Bond Timber Cornwall Cricket League 2019 preview for Post area clubs

By David Sillifant

THE 2019 Bond Timber Cornwall Cricket League season gets underway on Saturday afternoon with the highlight in the Post area being a double-header between old rivals Werrington and Callington in the newly-established Tribute T20 Kernow Crash.

As ever, 12 Post area clubs will compete although Delabole, Gunnislake and Milton Abbot don’t get underway until May 4, due to the restructuring of the leagues in Division Four and below where there are now ten-team leagues.

However tiers one (Premier and County One) and two (Divisions 2 and 3) are back and there is plenty of excitement among players, supporters and officials alike as to what will happen this summer...

Can Werrington win a fifth ECB Cornwall Premier League title in eight years and retain their Hawkey Cup crown? Do Callington have enough to preserve their top-flight status and will Launceston and Werrington seconds be able enjoy comfortable mid-table finishes in a much stronger looking County Division One?

In the East divisions, Bude, St Minver and Luckett all have designs on challenging for returns to the second-tier from Division Two, while in Division Three East, the main stories will be as to whether Bude seconds and their Launceston counterparts can survive. Holsworthy, Tintagel and South Petherwin should have no such worries although it remains to be seen if they can push for the title.

BUDE & NORTH CORNWALL

IF BUDE enjoy a better summer than they did last year, then the first team will head into their 150th anniversary celebrations next year as a County Division One outfit.

Led by wicketkeeper-batsman Mark McManus, the coastal club battled champions St Austell seconds all the way to the finishing line before coming just short.

Such is the interest, fortnightly nets took place from November at Budehaven Sports Hall before becoming a weekly thing at the end of January.

McManus hopes his players will go one better, in a division which looks extremely tough to call.

He said: “The first team will be striving hard to be involved in the promotion fight come the end of the season, while the club has worked hard during the winter to become clubmarked and are hoping to achieve this throughout the course of the summer.

“Pre-season is going well so far we had our first friendly last Saturday against Tintagel and had two more at the weekend against Tavistock and Holsworthy. A number of first team batsman reached 50 against Tintagel before retiring to allow other batsmen an opportunity of time in the middle.”

Bude’s main strength lies in their batting with a number of powerful players, and with their regular opening bowlers hardly around, will need them to fire.

However, the playing resources in the club have been bolstered.

McManus added: “Unfortunately we have lost Shaun Whitefield, due to him travelling this year and being away in Australia and our other opening bowler Mark Peck has suggested he won’t be playing much due to the birth of his first child late in the season last year.

“Returning to the club we have Derek Piper after a number of years away at university, an off-spin bowler that turns the ball a long way!

“Also, Lee Houghton and Jack Miles have reignited their interest in the game and we are hoping to see them play much more this season. Our main addition over the winter has been Matt Hookway who started well in his first appearance in the friendly against Tintagel. A solid looking batsman who we are hoping will score plenty of runs this season.”

Bude seconds also surprised many to finish as runners-up in Division Four East, meaning both teams are just a league apart, and skipper Gordon Wint knows they’ll be tested.

He said: “This is the highest the seconds have ever been in the Cornish league structure. We know it’s going to be a big step up, but we’re all really excited and are aiming to consolidate our position.”

Bude have relied on a number of older heads in recent times, especially in the seconds, but Wint is hoping to get the youth involved, starting with this weekend’s trip to St Neot Taverners (1pm).

He said: “It’s quite exciting as for the first time in a long time we have a number of 20-somethings at the club, which is something we’ve struggled with for quite a while. I’m hoping they’ll bed in along with the regular seasoned players and that we can compete in every fixture!

“We haven’t lost anyone from the seconds and it’s going to be an exciting season with it being the year before our 150th anniversary celebrations next year. The pitch looks as good as ever. We’ve had the perfect winter for the outfield and pitch and we can’t wait to get started!”

CALLINGTON

THE Moores Park outfit survived by the skin of their teeth last summer in the ECB Cornwall Premier League, and will hope for a repeat under new skipper Joe White.

The wicketkeeper-batsman replaces Aidan Libby after four years in charge and will have his hands full to keep their heads above water.

