Following the 2nd XIs league win, we sat down with the skipper Jack Stirling to dissect the season.

How are you feeling now the dust has settled on the promotion?

I’m still feeling extremely proud. Obviously the way things panned out we’ve known we were on the way up for a while, but it was nice to get over the line & celebrating winning the title on the last day against Bradninch was one of my favourite days in cricket. It’s no less than we deserved.

And how were those celebrations?

Joyous, as you could tell that there’s still definitely that competitive element further down the leagues, I think people who haven’t been involved much in the 2s underestimate what it means, but it meant a great deal to the group. Benny Coe couldn’t get his hands on the bubbly quick enough! It would’ve been great to have the whole squad there with us, but you can’t have it all.

As for the evening of celebrations, let’s just say I woke up on Jake Choules’ floor with no wallet & a gashed shin from falling over in the road.

You mentioned it looked like we were up for a while, was that expected or did the season go better than you imagined?

To get promotion was a goal we set at the start of the season & wrote into the club development plan, as the 2nd XI needed to be playing at a higher level to help sustain A Division cricket for the 1st XI. I always thought it was a realistic aim, but I wouldn’t have envisaged winning 16 games & being 85 points clear of third at the start of this season. It’s a testament to the skill and attitude of the squad that we exceeded expectations to that extent. A lot of that has to be put down to the availability we have had this year, it’s been great to see competition for places every week as it ensures players raise their game accordingly.

Who were the stand out performers in the squad?

It’s easy to cop out on this question & say everyone, but there certainly is an element of truth to that. Andy Daldorph dominated attacks for the whole season & finished leading run scorer in the league; you can’t ask for much more than that. Bobby Heard bowling offies was like signing a new player and to take 20 wickets in 8 games is daft. Imogen Daldorph was definitely the standout in the second half of the season for her consistency.

And did any matches in particular stand out?

The first one that pops into my head is Bradninch away, in which we very much found a way to win, despite being off the pace for most of the game & those are the situations in which Champions are made, squeezing results out of situations when your back are against the wall. I think that fixture showed our character more than any other.

The other standouts are Kentisbeare away for the batting display and the team performance at Topsham, which essentially won us the league.

Any stand out individual displays or comical moments you’d like to mention?

Andy Daldorph features in both of them, his two hundreds were incredible. However, he did manage to fall over fielding at Ottery St Mary and reminiscent of Paulo Di Canio, use both of his flailing legs to boot the ball over the boundary for 4.

Paul Stirling getting out off a no ball & then hit in his box during his first two balls at the crease just after his new girlfriend had turned up was hilarious. There were so many great individual displays with the bat across the season.

What are the targets for next year & long term aims for the 2s?

I think our squad is better than one you would expect to be involved in a relegation scrap in the D Division, so middle table is a realistic goal to set ourselves. In order to do that we need a similar level of availability & performance. If we can do that whilst continuing to offer as much cricket to younger players then I’d be more than happy.

Sustaining D Division cricket has to be the long-term goal as a lot of 2nd XIs have crashed & burned in the higher divisions.

If we can keep the unit together & offer more league cricket to more people via the reintroduction of a 3rd XI when the time is right, I’d deem that a successful few years.

We sat down with Jake Choules to dissect the 2022 season.

You mentioned in your interview after last season that staying up was the goal – are you content with how things have gone or do you feel we ended up short of where we could’ve been?

I can have no complaints with the way it’s gone. We set out to stay up and get the 2nd XI up and that’s exactly what we did. 6th is a respectable finish and when you look at the tight games, there’s no reason why we can’t push on a bit further in future.

There were a few tight fixtures we came out on the wrong side of – what went wrong and what have you learned from them?

They were just down to fine margins really, a couple of catches being held or decisions going your way can change things a lot in those games. Going forward, the lesson is to know we need to be at a high level for the whole 100 overs.

What’s been the biggest difference in the step up to the A Division?

The standard of opposition has been a step up as expected. Teams bat a lot deeper in this league and some of the overseas players have been a nightmare to play against.

Talking of overseas players – how impressed were you with Jason Van Der Meulen?

He was absolutely brilliant, we couldn’t have asked for anyone better. You never know what to expect, especially with opting for somebody so young, but his stats speak for themselves and his commitment off the field has been exceptional. We would love to have him back if the opportunity arose.

