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

On a sunny May evening, Thors pulled on the coloured kit for the first time this season to take on Sandford in a T20 friendly as a warm up for the Sunbelt Rentals Devon T20 away at Bovey Tracey 1st XI on Sunday.

Thors lined up with:- A.Pitt, A.Chilcott, B.Coe, G.Greed, J.Van Der Meulen, D.Baldock, J.Porter+, B.Heard, B.Slaviero, J.Choules*, J.Stirling.

Skipper Choules won the toss and decided to have a bat on a fresh deck. Pitt got the innings off to a flyer, with Pitt finding the boundary with some impressive drives and ramps to take the score to 18-0 after the opening over from James Theedom. Chilcott ably supported him in an attritional fashion throughout the powerplay overs, with Pitt (26 from 20) falling to the final ball of the fielding restrictions, chipping Griffiths to Gidney at mid-wicket. As the field was permitted to spread, Thors had reached 43-1.

Chilcott fell for 14 (23) not longer after. Coe and Greed threatened to play themselves in on a slowish pitch, but fell to Foan (Coe 11 from 18) and Morgan-Huggett (Greed 3 from 9) respectively, leaving Thors 69-4 after 12 overs.

The new pairing of Van Der Meulen & Baldock went hard at the Sandford bowlers and quicky accelerated the score. Van Der Meulen dispatched Foan over long off for 6, followed by dispatching Everett over the fence for a second maximum an over later. The nonchalant Baldock calmly hit 7 fours, including three balls in a row off the spin of Harry Everett. By the time Morgan-Huggett had removed Van Der Meulen LBW for 27 from 18 balls, the hosts had forced themselves into a much better position of 114-5 with three overs remaining. Baldock continued his aggression, finishing with red ink next to his name for a classy 38 from 24. He was nicely supported by a cameo from Porter (8 from 12). Thors finished on 150-6.

Thors opened with the Southern Hemispherian pairing of Slaviero & Van Der Meulen who kept things quiet during the opening couple of overs. Their pressure was rewarded when Slaviero struck in the third over, removing Griffiths with an inswinger which clattered the top of leg stump. An enforced bowling change after a pull up from Slaviero saw the skipper pick up the wicket of James Theedom in his opening overs, after he coughed up the easiest of catches to Slavierio, who departed the pitch with Theedom with an injury scare and was replaced by substitute fielder Stuart Tait. At the end of the powerplay, the visitors had stumbled to 15-1.

Stirling was introduced to the attack with a change of ends for Choules. Thors continued the squeeze with Matten succumbing to Stirling, well caught by Heard. The experienced Foan struck his first ball over the road and into the Orchard before Morgan-Huggett was stumped by some tidy right-handed work from Porter. At the halfway point in the chase, Sandford were facing a monumental task of 11 an over required, with the score at just 40-5.

Stirling picked up a couple more; Foan caught at long on by Coe, and Blake caught low down by Greed at short cover. Stirling finished with figures of 3-28, Choules with 2-20.

Another spin pairing of Pitt & Heard came into the attack, with Pitt having Harry Everett caught at square leg by sub fielder Tait. Heard then bowled James to leave the visitors on the precipice.

Chilcott was introduced for a rare trundle for the 19th over, and finished the game with his very first ball, bowling Morgan-Huggett with an inducker. The visitors all out for 86.

SCORECARD

The game was played in friendly spirits, with both sides retiring to the bar for drinks and pasties.

Thank you to PJ for umpiring, Alex Jopling for scoring and Keeley for cooking the food afterwards.

Thors take on Bovey Tracey in the Sunbelt Rentals Devon T20 on Sunday.

We are delighted to announce that we have signed young all-rounder Sam Jefferson from Whimple. Sam was present at our indoors nets prior to the season and we have now formalised the signing with the Devon Cricket League.

Sam has an impressive return of 803 league runs @ 25.9 (including a league hundred) and 57 league wickets @ 24, at the age of just 19.

Sam is currently travelling and will join up with the squad at the end of June. Find out more about Sam below:-

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Highest Score?
103

Best Figures?
5-6

Favourite Cricket Moment?
Hitting my first ton

Worst Cricket Moment?
Dropped a dolly off the last batter in the freezing rain then having to stay out in the field for an extra 6 overs

Funniest Cricket Moment?
We were tied going into the last over, I bowled 5 dots then a no ball that went sailing over the batters head to lose the game.

Favourite Cricket Tea Item?
Pork pie

Song Recommendation?
Human the killers

Tv or Film Recommendation?
Rush hour

Cricketing Idol?
Andrew Flintoff

Most used emoji?
😂

Other clubs played for?
Whimple & Exeter

What attracted you to Thorverton?
The players

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Skipper Jake Choules had the following to say about Sam’s acquisition:-

“Really excited to have signed Sam who is a player we have had our eye on for a little while. He comes with good recommendations from some of our younger players who have played school and representative cricket with him.

