Saturday saw the 2nd XI looking to bounce back from last week’s loss in a top of the table clash at the Station Ground, Topsham St James the visitors.

The side had six changes from last week’s side including league debuts for Junior players Jack Baker and Freddie Davidson. The line-up: B Sapiecha+, A. Daldorph, B. Coe*, D. Baldock, H. Squire, J. Baker, J. Baker, J. Meredith, I. Daldorph, O. Coe, F. Davidson.

In overcast conditions, Ben Coe won the toss and elected to bowl first, looking to exploit the slight bit of moisture from the pitch being undercover overnight. And his son, O. Coe, did just that in his first over having Wardle smartly caught at point by Davidson. Jack Baker and O. Coe carried on with the new ball with a mixture of balls to keep the batters guessing but couldn’t find the second breakthrough.

The metronome that is I. Daldorph took over and Baker senior replaced his son. The pair tightened up the run rate, not giving the batters many opportunities to score and were backed up well in the field. The pressure eventually told with J. Baker removing the visiting skipper who attempted to cut a ball that was too full, leaving Topsham 75-2 at the 18 over mark.

Topsham continued to tick along at about 5 an over, with Treleaven moving to 50. With wickets in hand, Topsham looked to accelerate in the last 10 overs.

I. Daldorph had Treleaven caught for 78 by B. Coe at cow. Meredith and Baldock closed the innings out with the ball for Thors with no more wickets to fall despite a couple of chances of Meredith’s bowling.

Topsham finished their 45 overs 221-3, J. Baker 1-12, I. Daldorph 1-40, O. Coe 1-41

Following a cracking Meredith tea, the lesser spotted Sapiecha and A. Daldorph opened the batting. Three balls in A. Daldorph was run out without facing a delivery and B. Coe shortly followed him back to the pavilion after being caught at slip without scoring. Thors 0-2 off the first over. With a few nerves jangling, Baldock strode out to the crease to set about getting the chase underway.

Both Sapiecha & Baldock immediately started to take theTopsham attack to the sword with gusto, on a track which had already proved to be good for batting. The pair frequently hit boundaries on both sides of the wicket, including a superb 6 over the road for Sapiecha, scoring 80 runs off the first 10 overs.

It was no long after that Sapiecha brought up his 50 with a six of Wardell that had his teammates scampering for safety in front of the pavilion in the 12th over. The 100 partnership followed in the next over, as did the wicket of Sapiecha when he popped one up to mid-wicket with a cry of “Oh NO!”, putting Thors at 109-3.

Squire was the next batter in, and him and Baldock set about knocking off the remaining 113 runs. The pair settled in together with some solid running between the wickets and regular boundaries keeping the scoreboard moving without presenting too many opportunities to the visitors.

As the innings went past the 25th over, the runs and boundaries started to flow more easily for both batters. Baldock brought up the 100 partnership, his second of the match, with a 4 which took him to 99 and the team to 211-3 (28 overs). A leg bye of the first ball of the next over put Baldock back on strike. Two balls later, he nudged one to the cover point area and called through his partner for a quick single. Throw at the strikers end. Missed! The ball sped away across the carpet to the square leg boundary for over throws, 5 runs. Baldock had his ton and a place on the virtual honours board.

Two balls later the game was done with Squire hitting the winning runs. Thors winning by 7 wickets and taking 16 points.

Thorverton 2nd XI 222-3 D. Baldock 104*, B. Sapiecha 58, H. Squire 33*. Sapiecha-Baldock partnership 109, Baldock-Squire partnership 113*.

A big thank you to Charlie Penn and Sheila Harding of Topsham St James for umpiring and scoring respectively.

A big win the 2nd XI keeps them top off the E East division and next week sees the side make the trip to Ottery St Mary.

We are delighted to report that Erin Vukusic (2021) and Imogen Daldorph (2022) have both made their senior county debuts for the Devon Women’s side.

Erin made her senior debut against Wiltshire in 2021 and Imogen made her debut against the same opposition last month.