Who else has stood out?

Lots of strong team performances just like last season but Chilly scoring over 500 runs was brilliant. Tom Diamond rose to the challenge of batting at 3 at the start of the year which was great to see. Some strong performances with the ball too with Slavs really impressing with some of the big clubs trying to tap him up!

Can you see any signings being made in the off-season? Are there any youngsters you’re tipping to make the step up in 2023?

We used 4 teenagers in the 1s last season (Sam Jefferson, Bobby Heard, Luke Vukusic & George Daldorph) and they’re only going to get better after that experience. Unfortunately they’ll all be at uni at the start of the season but I back the squad to be strong enough.

Our signings last season approached us as they can see we’re doing things properly. I won’t be out desperately looking for people but if people approach us again I won’t be complaining.

There seems to be a lot of discussion about potential changes in the Devon League – what would you like to see?

Yeah – there’s been conversations between captains which can only be a good thing. I don’t think the league is really broken so wouldn’t suggest complete overhaul but I do think we will move towards coloured kit and pink or white ball which I think is a good thing.

You must be happy to have won the Covid Cup again? It must be disappointing we didn’t get past the first hurdle in the Devon T20 after our recent T20 record?

The covid cup win was brilliant. I can’t take any credit as I didn’t feature at all but those that played did a great job against some really top sides. Lots of young players featured which is really encouraging. It’s a good competition and I’m looking forward to it continuing next summer. It needs a name change though so if any sponsors are out there who’d like the opportunity then do get in touch!

Unfortunately we had an availability crisis for the first round of the County Cup and I’m still not quite over it as I think we could’ve caused some upsets in that competition and gone pretty far, particularly when you look at the Covid Cup win this year and Corinthian Cup win last year.

What are the aims for next year?

Ultimately the underlying aim is to stay in the division but if everything goes to plan and we don’t lose anybody then there’s no reason why we can’t push for the top half and disrupt some of the bigger clubs.

Can we expect you to still be at the helm?

That’s something I’ll discuss with the squad but happy to carry on if voted in!

We are glad to report that the renovations to the square have been completed despite the weather over the last week.

The square has been dug up & replaced with a much thicker quantity of loam, more suitable for creating cricket pitches. The square has never been professionally laid & was essentially a farmers field when the club returned to the current Station Ground in 1972.

We hope for good weather over the winter to allow the new square to bed-in. Some of the excess soil from the existing square has been used to help level uneven parts of the outfield.

Here are the batting & bowling statistics for the 2022 Devon Cricket League season.

1st XI Batting (qualification – min 100 runs)

Player	Inns	Not Outs	Runs	Average	50s	100s	High Score	Strike Rate
Jason Van Der Meulen	17	2	679	45.27	6	1	100	96.59
Alistair Chilcott	15	3	564	47.00	5	1	101*	57.03
Tom Diamond	8	1	298	49.67	2	0	84	60.20
Dan Robbins	14	0	263	18.79	2	0	59	95.64
George Daldorph	14	2	225	18.75	0	0	36	73.53
Harry Choules	15	4	215	19.55	1	0	55*	57.64
George Greed	9	0	144	16.00	0	0	47	48.48
Paul Fielder	13	0	142	10.92	0	0	30	48.30

1st XI Bowling (qualification – min 10 wickets)

Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	BB	5fas	Econ	Aver
Jake Choules	138.5	12	595	29	5-15	1	4.29	20.52
Alex Jopling	142	9	555	24	5-45	1	3.91	23.13
George Daldorph	124.5	19	465	22	4-17	0	3.72	21.14
Ben Slaviero	135.1	22	490	19	4-38	0	3.63	25.79
Jason Van Der Meulen	70	3	334	17	3-11	0	4.77	19.65
Dan Robbins	81	6	361	15	3-15	0	4.46	24.07

2nd XI Batting (qualification – min 100 runs)