Player recruitment has been slow although they will be boosted by the inclusion of three or four Devon League players when commitments allow, although batsmen Charlie Coates and Ben Millar have joined local rivals Menheniot-Looe in Division Two East.

However, White, who has spent the winter playing out in New Zealand, has been happy with their preparations.

He said: “Pre-season at the club has gone very well. Winter training has gone to plan with the whole squad hitting plenty of balls and the bowlers working on bowling consistent areas. We have also refurbished the clubhouse throughout, giving it a much more up to date feel, which looks great and it’ll be a great place to sit and relax and enjoy the cricket.

“We are going into the season with a similar squad to last year although we have two players dropping down a couple of leagues to play for Menheniot-Looe.

“We are still hopeful of bringing in an overseas for the season, a friend of mine from South Africa who is a batting all-rounder.

“We had a pre-season fixture against Lanhydrock on Sunday and also have a T20 game against Luckett on Thursday night (April 18). The atmosphere at the club is very positive and we can’t wait to get started.”

The seconds are again led by Toby Beresford-Power, but due to three teams coming down from County Division One, were relegated into Division Three, although he hopes they’ll make an immediate return.

He said: “Our pre-season has been good with winter nets and we had a friendly against Tideford on Sunday.

“We’ve brought in Toby Morgan from Plymouth, and got back Ashley Small from Luckett and Sam Pluckrose from St Neot, plus a couple of our more experienced players are looking to play the majority of the season with us, having played Premier League cricket recently, which will give us a very strong side.

“There has been a renewed buzz around the club and it has been really refreshing. We are looking forward to a successful season.”

HOLSWORTHY

WITH Holsworthy heading into their second ever season in Division Three East, skipper Ryan Walter is optimistic for better player availability, starting with this weekend’s opener at Tintagel (1pm).

The Devon club, who have been in the Cornish leagues since 2008, have enjoyed a meteoric rise, earning four promotions in that time before finishing an impressive fourth last year.

Walter said: “Off the back of last year, the aim will be to be in the top four or five, but with the four teams coming down, on paper the league looks a lot stronger, so we know it’s going to be tough to get into the top four unless we go on a really good run.”

Changes to playing personnel have been kept to a minimum, although there is one key absentee in the shape of number three Sam Stacey.

He said: “Nothing has really changed in regards to the squad. Hopefully Rob Mitchell and Matt Shepherd will be available for the bulk of the season. Matt will be a big boost with bat and ball, as will Rob with his left-armers.

“One negative is that we’re probably going to be without Sam Stacey for the majority of the season after his broken leg. But we’ve got a couple of good youngsters who are going to be pushing to get into the Saturday side in Scott Bingham and Gerry O’Donoughue who are both bowlers. But I’m quietly confident that we’ll have a more consistent 11, with the possibility of 14 or 15 to choose from most weeks.”

Holsworthy will also compete in Division Three of the North Devon League on Sundays where they’ll look to give members of their youth set-up plenty of game time in readiness for a call-up on Saturdays, as well as making use of their new pavilion at Stanhope Park.

Walter continued: “We’re heading into the second year of the pavilion and we’ll be looking to push that and the youth again and keep it as the heart of the club and aim to grow the social side of the club within the club and within the community.”

LAUNCESTON

LAUNCESTON pulled off a remarkable escape last summer in County One following the decision to replace Robert Mutch with batsman Kevin Worth midway through the season, and Worth has agreed to stay on in a full-time capacity.

He will be supported by new vice-captain Sam Pengelly who’ll share the new ball with Mutch in what is arguably the best opening attack in the division.

However, a fragile batting line-up, especially when wicketkeeper Dan Tilley is unavailable, could prove to be their undoing once more.

But Worth is hopeful that they will be able to enjoy their final games in the comfort of mid-table.

He said: “The key for us is to get a better start and hit the ground running. We want to make sure we stay out of the relegation battle and finish as high as we can, but we know there are no easy games.

“Bowling wise, we have one of the best attacks in the league on paper which means we can compete with anyone, but we need more consistency from our batsmen.

“Last year there were games where we batted really well, but also games where we collapsed, so cutting out the inconsistencies will be important.”