In 12 appearances for Devon Women, Vukusic has scored 77 runs in 6 innings at an average of 38.5. She has also taken 8 wickets with the ball at an average of just 11.88.

Daldorph took 1-16 from 4 overs on her senior debut and is yet to bat.

Congratulations to both girls – everyone at Thorverton CC is extremely proud.

After two wins in as many weeks, the 1st XI travelled to Torquay to take on Barton 1st XI in front of the Disney+ cameras and amongst the hum of the Torbay Airshow.

Thors made four changes from the win over Kilmington, lining up with:- A.Chilcott, G.Greed, T.Diamond, J.Van Der Meulen, D.Robbins, H.Choules+, J.Porter (1st XI debut), G.Daldorph, B.Slaviero*, J.Stirling

Slaviero won the toss in front of the documentary ensemble and elected to bat. With intermittent showers all morning, the covers had successfully kept the wicket dry. Greed and Chilcott opened for Thors. Greed was unfortunate not to see the opening over out; blocking a full ball from Crocker only to strike it into his front leg and the ball squirmed back onto his stumps.

May’s Player of the Month Tom Diamond joined Chilcott in the middle, in the shadow of his beloved Plainmoor and the pair proactively took the game to the hosts; running aggressively and happily putting away any loose balls from the Barton opening pair of Crocker and Lipton and Thors had reached 33-1 after five overs.

The pair continued to accumulate until the left armed Lipton managed to get the ball to swing back into Chilcott (18 from 24) and wrap him on the pads in front. A self-proclaimed cold Van Der Meulen walked out to join Diamond at 38-2.

The former India U19 off-spinner Siddesh Veer came into the attack and removed an exasperated Diamond in his second over LBW for 16. Lieutenant Robbins strolled out beneath his aviation counterparts with the score at 58-3.

Van Der Meulen & Robbins set about keeping Veer at bay and counterattacking the change bowlers from the other end. Barton skipper Parker brought himself into the attack and swiftly removed himself after a solitary over following two boundaries from Van Der Meulen, including a six over square leg. Off-spinner Harford replaced him and the overseas continued to take the game to Barton, hitting a huge six onto the host’s pavilion roof. He tried to do the same over long on and holed out in the same over for 45, the visitors 98-4 after just 19 overs. Veer struck again in the following over to find the leading edge of Robbins and the hands of Bell at cover for 9.

Pitt and Choules were tasked with trying to keep our Veer who was now generating some serious turn off the surface. Choules was quickly stumped off Veer trying to reach the pitch of the ball for just one, Pitt and Porter followed him two overs later, both bowled to provide Veer witb another two victims. In the flash of an eye, the visitors had gone from 98-3 to 103-8, with 26 of the allotted overs still to be bowled.

George Daldorph went on the counter attack from the start, hitting Harford for 12 off the following 25th over, including a 6 over long on. The next man to go was skipper for 0; the impressive Veer finishing with 6-21 to put in his docuseries. Stirling was the last man in with the score on 120-9. He hung around for 7 overs, leaving Daldorph to do the scoring. Daldorph was finally caught behind for 36 and the visitors looked in a precarious position in the match with 140 all out and over an hour to be played before tea.

After a brisk turnaround, Slaviero and Daldorph formed the new ball pairing for the visitors. They kept things tight from the get-go and the pressure soon paid dividends, the skipper getting Needham, caught at cover by Diamond. Daldorph struck in the following over, getting one to lift on Lewis, who was smartly caught by Van Der Meulen at gully; all of a sudden Thors were well in the game with the hosts at 8-2 from 6 overs.

Slaviero soon struck again, bowling Lipton in the 9th. Siddesh Veer came to the crease alongside Barton skipper Adam Parker, who perished to his first ball, and the first ball of Van Der Meulen’s spell, Jason finding some serious bounce off a length and all Parker could do was pop the ball up to Slaviero in the gully.

Pitt was introduced and kept things tight. Van Der Meulen bowled Lipton in the 12th, leaving the visitors reeling at 28-5.

Van Dee Meulen continued to chip away at Veer and the middle order, eventually Veer was adjudged caught behind. Shelton and Bell struggled through to tea at 41-6 from 17 overs.

