well crafted 50. J. Smith joined Williams at the crease and slapped his first ball by R. Snell back over his head for 4, with the intention to ‘drash on’. Upon hearing in the field that the batsmen couldn’t win it with singles, the two batsmen set about hitting 3’s and 4’s instead, both putting away the expected short balls from the earlier banter. Both Batsmen then got out to superb slower balls by R. Snell who finished with figures of 4-24 after clearing up Exfords tail including N. Hosegood who didn’t even get a chance to do the now customary gardening, leaving them tantalisingly 7 runs short, in a chase that had Dulverton severely worried when Cornish, Williams and Smith were batting freely, and needed the smiles ‘wiping off their faces’.

All in all, a very good natured, well fought match was played, between two close rivals of village cricket.

Exford vs Chittlehampton 20/7/2011

Exford made the long trip through the hills to Chittlehampton, arriving in light drizzle, locally known as heavy downpours. Upon convincing the opposite team that we had infact evolved gills and flippers having grown up on Exford, and that unless we actually sink, it’s really not a problem, the match went underway reduced to 20 overs.
W. Lock made inroads into the home teams top order finishing with 4 wickets for not many runs. Lock was later spotted donning a fake moustache and sunglasses to try and fool the captain into having a 5^th over, to collect the illusive 5^th wicket that has escaped him thus far this season. Spencer-Watts bowled tight spin to collect 3 wickets, albeit a lucky lbw that nearly didn’t land in line with North Devon, let alone the stumps. Exford bowled and fielded very tight on a difficult pitch, as shown by the highest score of only 24 by P. Law.

The reply was always going to be a tough ask, in dying light, and rising water levels. Opener L. Graham after hitting a 4, had a usual rush of testosterone and tried to repeat the shot, but hit it into the neighbouring village, only to succeed in getting out bowled. L. Webber showed good awareness to pick up six 2’s, before being unfortunately caught for 12. The Middle and Lower order quickly subsided to slow low bowling, and the only consolation was taken when débutante N. Hosegood decided the wicket did not have enough craters in it, and went gardening with a rather large bat.

Exford finished on 62 well fought runs, in an incredibly tough chase,

Exford vs Porlock 10/7/2011

Exford descended to lower ground to the death trap that is Porlock Cricket ground to play a 30 over match in bright sunshine. Spurred by talk the Wicket was now better, Exford bowled first, and tight bowling on a slow wicket kept the Porlock batsman down. Again, I have no page of Porlocks batting, so not entirely sure how we did. I know it was good. Raza bowled really tight, with good swing, and part time spinner Spencer Watts extracted big turn, while E. Taylor found significant variable bounce to unsettle the batsmen, bowling a couple, and being refused an obvious stumping. Twice. Off the same ball. Some big hitting at the end off slow, slow bowler J. Cornish led Porlock to a respectable total.

Exford was treated to a now bone dry wicket as the sun came out over tea, and what was once a bad wicket, was now unplayable as toe crunching yorkers became dangerous to jaws, and vice versa. W. Lock offered spirited resistance showing how a straight bat can counter a wicket such as this. A good partnership between him and Mark De Wynter-Smith offered Exford some credibility on a wicket such as this, before it finally got the better of them. J. Williams and J. Smith fell to similar balls, bouncers from a full length, as Joel Cornish and Max Spencer-Watts tried to play out the innings with the latter falling for 15, as the tail subsided, leaving Cornish not out on 20. Tight bowling from Porlock, particularly B. Taylor, proved the decisive factor.

Exford vs Minehead School Masters 7/7/2011

On a very typically damp Exford evening, teachers from Minehead college travelled to the hills to take on the villages finest. For some reason, I don’t have the batting card for the teachers, I know J. Abbot got some, before he ran his Dad out, Jones got a few, but other than that, I have no idea. They made above a hundred, I think.