Incomings and outgoings have been fairly quiet throughout the club, although slow bowler Andrew Yelland has joined from South Petherwin and is set to line up at home to Troon on Saturday (1pm).

Worth said: “We needed a spinner after last year and we’ve also had a few ex-players show an interest in playing again, but we’ll see what happens.”

Off the field, things are also looking up.

He said: “The kitchen and bar have been refurbished to make it more user-friendly and the possibility of an electronic scoreboard is in the pipeline. Also the juniors have had a good pre-season and the All Stars is running again. Everyone is looking forward to a good, hot summer!”

The seconds are back in Division Three East for the first time in a decade after winning Division Four last summer, and long-time captain Matt Bloomfield is confident his side can stay there.

Cornish All Blacks player/coach Ryan Westren has signed on and is likely to play a handful of games while others could follow.

Matt said: “The goal is to finish mid-table although the league looks strong. We know we will be in for some tough games and we’ll have to perform well as a team in every game.

“Core/key players from last year are all still around and with us stepping up a league, we need them to rise to the challenge, along with a mix of young players in there and a couple newer faces in the side.

“We also have a lot of talented youth within the club, Some starting in the twos and some will be in the thirds. But if they are performing well, they will be called upon!”

The Lawhitton outfit head to Wheal Eliza to take on St Austell thirds in their opener (1pm).

LUCKETT

AFTER a third-placed finish in 2018, the Chapel Field club are ready to try and maintain another promotion push in an ultra-competitive Division Two East, which has been bolstered by relegated Newquay, St Erme and Roche and two decent promoted sides in Wadebridge seconds and Saltash Town.

However, captain Ryan Brown believes plenty of sides are in with a shout, ahead of Saturday’s opener at last year’s runners-up, Bude (1pm).

Brown said: “Pre-season has been stop start really with the weather. We’ve not really had chance to have a proper wicket practice. But over the last week or so we’ve had some sessions and will this week leading into our friendly with Callington on Thursday.

“We are all really looking forward to the season now it’s nearly here and the home dressing room has had a refurb.

“We’re the same as last year apart from our new signing Angus Harley who is going to open the bowling and bat in the lower order.”

Harley’s credentials will be put to the test in their opener, as Brown is fully aware.

He said: “I don’t think there is ever a good time to travel to Bude as they know their pitch like the back of their hand and the fact we have struggled every time we have travelled there!”

Although more signings will be revealed across the divisions in the coming days, Brown expects a title race right to the end.

He added: “It’s hard to get a good picture of the league this year with the teams that have come up and down. But it seems as if it’ll be a very competitive year and I don’t think there is going to be a runaway winner, so we’re really looking forward to the season ahead!”

SOUTH PETHERWIN

AFTER a couple of seasons of constant struggle in the league above, South Petherwin enjoyed much better 2018 back in Division Three East, finishing third.

With opening batsman Taylor Gerry, who has recently been scoring plenty of runs out in the Caribbean for Cornwall Under 15s set to stay another for another season, the father and son duo of Adrian and Adam Warne to score plenty of runs in the top-order and Cornwall Over 50s captain Paul Clements to open the bowling and bat in the middle order, it would be no surprise to see them up there once more, even if skipper Jacob Masters is playing their chances down.

He said: “Pre-season has been good. The pitch is looking excellent, as is the square, thanks to a lot of hard work from a lot of people and the aim for the firsts will be a top-half finish.

“We have unfortunately lost Andrew Yelland who has joined Launceston to play a better standard, but we have got in a young top-order batsman from Werrington in Adam Howgill. We have also welcomed Kevin Horrell back to the club on a full-time basis, which is a fantastic addition.

“A few players who have moved to the area are interested in playing a few games for us which is again, fantastic, but we’ll see what they are like when we play.

“However, we’re all excited for the season to start. We are now hosting the first match against Boconnoc (1pm), as they still have an ongoing issue with their outfield.”

ST MINVER

AFTER a year of just one side at St Minver, the second team is back and being led by former player Karl Daly, who has joined from Tintagel along with four others.

The firsts struggled for consistency in selection all year in Division Two East after being forced to go down due to ECB Clubmark problems, but in the end rallied to survive.

However, skipper Ben Hawken is back to fitness while a plethora of signings for both teams, mean the good times could be on their way back to the North Cornwall club.