After a 30 minute break and a subdued atmosphere from both sides in the pavilion, Shelton and Bell rebuilt the Barton innings slowly, taking the score to 70-6 after 27 overs. Pitt, Van Der Meulen and Slaviero all toiled away in the muggy conditions to no avail. Robbins was introduced and struck twice in his third over, Shelton well caught by Chilcott running back at mid on, then bowling Bell 3 balls later to a ball which kept lower than the batter anticipated. Barton 70-8 after 29.

More bowling changes ensued with Daldorph back after Pitt had completed his overs tidying for 0-23. There was a single over from Stirling before an inspired piece of fielding from Van Der Meulen ran out Harford at the non-strikers end with a direct hit. Bowker was then bowled by Daldorph with the next ball and Barton were all out for 91; Thors victors by 49 runs and claiming 16 points. An incredible game of cricket with all twenty wickets falling in under 70 overs play. After 5 matches, Thors are 4th in the A Division.

Scorecard

League Table

Skipper Ben Slaviero “Jason and George batted really well. Chilly and Tom got good starts. All our bowlers bowled well, keeping good lines and I thought our fielding was brilliant.”

Thank you to Keeley Wells for scoring.

Next up for the 1st XI is a home fixture against Abbotskerswell.

We are pleased to announce that Tom Diamond has won the Player of The Month for May.

His consistency with the bat in the opening month of the season has seen him score 164 runs @ 54.67, including 63 against Kilmington last weekend.

In the field Tom took three catches and also has a run out to his name.

Well played Tom!

On a sunny Saturday where caravans and campervans lined the M5, the 2nd XI made the trip eastward to Mountbatten Park to take on Honiton.

Stand in skipper Ben Coe lost the toss and Honiton elected to bat on a track which could have been part of the adjacent A30. Thors made five changes from the week before, including the return of last season’s leading wicket taker, Erin Vukusic, and a league debut for youth player Jack Hutchings. The XI were: J. Farley, B. Coe*, G. Squire, J. Porter, J. Hutchings, P. Stirling+, E. Vukusic, J. Baker, J. Meredith, I. Daldorph, O. Coe.

Porter and O. Coe opened the bowling with a mix of good balls and some good batting. Porter made the breakthrough in his third over to remove Groves, caught at gully by Meredith (which some described as leaping like a salmon to his right). K. Kelly was latching onto anything fractionally short and peppering the wall of Farley at point. O. Coe got his reward in the eighth over bowling Ingram with a lovely swinging delivery his Dad was proud of. 

The bowling of Vukusic, B. Coe, Daldorph and Baker saw the scoring rate become relatively steady. Kelly brought up his 50 before Daldorph had Kennell caught nonchalantly by Porter at cover above his head. Baker and Porter combined twice to remove Conway and Freemantle, Baker the bowler and Porter the catcher. Squire got into the act, Stirling taking an excellent catch up to the stumps to remove K. Kelly for 69.

A wicket a piece for the returning Vukusic, featuring a terrific catch running in by Hutchings on debut, and O. Coe, followed by a run out off a wide saw Honiton all out for 222.

Honiton – 222 ao, Baker 2-36, O. Coe 2-36

Farley and B. Coe opened the batting for Thors. B. Coe fell for a duck in the fourth over, caught in the gully. Squire joined Farley and the pair made steady progress putting on 87 for the second wicket. Both batters hitting some sumptuous drives straight and through the covers. Squire fell in the 27th over for 37, shortly followed by Farley in the next over for 49, run out after slipping whilst trying to return to his ground.

Porter and debutant Hutchings were now at the crease with the score 103-3. The pair played watchfully and found the boundary on a few occasions. Hutchings was the next batter to depart, scoring 15 and the team score now on 154-4. Requiring 69 off 7 overs, Stirling joined Porter in the middle. The pair upped the run rate with Stirling finding the rope on a number of occasions and Porter making his first 50 for the club. 