The reply got off to the worst start imaginable, with both openers going for Golden Ducks, S.Wall being stumped off a guy who was proper rapid, later to be greeted by a Sunday league trundler bowling 27mph. And D.Hunt smacking it straight to a fielder first ball. Williams and L. Graham took on the role of rebuilding, before Williams was caught deep square leg hooking a ball from above his head that hadn’t bounced. No no balls this match. I digress, the outfield had got slower all evening, and the ball softer, and getting the ball off the square, let alone the wicket was proving an effort and only L. Graham hit a boundary. However, we were treated to an exhibition of test match batting of sorts in Will Lock. 11 overs for 1 run is a tremendous effort in any form of the game, not least an 18 over match. Lock even moved his feet first ball, which is something none of us were expecting, not least the batsman himself. We were then treated to Lock shimmying down the track in 2 huge strides, only to rush back to the crease in 137 much smaller steps, much like a crab retreating. Players and umpires alike could not contain themselves. We lost, but we cherish this moment. Oh, and other batsmen got out a lot as well, and we finished on 51.

White Horse vs The Crown inter-pub match 3/7/2011

This years biggest event on Exmoor looked set to be the best yet, with blue skies and bright sunshine! In Exford! The game quickly got underway with the risk of snow ever present. The Crown asked The White Horse to bat first, with no tactical decision involved whatsoever, just that they needed their staff back to work. Returning ageing veteran Mark Warner opened the batting for the White Horse, and played some trademark misses that Exford have so dearly missed. Accompanying him was L Graham who took some lessons out of the senior player, and preceded to miss the ball with consistent accuracy as well. Soon, both batsman found their bat, middle not so sure, but it was definitely wooden, and started to pick opening bowlers E Taylor and Raza off, before Taylor had Graham caught at Midwicket trying the ever reliable leg side heave. Soon, Warner followed when T Gill with a yard of extra pace found a big outside edge that went flying to the third man boundary, where a substitue fielder caught it with such athleticism, the batsman questioned if the Crown were cheating and employing professionals. However, once the oversized hat brow was lifted, a jubilant Dan Whittiker was revealed. This brought Will Lock who was on a run making mission to the crease. Unfortunately no one told him that the ‘Annual’ in the title of the interpub match meant every year, not the match lasted a year. Nevertheless, Lock defended well, and found the gaps with some good running between the wicket, which the score book even notes a 2! G. Atkins carried on the agricultural mowing batting he displayed last year, and even, sort of, pulled off an incredible dillscoop to the impressive pace of N. FromTheCrown. Atkins continued plundering balls to the boundary while Lock continued plundering balls to the edge of the square in a partnership matched in heaven. Will was eventually removed from his anchor post by a quick short ball from N. FromTheCrown that was edged through to the keeper. This brought Williams to the crease who had no intention of hanging around and launched an attack on the bowlers most notably N. FromTheCrown with a 6 over square cover. Atkins and Williams continued to press the score on in the dying overs, but both fell in quick succession for 41 and 29 respectively to the bowling of A. Blackmore, and the tail of D.Wilson, P. Jones and M. Spencer-Watts were left to scramble the reaming runs to place the White Horse on a score of 161-8 after 40 overs.

In reply, The Crowns openeres got off to a much better start than their opposite numbers, with both Turner and Dewhirst taking the attack to the opening bowling partnership of Smith and Jones, possibly the most working class sounding bowling attack ever. One ball after being smacked for 6 by Dewhirst, golden arm Graham found a way through his defences to dismiss the batsman for a well made 22. Turner continued to anchor the innings with good strokeplay, and formed partnerships with both Raza before being caught by L. Graham off the bowling of Watts, and M.Blake for 13 being stumped by Williams off the moon ball bowling of Lock. Turner was eventually dismissed by L.Graham for a superb 50, but this brought A. Blackmore to the crease who blundered the part time bowling of D. Hunt and S.Wall to all parts of the field to finish his score on 45 after some massive 6’s, and lead the Crown to a well deserved victory after they reached 163-5.

Overall, the day was a massive success, not only was a terrific game played, but the community spirit of the village was personified by the atmosphere shown all around the game with the support and help we received from so many people there. We raised over a £1000 for the club, which is a massive achievement that we can build the club to new successes in the near future!