Player	Inns	Not Outs	Runs	Average	50s	100s	High Score
Andy Daldorph	16	0	775	48.44	5	2	105
John Farley	10	2	319	39.88	1	0	69*
Grant Squire	13	2	274	24.91	2	0	66
Ben Coe	10	1	264	29.33	2	0	85*
David Baldock	8	2	235	39.17	0	1	104*
Luke Vukusic	6	0	204	34.00	3	0	69
Jay Porter	9	5	203	50.75	1	0	51*
Sam Jefferson	5	0	158	31.60	1	0	58
Paul Stirling	10	1	149	16.56	0	0	34*
Andy Pitt	2	1	148	148.00	1	0	116
Bobby Heard	8	2	104	17.33	0	0	49*

2nd XI Bowling (qualification – min 10 wickets)

Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	BB	5fas	Econ	Aver
Jack Stirling	90.2	19	276	32	5-22	2	3.06	8.63
Bobby Heard	63.4	11	219	20	4-27	0	3.44	10.95
Imogen Daldorph	75.1	10	316	18	4-26	0	4.20	17.56
Jonny Baker	64.4	6	207	16	4-17	0	3.20	12.94
Erin Vukusic	52	5	200	11	3-16	0	3.85	18.18
James Meredith	33	0	192	10	2-11	0	5.82	19.20

The first XI arrived at a cloudy Seaton hoping to end the season on a high and cement 6th position in the A Division.

Team: Vukusic, Fielder, Chilcott, Van Der Meulen, H. Choules, Baldock, Heard, Daldorph, Slaverio, Jopling, J. Choules.

After some below par performances in recent weeks, some batters were pestering the skipper to bat first to make amends but with the cloud and drizzle around Choules elected to bowl after inevitably winning the toss.

He seemed to have made the right call when the 2nd ball of the innings from Slaverio spat off of a length over the top of Harry Choules behind the stumps.

Slaverio and Daldorph kept it tight in the powerplay restricting the hosts to 20-2 with Daldorph doing the damage. Daldorph had a 3rd in his 7th over and with the score on 38-3 Choules & Jopling got to work.

Choules removed Hewer for 31 thanks to a sharp catch by Fielder but by the time he had finished his spell the Pirates had recovered to 97-4. Jopling struck twice before the end of his spell though and tipped the balance back to Thorverton at 98-6.

Slaverio and Heard kept it tight against the counter attacking tail with Heard finding some encouraging turn for no reward. Slaviero finally had his wicket going into the last 5 overs as the score reached 130-8. Fielder turned the arm over as the skipper got his maths wrong and Seaton put on 28 more for the loss of one further wicket ending on 158-9, a potentially competitive score given the weather and surface.

Fielder and Vukusic had other ideas though, getting Thors off to a flier as we reached 37-0 from 5 overs. The veteran skied one in the 7th over after striking 24 from 14 balls before the teenager fell next over, played on.

Chillcott and Van Der Meulen steadied the ship, getting Thors to 73 before Chilly went. Jason decided to go up a gear from here finding the boundary regularly before he fell for 57 with Thors 20 short of the total.

It was Harry Choules turns to be the aggressor who found the boundary 3 times on the way to 25 not out. Baldock increased the average slightly with a calm 9 not out as Thors won with 19 overs and 6 wickets in the bank.

Scorecard

League Table

A quick drink was enjoyed with the hosts before the 1s hot footed it to Thorverton to celebrate the 2s promotion.

The skipper concluded:
“Great to end the season on a high with a professional and entertaining performance. 6th place is a good achievement for our first year in this league and we will look to push on next year. Thank you and well done to the 20 players involved in the 1s squad this season”

The juniors end of season awards takes place on Friday 9th September. Please arrive at 6pm for a 6:30pm start.

There are many awards & medals to be handed out to participants in our junior cricket schemes this year. The bar will be open & chips will be available. We look forward to seeing you all there!

The already promoted second XI hosted relegation candidates Bradninch on Saturday in the knowledge that a single point would secure the E Division East league title.

Thors line up:- A.Daldorph, J.Farley, G.Greed, B.Coe, G.Squire, P.Stirling+, H.Squire, J.Meredith, J.Stirling*, J.Broom, I.Daldorph

Stirling won just his third toss of the year & elected to bat. Farley & Daldorph opened the batting looking to reach the 40 needed to become champions.

The pair negotiated the new ball in a controlled fashion and brought up the 40 runs needed to secure the Championship with 8 overs gone!