Some tight bowling left Thors requiring 25 off the final over. 2, wide, 6 left 16 off 4 balls, Stirling on strike – could it happen? Sadly not, the next three balls went for singles before a dot ball to end with leaving Thorverton 12 short on 210-4 with Porter finishing on 51 and Stirling 34 (off 21 balls).

Thorverton 2XI 210-4, Porter 51*, Farley 49, Squire 37, Stirling 34*

SCORECARD

Thank you to Bob Rice and Tammi Vukusic for scoring.

A potentially important 10 points taken from the game for the 2’s and they remain top of the E East. Next week is a top of the table clash at the Station Ground with Topsham St James the visitors.

The sun was shining on Station Ground as Thorverton welcomed fellow B Division promotees, Kilmington.

Thorverton lined up with: Chilcott, Fielder, Diamond, Van Der Meulen, Robbins, H. Choules, Daldorph, Slaviero, Hooper, Jopling & J. Choules.

Choules continued his 100% A Division toss record and elected to bat. Chilcott quickly set the tone for the innings with a blistering pull shot to the fence off of the bowling of Killy’s overseas. The Aussie soon struck back though edging Fiedler behind for 5.

Chilcott and Diamond put on 62 for the 2nd wicket, Chilly passing his half century in the process before he was caught for 57 at the halfway point in the innings. The score had reached 86-2.

Van Der Meulen joined Diamond at the crease and wasted no time in increasing the scoring rate. He pummelled 67 from 54 balls including 8 fours and 1 six. He and Diamond both brought up half centuries on their way to a partnership of 108.

By the time both were out the score was 202-4 with 4 to go. Robbins, H. Choules Daldorph & Slaviero had licence to go after the final 4 and brought the score to 232-7 at close.

After an immaculate Broom tea, the new ball was handed to Slaverio and teenager Daldorph. Slaverio bowled with impressive pace whilst Daldorph caused issues with the swinging ball.

After the first powerplay the visitors were 37-1, Daldorph picking up the wicket with thanks to a smart catch in the gully by Jason.

A double bowling change which brought Van der Meulen and Jopling into the attack was the beginning of the end for the visitors. A high quality 5 overs from the saffa gave him figures of 3-11, the highlight being the wicket of dangerman Seaward, displacing his leg stump. Jopling added another 3 wickets to his tally for the season and with the score at 74-7, Thorverton were in control.

The skipper (3-22) dealt with the tail and Killy were all out for 114 in the 30th over. Only Gooding, Rocket & Reed scored more than 20 for the visitors.

Match Highlights on YouTube

Scorecard

Thors mad it 2 wins in a row, picked up 19 points and shot to 5th in the table. Next week we travel to Barton in front of the Disney+ film crew who are following and filming the Torquay side’s overseas player for the summer.

After the heroics at the County Ground a day earlier, a tired and injury depleted Thorverton XI travelled to Bovey Tracey for the Second Round of the Sunbelt Rentals Devon T20. Both sides were handed byes in the first round and a place in the quarter finals was up for grabs.

Thors lined up with: Chilcott, H. Choules, Porter, Van Der Meulen, Heard, G. Daldroph, Jopling, J. Choules, Tait, I. Daldorph, Jordan.

Bovey won the toss and elected to bat on a warm day at the Recreation Ground. The hosts set about positively but Daldorph, Van der Meulen and Heard bowled well in the powerplay to restrict the hosts to 40-0 from the first 6.

The opening pair then looked to increase the pace going after the off spin of Choules and Heard. Heard removed Kopparambil at the halfway stage for 23 as the score reached 71-1.

In came Afghan international Munir Kakar who struck the pink ball around the park with significant force before Heard removed him for 25 with thanks to an impressive Van der Meulen catch.

Opener Will Christophers reached his half century almost immediately afterwards as he and the home skipper brought the score to 143-3 until Jopling removed the opener.

With wickets in hand, Bovey continued to accelerate in the final overs and reached a total of 189-7. Only George Daldorph went for less than 9 an over for the Tractors.

Harry Choules and Alistair Chilcott were tasked with setting about the chase but after a couple of quick singles Choules was bowled by a tidy inswinger.