Exford vs Dunster 29/6/2011

Wasn’t there. We lost

Exford vs Timberscombe/Minehead 26/6/2011

Exford vs Timberscombe/Minehead 26/6/2011

On a supremely hot June day, Timberscombe opted to bat first, while Exford hoped to make early use of new ball movement. Raza and Paul Jones subjected the two openers to considerable movement, and soon D. Cook retired hot on 17. Minehead Player Tom Sparks continued to build an innings after surviving several close chances while still on a low score. He and Nick hill punished some indifferent bowling from Exford, before Minehead Player Sparks was dropped on 99 by keeper Will Lock, as he completed a chancing hundred and retired. Minehead Player J Abbott then joined Hill before he retired after a good 53. Abbot tried to play the big shots, but was caught well on the boundary by E Taylor off the quick bowling of L Graham. Timberscombe finished on a above par 232. It should also be noted, as it was in the score book, that drinks were taken at 2:57 pm, and not a minute later, a resounding result.

In reply, Exford were always going to struggle against the 5 wicket haul veteran of the previous year, Ali Lang, and so his reputation continued with consistent pace and bounce, that first did for Max Spencer-Watts driving to cover, before Will Lock pushed back by a demon short ball fended one to the Minehead point fielder. Promoted Number 3 Jake Van Der Veen also fell the the pace of Lang bowled through the gate, before Raza was bowled by M. Bowden for 4. This brought N. FromTheCrown to the crease who counter attacked superbly with hard hitting drives before being adjudged LBW for 20. L Graham soon followed bowled by Minehead Player D. Bowditch. This led to a bizarre hour of play between J Williams and J Smith who believed it was a test match and could play for a draw, but also kept the opposing team in the sun for that little longer. With so many bald heads on one team, it was a clear tactical move. The occasional boundary and single came, but an exhibition of slightly dodgy front foot defensives was showcased before Smith slapped a ball off D Cook to a sleeping Lang at cover who couldn’t stay out the game, as he parried the ball not once, but twice, before taking it comfortably to claim a catch that surprised himself. Williams took this as the cue to attack and a flurry of boundaries including a monstrous mow to cow corner/the grand stand brought up his 50, before being judged LBW to Minehead player A.Harrison, after dilscooping it off the middle onto his pad, by umpire Will Lock. Paul Jones remained not out.

Exford fell just short of the total 233, getting to 127.

Exford vs Valiant Soldier 15/06/2011

Roadwaters pub team made the journey upto Exford in the now customary awful weather, nevertheless the game still went ahead with Exfords captain asking the away team to bat first in the hope of extracting swing from the new ball bowlers. Valiant’s opener Nigel went first ball to Dave Hunt who made the ball move like a banana off the batsmans bat before being caught behind by the keeper. The top order quickly slided with all top 4 batsman being out for single figures, assisted by more brilliant new ball bowling from Paul Jones. Swallow was also run out with a fantastic pick up and throw by Spencer-Watts to the keeper who quickly took the bails off. This brought Steve Cornish to the crease who quickly started to accumulate through singles and the odd boundary through the off side before he had to retire on 30, with his partner on 20 quickly followed being caught off the bowling of Will Lock. Ross Cornish came and quickly departed trying to smash Ellis Taylor back over his head, only succeeding to launch the ball into orbit straight up to be caught by the keeper for 5. Joel Cornish made a quick 9 No. including a uncharacteristic 6 over the square leg boundary off Spencer-Watts. Valiants 9 and 10 put on 11 each to bring the score to 116. Pick of the bowlers was again Paul Jones for superb Swing bowling, and Josh Smith for precision death bowling.

In reply, Exfords reply did not start well with Max Spencer-Watts departing first ball, bowled by usual keeper Ross Cornish. Paul Jones after looking good at number 3 departed for 8 being rushed by Cornish’ short run up. This led to a strong partnership of quick singles and strong boundary hitting between opener Webber and number 4 Williams, before an over keen Webber run himself out from a good throw from R. Cornish for 21. W Lock quickly followed in similar and yet still controversial fashion after taking off for a quick single after edging the ball straight to short 3rd mans hands after pleads to go back from Williams at the opposite end. Williams later had to retire on 30 after a flick to fine leg for 4, and after this, Exfords middle order quickly subsided, in particular from Joel Cornish’s bowling who found that bowling as slow as physically possible was the way forward to find himself on a hatrick, which was not gained. Exfords number 10 Jake Van Der Veen offered strong resistance against good bowling, before being unfortunately caught for 8, which brought Williams back to the crease for the final over needing 10 to win, which after 2 wides was comfortably made after a well timed straight drive over long on for 6, and a smash down the ground for 2 brought Exford a win, with Williams and Hunt the not out batsmen on 39 and 1 respectively.