Farley & Daldorph continued the solid start past another batting point and then another, before Farley was bowled by Paul Nott for 40 after 125 opening stand. Daldorph followed soon after, bowled by Mark Perrott for 71, finishing the season as the Division’s leading run scorer with an incredible 775 runs to his name. Thors 134-2.

Coe came and went for 3, bowled by Chris Acton. Greed & G.Squire went after the Bradninch bowling, Greed passing 50 for the first time this campaign & Squire finishing on 44 not out. Thors finishing on 240-3.

After a Mrs Stirling tea, the Champions went out to field and struck in the first over, Broom nicking off the dangerous Nott, well taken by a diving Paul Stirling behind the stumps to leave Bradninch 1-1.

Thom Bunker played with some serious intent before Chris Acton coughed Imogen Daldorph to Jack Stirling at mid-on, who made a simple chance look slightly harder than it should’ve been.

Stirling made a double bowling change with himself and Coe into the attack. He struck with his third ball to remove Bunker, caught by Broom at long off. He then had Birley caught one handed by Coe in the gully and Bradninch were struggling at 52-4.

Coe got in on the act to remove Rhodes LBW for 6. Stirling then took a further three to complete his 5 wicket haul, Acton caught at long off in a carbon copy of Bunker’s dismissal, then bowling Reed and having Mills stumped by Paul Stirling & all of a sudden Bradninch were on the ropes at 79-8. Stirling removing himself from the attack with figures of 5-22 from 5 overs.

Shrewsbury & Perrott added some resistance before Meredith trapped in front leg before.

Henry Squire bowled well & was finally rewarded by bowling Josh Richards to complete an emphatic 122 run win.

Scorecard

League Table

Skipper Jack Stirling “I’m so, so proud of every single one of the players that has featured in the 2nd XI this year and we absolutely deserve to have won this league. There have been so many positives. I’ve run out of superlatives for Andy Daldorph with the bat and he deservedly tops the league batting charts. The continued involvement of juniors & girls in the second team has been great to see. We can definitely compete in the division above if we keep the bulk of this squad together and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

One thing I must say is a sincere thank you to Alan Birmingham, Rich Lloyd & Bob Rice for their efforts umpiring and scoring this year, it has made my life so much easier; thank you so much.”

The start time of the 2nd XI’s final league match on Saturday has been moved to 12pm at the request of the visitors.

The 2nd XI need a single point to clinch the E Division East title.

90s night takes place after Saturdays fixtures.

Champions elect Exmouth were the visitors to Station Ground for the 1s final home game of the season and the final game on the current square before it is relaid in September.

The team: Robbins, Fielder, Chilcott, Van Der Meulen, Pitt, H. Choules, Daldorph, Hooper, Slaviero, Jopling, J. Choules

Choules obviously won the toss. He elected to bowl given the heavy downpour late on Friday and some recent below par performances with the bat.

The skippers instructions were clear: keep it tight for every ball and keep a positive atmosphere in the field. The opening partnership of Daldorph and Slaverio were exemplary in following these instructions with perhaps the best opening spells of the campaign so far. After 6 overs each the score was 25-1 with Slaviero bagging the prize wicket of overseas professional Jason Niemand.

Exmouth took a liking to the change bowling of Hooper but undeterred Hoops pulled off a sublime piece of fielding to run our former Shobrooke man Dan Pyle. A diving stop to pick up a crunching drive then a throw from his knees into Harry Choules who did well to finish the job from in front of the stumps.

Robbins & Jake Choules both struck early in their spells with Robbins snicking off Kidd and Choules catching and bowling George Greenway who was fresh off of a century last week. The Seasiders were 56-4 but Devon opener was James Horler still in.

The pair continued to keep it tight and when Robbins was replaced by Jopling he and Choules benefited by the turning pitch, beating the bat on numerous occasions.

Choules struck again in the 30th over when he got one to spit and hit the glove of Davies. Then he has his 3rd, the big wicket of Horler for 48 when he got one to dip in his penultimate over.

Jopling had a deserved wicket in the 38th over as Goodier was removed LBW and the score reached 100-7.

Exmouth are top of the league for a reason and their numbers 8 (Marks) and 9 (L. Greenway) batted as comfortably as anybody. The pair got the visitors over the 150 mark before Greenway went in the final over and the innings ended on 163-8.