Chilcott played with freedom as he and Porter ran well to move the score to 36-1 at the end of the 6 over powerplay, not dissimilar to the Bovey total at the same stage.

The next over Porter took a blow to his thigh and new tattoo which caused him some discomfort and he was stumped a couple of balls later.

Chilcott was caught on the boundary the following ball for a smart 27 and here the trouble began.

Wickets fell regularly with nobody else facing as many balls as Stuart Tait (11) and Imogen Daldorph (6 not out). From 40-1 to 83-9, the writing was on the wall. Paul Jordan was removed on the last ball of the innings and Bovey advanced to the next round. Ex Bovey captain Toby Codd finished with figures of 5-14.

A big thank you to Bob Rice for scoring. There will be more T20 action for the Thors later in the summer in the form of the Covid Cup and hopefully a return fixture with Sandford CC.

Week 3 in the 2022 DCL season and the 1st XI were still looking to get an elusive first win. Cricket at this level wasn’t about to get any easier as it was a trip to the County Ground to face city-side Exeter.

Thors made two changes as Chilcott was back in for the unavailable Hooper and George Daldorph replaced injured Slaviero.

Skipper Choules kept up his 100% toss record for the season and elected to bat.

Greed and Chilcott opened up and did well to negotiate some tricky spin bowling from Sam Read unscathed. The classy opening pair accumulated runs well reaching 75 before the first wicket fell in the 21st over.

Wickets then began to tumble thanks to some smart bowling from Jehan Daniel and Billy Buckingham. Given collapses in previous weeks, alarm bells set in with the score at 96-4. However, Diamond and Robbins had other ideas. Diamond worked hard to support an explosive counter attacking knock from Robbins. Dan scoring 58 from 48 balls including 4 sixes. By the time he was out the score was 196-5 with just over 3 overs to go.

A couple of blows from Pitt followed by some good running from Harry Choules and Diamond secured a total of 230-6. 6 runs of which were penalties due to the hosts’ slow over rate which wasn’t helped by their 56 extras.

After an enjoyable tea (and a quick trip to Shobrooke and back for Robbins), the new ball was handed to Daldorph and Van Der Meulen.

Harry Fisher in particular started positively for the city side but a smart piece of fielding from Greed saw the end of his opening partner who was run out. After the first powerplay Exeter were 45-1.

Robbins and Diamond were then introduced, the former picking up the wicket of Buckingham. Sam Read then made his way to the middle as he and Fisher looked to take the game away from Thorverton.

There was a good battle between the positive batting pair and spin duo Choules (3-46) and Jopling (3-39) with Jopling removing Fisher just after his half century with the score on 100. He picked up the number 5 shortly after and the game was in the balance but with Sam Read and Jehan Daniel in, the hosts would’ve felt in control.

Read despatched Choules for one the bigger sixes you’re likely to see this season but the skipper had his man caught at short third man soon after. He then removed Daniel thanks to a great catch from Diamond and with the score on 152-6 the pendulum may have swung Thorverton’s way again.

At this stage Robbins picked up a worrying injury diving for a ball on the boundary, dislocating his shoulder in the process. Exeter very sportingly allowed Thors to use a sub fielder and fittingly it was Imogen Daldorph of Exeter Ladies and Thorverton 2nds fame who was subbed on. Genuine thanks to Exeter for allowing this.

A period of tight and attritional league cricket followed with the hosts quietly accumulating and Thorverton picking up another couple of wickets.

As the County Ground filled with Thorverton supporters and the already-victorious 2nd XI, fielders and bowlers were given a real boost. 170-8 with 12 to go then.

Archie Spittles batted impressively and took the score past 200 with just over 5 to go. A couple more clean strikes from Spittles and the game was looking out of reach for Thors until Pitt took a very tidy caught and bowled to remove the danger man, rolling his ankle in the process.

Exeter’s final pair required 14 from the last 3 overs. Van der Meulen thought he had won it for Thors with a big LBW shout but it was turned down.

