North Devon Division One

Newton Tracey v Belstone

A HIGHLY entertaining North Devon League Division One game between Newton Tracey and Belstone ended with a dramatic last-wicket partnership that delivered a final twist to a match of continuous ebb and flow.

After Belstone skipper Richard Drake had won the toss and asked Newton Tracey to bat, they got off to a solid start with opener Simon Gear and No 3 Martin Gear putting on 49.

Simon was well caught off a full-bloodied on-drive which Drake plucked out of the air above his head at mid-wicket. He was out one short of his half-century, having hit four fours and two sixes.

Soon after Martin was also well caught by James Ewen on the long-on boundary off Dan Fogerty (8-0-2-38), having hit four fours and a six in his 27. Opening bowler Harry Bushin bowled very economically with no luck, conceding just 11 runs from his eight overs and Alex Jopling (2 for 28) was on the spot with eight overs of off spin.

Newton Tracey continued to deal mostly in sixes and fours with good contributions from Joe Totterdell (18), Robert Gear (27) and Bill Soby (21) but, helped by two more catches from James Ewen and late wickets from Drake (2-0-14-2), Belstone kept a pretty good lid on the scoring — although they did give away 31 extras — so the final 40-over total of 188 for eight was a bit less than seemed likely at one stage.

Simon and Martin Gear both began with maidens when Belstone started their reply but openers Ryan Dennis and James Ewen then batted steadily for the next 12 overs, putting on 59 before Dennis was bowled by left-armer Connor Robson (6-0-44-2) for 17.

Ewen, by now playing some powerful strokes to and over the boundary, was joined by Dan Fogerty and they took the score to 86 before Ewen became Robert Gear’s first victim, leg before playing no stroke for 48.

The next wicket was a stroke of bad luck for Belstone – Fogerty was dropped but the ball deflected onto the stumps at the bowler’s end to run out the backing-up Dennis for five.

Fogerty settled in to play a fine innings, which mixed easy singles into the set-back field and well-timed aerial pulls and drives over the boundary. He added 30 for the sixth wicket with Chris Walpole before the latter became Robert Gear’s third victim, again leg before for 11.

Gear’s next over brought him two more wickets to finish a fine spell which used the slope to bring the ball into the batsmen, all five scalps being clean bowled or leg before.

Suddenly Belstone’s cause looked lost as the score declined from 138 for six to 148 for nine, with the visitors still needing 41 to win with last man Mark Fogerty walking to the middle.

Fogerty senior played a straight bat for the next five overs while his son Dan threw caution to the winds and launched an assault which saw him hit three more big sixes, sail past his half century and take Belstone close to victory. There was one final drama.

A further 12 runs came from the first four balls of Martin Gear’s eighth over; needing five to win Dan pulled the fifth ball hard towards the midwicket boundary where the catch was dropped, with the ball bouncing off the fielder’s knee over the ropes for a six which ensured a one-wicket win for Belstone.

T20 Buckley Cup

Belstone v Tedburn St Mary

BELSTONE kept up their unbeaten record in the midweek T20 Buckley Cup with a 43 run win over visitors Tedburn St Mary.

On a warm sunny evening both teams got off to poor starts, each losing five wickets with only 30 runs on the board; the difference was that Belstone managed to recover somewhat whereas Tedburn continued to struggle.

Belstone’s troubles began with the second ball of their innings when Matt Dennis nicked a Greg Lewis full toss to Ed Willoughby at slip. Lewis picked up two more wickets to finish his four overs with excellent figures of three for 14.

Richard Drake joined Sam Ewen to bring some order to the batting, both reaching 25 before retiring. Helter-skelter running from Chris Walpole (14) and Arden Frew-Smith (6), which ended with them both being run out, pushed the score up to what seemed a below-par total of 98 at the end of the 20 overs.

Frew-Smith (4-1-12-3) was third-time lucky with vociferous appeals for leg before in his first over, dismissing Willoughby for six.

At the other end Ryan Dennis (4-0-19-3) soon accounted for the other opener Osbourne (6), No 3 Allison (3) and thanks to a lightning-quick stumping from Pete Randerson, Parsons for three.

First change bowlers Doug Little (3.3-0-12-3) and Tom Boother (3-0-12-1) ensured there was no let up in the Belstone attack as, helped by a superb slip catch by Matt Dennis and another stumping from Randerson, Tedburn slumped to 55 all out.