South African wicketkeeper-batsman Alastair Cottle is due to come over while opening batsman Ryan Pooley is back from a season at Premier League side Wadebridge, and along with Hawken, should form the best opening partnership in the division.

Bowler Ross Keast returned last midway through last season from Tintagel and is committed once more, as are his brothers Jake Keast and Luke Osborne, who haven’t played much over the last couple of years.

Veterans Rob Hawken and Dennis Brown are also continuing, although one loss is that of pace bowler Jordan Stone to Wadebridge.

Hawken is also refusing to set any targets but if they can get their best side out on a weekly basis, should be clear favourites to win it.

He said: “We just want to enjoy it really and try to finish in the top-half. We’ve got Ryan back from Wadebridge which will make a massive difference as well as lots of new players, including several for the seconds.

“But we know it’s going to be a really tough competition this year, and should be a lot stronger than in recent years.

“But we’ve held some net sessions at Wadebridge Sports Centre, and we’ve had the best turnout we’ve probably ever had, so everyone is excited and ready for the weekend.”

TINTAGEL

JORDAN Burnard heads into his debut campaign as captain at Tintagel looking to steady the ship after a topsy-turvy 2018.

After an extensive recruitment drive ahead of last summer, hopes were high under his predecessor Ryan Pooley that they could mount a serious tilt at a second promotion in three years.

However, by the end of June, the majority of the new signings had left, before an impressive end saw them finish fifth.

Pooley originally left for Werrington but is back due to personal circumstances, and will be looking for another stellar season after hitting more than 900 runs and taking over 30 wickets in all competitions.

A weakened Tintagel were comfortably beaten at Bude on April 6, before they faced Wadebridge seconds at home on Sunday.

Burnard said: “The result in our first friendly at Bude was not something to worry about. It was all about game time for us; getting out on the field and having a bat and a bowl. Out of it there were some interesting things I noticed which I hadn’t seen before.

“On Sunday against Wadebridge seconds we had nine changes from the game against Bude, so everyone is now warmed up and ready.

“We’ve lost Tom Preston-Evans, Matt Gilbert, Russell Donnelly and Karl Daly to St Minver seconds, but we’ve also recruited a fair few, although the majority are for the seconds.

“For us we’ve managed to bring in Leo McDonnell from Holsworthy which is good news, while I’m hopeful batsmen Martin Seldon, Geoff Uglow, Andrew O’Kelly and Shaun Keeble will be able to play the odd game as well, so we’ll be aiming for a top-half finish. With Ryan now back, and with everything else being well, who knows what might happen!”

The seconds are back in Division Six after a tough year, and are under the guidance of Dave Lane. Burnard added: “They’ve got Dan Jones back from Wadebridge while Keith Lawrence is hoping to play more again. They’ve also signed Neil Hann back on and Harry Daly who captains one of the evening league teams, so we should have more than enough players for both teams each week.”

Tintagel’s committee have also been hard at work in the winter.

Burnard added: “The new artificial pitch was laid last week and we’ve also made the square slightly bigger which gives us an extra track to play on. We’re also looking into getting some new mobile sightscreens sorted, so the ground is looking really good.”

WERRINGTON

IT’S a case of same again for defending champions Werrington as they aim for a fifth ECB Cornwall Premier League title in eight years.

The Ladycross outfit got off to a slow start under new skipper Paul Smith last term before a remarkable run of form saw them pip Penzance by a solitary point, as well as retaining the Hawkey Cup

Australian bowling all-rounder Jono Baldock has returned for a second season and played in their second pre-season friendly defeat at Devon champions Sidmouth on Saturday. The rest of the squad remains unchanged, although former Cornwall and Grampound Road batsman Tom Hughes has agreed to play the opening T20s at the very least.

They get their campaign underway in the newly-formed Tribute T20 Kernow Crash on Saturday when they entertain Callington in Group B, which also includes Grampound Road, St Austell and Wadebridge.

The competition sees clubs having two home and two away fixtures in the group stages. They have been split broadly into two geographical pools but to avoid byes there will be a ‘cross pool’ fixture on each matchday, with Werrington’s being against Truro at Ladycross on Saturday, May 4.

