Saturday, September 14

Bond Timber Cornwall Cricket League Division Three County Final at Pencarrow Cricket Club

HOLSWORTHY put in a poor batting display to lose the Division Three County Final by 73 runs against St Ives at Pencarrow on Saturday.

The Devon club bowled superbly at the start but allowed St Ives to recover from 133-8 to post 169-8 before falling to 50-5 and eventually 96 all out despite 32 from Ben Hutchings.

Both sides had enjoyed superb seasons to secure promotion with each side losing just three of their 22 games.

Pencarrow is set on the outskirts of Bodmin and is known for its superb batting track, so it was no surprise that skipper Alex McKenna won the toss and chose to bat.

The West Cornwall outfit got to 17-0 in the fourth over before Treve Williams was clean bowled by Matt Shepherd for just three.

In the next over McKenna was bowled for 14 offering no shot to Jack Greening (1-28 off 9) before Shepherd struck again in the sixth, dismissing dangerman Dominic Angove lbw for a duck (17-3).

Cornwall Over 50s opener Jim McKenna, batting at five, and George Day then added 30 before Shepherd (3-46 off 12) struck for a third time, bowling Day for 10.

McKenna was playing excellently but he and Sam McKenna (8) were both finding it tough to score against Ryan Bridgeman who bowled superbly, going for just 20 off his 11 overs.

Getting frustrated, at 64-4, Sam McKenna was bowled trying to heave George Wilcox (2-24) into the leg-side before Jim McKenna was bowled by the same man in almost identical circumstances at 76-6.

Caleb Marsden then rescued the innings with a boundary-filled 44, adding 46 with Mark Hughes (8) before both men were dismissed by skipper Ryan Walter’s off-spin.

At 133-8 with eight overs remaining, Holsworthy were well on top but were left to rue their inability to finish the innings off as Damon Fillery (18no) and Andrew Myers (15no) added 36 in eight overs to give them a competitive score.

With a new ball to use, most teams open the bowling with seamers, but Fillery and Myers are both spinners and by the time they had both finished their spells, had pretty much ensured a St Ives win.

Aiden Gerry was trapped lbw second ball for nought and the next nine overs saw extremely slow progress as both spinners tied Jack May and Walter up.

Walter was superbly caught by Marsden at deep long-on for six in the 12th over and in the next over, Myers proved far too good for May (4), getting one to cut back in and take his off-stump after he offered no shot.

At 14-3 in the 13th over, Holsworthy needed a partnership and they got one of sorts as the hard-hitting Shepherd and wicketkeeper Sam Stacey added 31 with Shepherd smashing 28 in no time.

However at 47-3, Stacey (5) was bowled by Fillery (3-32 off 11) before Myers got one to jump as Shepherd aimed a big shot into the off-side, and could only spoon it to Jim McKenna for the simplest of catches.

To compound their woes, Greening, fresh off an unbeaten half century at St Austell the week before, edged Myers (3-26 off 12) into the gloves of Hughes for just one to leave them in dire straits at 55-6.

Despite the change of bowling which saw Williams and Marsden introduced, the wickets kept falling.

Dan Smith was caught in the covers for nought by Jim McKenna off Williams, before Bridgeman was castled by the same man at 58-8.

Ben Hutchings delayed the inevitable with a series of excellent shots as he and Rob Mitchell (8) put on 31.

But Marsden soon bowled Mitchell before trapping Hutchings lbw for 32 as the Trees were dismissed inside 36 overs.

Skipper Ryan Walter admitted it was a game of two halves.

He said: “We performed really well with the ball and we were spot on with our fielding, nothing went through.

“We were really pleased to restrict them to 169-8 off their 45 overs but we had an idea that they might start with two spinners, which was something we hadn’t really faced this season.

“They were two really good bowlers who just didn’t give anything away and it was a long way back from 14-3.

“Matt (Shepherd) and Ben (Hutchings) batted quite well to get us up to a respectable score but we kept losing wickets all the way through.

“If we could have got through the opening 20 overs maybe two or three down, we may have had a chance, but when you’re six down after 23 overs, with the top six all out, it was always going to be a big ask of the lower order.”

Walter praised Pencarrow, St Ives and the travelling supporters from across the border.

He said: “St Ives were a really good bunch and we all stayed for a fair while after for a drink.

"Pencarrow were great hosts with the ground and pitch in superb conditions. We probably had over 30 supporters down there, which was great as well as our squad players. I’d like to thank everyone for their support on the day and throughout the season and to Scott Hayler for scoring for us.”

“It was a little disappointing we didn’t get the win but we’ve had a really good season to secure promotion and we’re already looking forward to the challenge of next year in our first ever season of division two cricket.”