A solid bowling and fielding performance from the Thors but Exmouth would’ve fancied their chances on a pitch that was offering plenty of turn. The Pitts served up a feast for the tea interval before the sides went back out.

Robbins and Fielder opened up and it looked like we were in business straight away when Dan struck the first ball of the innings to the boundary and the clouds began to clear. He was gone for 10 in the 4th over though as Fielder and Chilcott rebuilt.

After 10 overs we were 35-1 and in a decent position in the game. However on came the spinners (L. Greenway & Niemand) and trouble was brewing.

Fielder was first to go for 12 then a few overs later the opposition skipper had 2 in 2 – Van Der Meulen and Pitt who was fresh off of a 100 last week. 39-4 and work to do. Meanwhile the visitors were buoyant with a return to the Premier Division seemingly imminent.

Chilcott and H. Choules showed patience against some relentless spin bowling by Exmouth but 2 wickets fell in an over again when Chilly was LBW to Niemand and Daldorph was caught by a blinding catch at short mid wicket a few balls later.

Hooper sought to counter attack but not wanting to go against the tradition of the innings, the hosts lost 2 in an over again. Hooper and Slaverio both well caught.

With the score on 61 Harry Choules was given caught behind and brother Jake didn’t keep everyone out there much longer and was given LBW shortly after. Thors all out for the lowest total for some time.

Scorecard

League Table

However, enough bonus points were picked up to finally mathematically secure A Division cricket for 2023 and other results mean we cling on to 6th place ahead of a trip to bottom side Seaton in the final round.

The 2nd XI travelled to the scenic Westleigh to take on North Devon 3rd XI on Saturday in the knowledge that claiming a full allocation of points against the bottom side would secure the E Division East league title.

The travelling 2s XI:- J.Farley, A.Daldorph, G.Greed, D.Baldock, S.Jefferson, L.Vukusic, H.Squire, J.Meredith+, J.Stirling*, J.Broom, I.Daldorph

Stirling took his account of toss losses into double figures and North Devon elected to bat first. Broom & recently crowned National U18 Champion Imogen Daldorph opened for Thors, displaying some fine control as the hosts openers struggled to 23-0 from the first ten overs.

Vukusic & Stirling replaced the new ball pairing and Vukusic struck twice in his 5th over to remove Ansell caught behind by Meredith & bowling Davies second ball.

Stirling bowled Pennington for 27 and struck twice more, Bail stumped by Meredith & Ware plumb in front. The skipper finished with 3-29; the hosts falling from 46-0 to 77-5.

Broom was reintroduced and got a deserved wicket in the 31st over by bowling Thompson & North Devon were 103-6. Ware & Mann offered some resistance, taking the hosts up to 147-6 before Ware was bowled to give Henry Squire a deserved wicket; Henry finishing his spell of 6 overs with 6-21. D

aldorph, Baldock & then Vukusic returned from the other end with only the latter taking a wicket, Mann caught by Greed for 24. Daldorph was the unluckiest of the bowlers, finishing a metronomic 9 overs with 0-23. Vukusic returning figures of 3-39 & North Devon finished on 172-8.

Daldorph & Farley set about the chase calmly, yet punishing some loose balls in the first ten overs to take the score to 61-0 after the first ten.

The pair continued to consistly take advantage of the small boundaries, with Farley passing 50 for the first time this term. 139-0 after 20 overs.

Daldorph finally fell for 48 from 49 balls in the 21st over with the visitors on the same score. Daldorph has now passed 700 runs for the season with only Kentisbeare skipper Harvey Sanders ahead of him after scoring 140 this weekend.

Greed struck 24 from 13 balls in just a 14 minute stay at the crease before the 9 wicket win was secured with 21 overs to spare, hitting two cars in the process. Farley finished on a classy 69* from 79 balls.

Scorecard

League Table

The skipper Jack Stirling “A good win but a shame not to get the league tied up this week, something we could’ve done if we’d held out catches, something we’ve excelled at this year. John & Andy great with the bat again and I was impressed by all of our bowlers, but especially Henry in particular”.

The 19 points leaves the 2s 20 points ahead of Topsham in the title race, with just one point needed against Bradninch on Saturday to secure the title.