Clubs will play the same opponent in two separate T20 matches on the same day. The first commences at 1pm and, following an interval, the second default  start time is 4.10pm. However, this can be delayed by up to 30 minutes due to weather interruptions in the first game but must be completed by 7.30pm.

During the pool stage of the competition, two points will be awarded for a win, one point for a tie or no result and no points for a loss. The two pool winners and runners-up will progress to the Finals Day at Grampound Road on Sunday, May 19 with semi-finals, at 10.30am and 1.30pm and the final at 4.30pm.

Skipper Paul Smith knows they will have to be at their best to defend their titles, but was pleased with what he has seen in pre-season.

He said: “We kicked off our pre-season with a good win at North Devon. Adam Hodgson batted really well for his ton (103no) which is a great start for him and hopefully he’ll continue through the season and then we lost at Sidmouth at the weekend.

“The league title remains our goal as it is every year whether we’ve won it the year before or not. We’ll be trying to finish as close as we can to the top and win the league, as we will in the T20 competitions we play in. We’ll play a few more of the youngsters in those as its a much faster game, but overall we’ll play with a bit of a licence and look to play some good cricket as it seemed to work last year.”

Smith sees both sides of the coin, regarding their failure to sign anyone.

He said: “It works both ways. The good thing is that we’ve been there and done it now and obviously the second team had their best ever season in County One, so both of our top two sides are strong in their leagues.

“But it’s a slight shame we couldn’t recruit a few more faces to the club throughout all four teams. However, one new player for us, although he was already signed on, is Tom Hughes who has assured me that he’ll give it a go in the T20s and then we’ll take it from there moving forwards.”

Smith believes a double-header against Callington is the perfect curtain-raiser.

He said: “It’s always nice to play in a local derby and obviously we have had many a battle against them.

“Although they’re not as strong as they used to be, we won’t be underestimating them and will be looking to come out all guns ablazing and get two wins on the board on the first weekend.”

After four fixtures, their title defence starts with the visit of Redruth to Ladycross on Saturday, May 25, and Smith expects them to be challenging come September.

He said: “Entering in to the season poses us with a challenge we haven’t been accustomed too in the past few years, in that we will be looking to retain the ECB Cornwall Premier League.

“However, as always, there are four or five teams that pose a massive threat to us.

“Penzance will as usual go into the season as favourites, like they have for the past three years.

Truro, having lost their captain Scott Harvey would seem weaker, but with the addition of a couple very good players in Andy Libby and Kyle Van Rooyen will again be up there and St Just can never be written off as they have the potential to beat anyone on any given day.

“Redruth are well worth a mention, they have recruited well and look a decent outfit that will surprise a few teams. They showed last year that they were first or second after the half way point but fell away throughout the second half of the season, so maybe lack a bit of consistency.

“We know that the task of retaining the trophy is a very tricky one. Although, with exactly the same squad as last year, we know that with the team spirit we showed last year accompanied with some seriously good match-winning performances from every single person, we have as good a chance as anyone.”

The seconds enjoyed their best ever season to finish fifth last year in County Division One, and like the firsts, are expecting to choose from a similar squad in a highly-competitive division.

Skipper Mark Hodgson will again need to lead from the front with the bat alongside Ben Jenkin, while teenage fast bowler Dan Barnard will have an extra incentive to do well as he looks to break into the first team on a consistent basis.

They open their campaign at newly-promoted St Austell seconds on Saturday (1pm), and Hodgson wants his troops to continue their momentum from last summer.

He said: “We’re looking for the same again really, although we know the league is going to be a lot harder, especially with no-one going up. Plus there’s lots more travelling, as there’s a lot of west-orientated sides.”

Ryan Pooley signed from Tintagel, but personal circumstances means he’s reversed his decision.

However Hodgson is making sure he gives youth a chance.

He said: “We’ll have a very similar team again. Ryan has gone back to Tintagel and we’ll miss Nick Adams and Danny Warne at the start of the season as they’ve gone to university. But we’ll look to bring the youngsters through from thirds.

“Last year the key for us was having a really consistent side, player availability was really good and when we were a bit short the person who came up was good enough anyway.

We didn’t have to change things about too much and that was the key difference.”