The ball was back with the injured Pitt, with the hosts now requiring 9 from 2 overs. Third ball into the over Harry Choules rapidly took the bails off as the batter’s foot was raised for a split second and up went the finger. Scenes ensued, a mix of relief and ecstasy in the Thorverton ranks.

SCORECARD

Overall a fantastic game of cricket and it just felt that Thors needed it that bit more on the day. Kilmington at home next in the league as we will look to build some momentum. However there are no easy games in this division, particularly with an ever growing injury list.

The third game of the DCL season saw the 2nd XI entertain Braunton 2nd XI at Station Ground.

Captain Jack Stirling won his first toss of the season, electing to bat. Thors made one enforced change from the win over Sidmouth; J.Farley, A.Daldorph, B.Coe, D.Baldock, P.Stirling+, B.Heard, J.Porter, G.Squire, J.Meredith, S.Tait, J.Stirling.

Farley and Daldorph opened the batting and fought well against a tight new ball pairing of Jones and Johnson, reaching 26-0 after the first ten overs. Farley hung around until just before drinks, bowled by Ed Holmes for a tidy 25.

Ben Coe joined Daldorph and the pair set about going after the change bowlers and the run rate increased, Daldorph bringing up his 50 off 52 balls, with some classy cuts and drives. Coe also found the boundary seven times before being caught by Hooke off Harrison for 37. By the time Coe departed, the score had reached 148-2 in the 34 over.

Thors’ middle order struggled to make an impact, with Baldock, P.Stirling and Porter all departing without scoring. Heard (14 from 12) and Squire (9 from 7) helped support the relentless Daldorph who brought up a deserved century off 95 balls and a place on the virtual honours board before falling LBW for 103 six balls later. Some aggressive running during cameos by Meredith and Tait took the total to 220-8 by the close of innings.

After many of the XI had gorged on slightly too much of a stupendous Louise Heard tea, Porter and Tait took the new ball. Tait in particular kept things tight and was rewarded in his second over, bowling opener Hunt in a bizarre fashion; the ball being hit into his pad and rolling back to hit the stumps. He struck again in his next over, finding the edge of James’ bat for a routine caught behind by Paul Stirling, leaving the visitors 19-2 after 5. Porter and Tait continued to the ten over mark, with the visitors 34-2.

The increasingly commonly sighted first change pairing of Coe and Heard took over, keeping the Braunton batters quiet, until Heard got a ball to bounce and grip to Wood, found the edge of the bat and the hands of Baldock at slip via a deflection from P.Stirling’s gloves. Heard struck twice again before the drinks break, with a bowled and another catch for Baldock at slip; the visitors 63-5 after twenty overs. Meredith replaced Bobby; Heard’s five overs returning an impressive 3-17.

Coe continued to plug away, whilst Meredith bowled a discombobulated Hookes through the gate, who had to be assured that he was in fact out. Coe finally picked up a deserved wicket with the penultimate ball of his spell with an LBW. He finished with figures of 9-2-24-1.

Meredith picked up the wicket of opener Ed Holmes in the 28th over. Holmes’ well made 44 was the solitary double figure score for the visitors.

Skipper Jack Stirling brought himself into the attack at 93-8 and five balls later, the visitors were all out on the same total, the final wicket thanks to an incredible catch by Stuart Tait at short cover; a second 20 point win in a row.

Thank you to Rich Lloyd for umpiring, Bob Rice for scoring and Louise Heard for an impeccable tea.

The twos travel down the A30 to face Honiton next Saturday.

We are pleased to announce that we are running our Cricket Camp in May Half Term for boys & girls aged 10+. The camps will be run by overseas star Jason Van Der Meulen.

Date: Mon 30th May to Weds 1st June

Thorverton Cricket Club, Station Ground, Thorverton, EX5 5LX

Time 9.30 to 3.30

Please provide a packed lunch.

Cost: £20 a day or £50 for all 3 days.

Booking essential.

Please book by Sunday 29th May * camp will run subject to numbers so early bookings appreciated.

Please email: jasonvdm1462@gmail.com

Call Jason on: 07818347385

Payment required before hand by BACS to:

Thorverton CC

Sort Code 30-93-14

Account 01257512