Whilst our senior teams are younger than many we come up against, we aren’t getting any younger. We have some great juniors coming through the system but they’re not all quite ready for adult cricket yet so our two signings this year have been made with this in mind.

I have no doubts that Sam will fit in well and contribute on the field. We hope he enjoys the rest of his time travelling before joining up with his later in the summer”.

Following last week’s comfortable win at home to Woodbury & NSC, the 2nd XI took the trip to Newton Poppleford to take on Sidmouth 3rd XI.

Saj Patidar won the toss for the hosts and elected to bat. Thors made three changes with the following taking to the field:- J.Farley, A.Daldorph, B.Coe, P.Stirling+, D.Baldock, G.Squire, G.Daldorph, B.Heard, J.Meredith, S.Tait, J.Stirling*

A new ball combination of George Daldorph and Stuart Tait was employed and made a promising start with Daldorph striking the top of middle stump to remove Pugsley with just the fourth ball of the game. Both our openers kept things tight until the left-handed Lewis at three for the hosts decided to counter-attack with intent after being dropped twice, taking the hosts to 56-1 after the first ten overs.

Heard and Coe were introduced to the attack, with Heard removing Cox LBW. Lewis brought up his 50 before chipping a caught and bowled back to Heard with the score on 77-3. Heard impressively took a two further wickets, including a second caught and bowled to remove the experienced Patidar, finishing with 4-27. Coe got in on the act taking 1-31.

The spin combination of skipper Jack Stirling and James Meredith quickly mopped up the tail taking a pair of wickets each. The hosts were bowled out for 128 after 34.3 overs.

After an eventful tea which included four unprepared players having to share a solitary fork, Farley and Daldorph got us underway in the chase. Thanks to a few extras and some dismissive shots from Daldorph, we found ourselves 27-0 after three overs, before Farley was bowled by left armer Lewis for 2. Coe had a brief stay at number three, before gloving a ball that leapt off the pitch through to Goodwin behind the stumps.

Paul Stirling joined Daldorph at the crease, just as his new girlfriend had just arrived. Impressively, the first two balls he faced consisted of being clean bowled by a no ball, then getting hit in the unmentionables trying to strike the resulting free hit to neighbouring Tipton St John. A lengthy time was spent on the deck, accompanied by a chorus of unsympathetic laughter from fielders & team mates on the sidelines. His day didn’t get much better when he was smartly caught by Patidar at slip for just 5, leaving Thors 47-3.

Daldorph was bowled by Hodgson for a well made 25 and Grant Squire followed for 1 shortly after to leave us in a state of bother at 73-5.

The experienced Baldock counter attacked with a quick fire 22 including four boundaries, before managing to dispatch a log-hop from young spinner Hext straight down the throat of deep square-leg. The youthful partnership of Bobby Heard and George Daldorph shored things up for Thors and saw us home, Daldorph finishing 30* from 30 balls; as the clock struck just 5pm, Heard ended the game with a 6 over deep backward square-leg to finish with a run a ball 12. Thors returned to watch the first XI with 20 points and leaves us second in the league, a point behind early league leaders Topsham St James.

Thank you to Alan Birmingham for umpiring and Bob Rice for scoring.

Next up is the visit of Braunton 2nd XI on Saturday.

Budleigh Salterton were the visitors for the 1st XIs first home league game of the season.

Thors lined up with: Greed, Fielder, Diamond, Van der Meulen, Robbins, H. Choules, Pitt, Hooper, Slaviero, J. Choules, Jopling

Choules won the toss and elected to field. Initially it looked to be the correct decision as Budleigh were reeling at 25-3. 2 wickets for Van der Meulen with thanks to diving catches from Harry Choules and one for Slaviero who cleaned up a Budleigh opener.

Budleigh rebuilt, however, and were 93-3 at the halfway point. Choules then took 2 wickets in an over including overseas player, Peiris, who was trapped lbw for 47.

Wickets continued to tumble and Thors had Budleigh 117-7. The visitors though continued to accumulate runs at a good rate, largely thanks to 84 not out from James Doble. Thorverton struggled to bowl in consitent areas, there were too many extras and the visitors ended up on 251-9.

After a fantastic tea thanks to Keeley Wells, Greed and Fielder set about the significant chase. Matters weren’t helped by Fielder being adjudged lbw for 0 early on.

However, Diamond and Greed saw out the rest of the powerplay until Diamond fell for 34. The score was 47-2.

Next came Thor’s most encouraging spell of the innings as Greed (47) and Van der Meulen (42) looked fully in control at the crease putting on 78 for the third wicket. However both fell in quick succession and Budleigh never looked back.

A collapse ensued and Thors fell from 125-2 to 151 all out. Nobody outside the top 4 made double figures.

SCORECARD

Thorverton learnt the hard way that things will be tougher in the A Division as opposition teams bat deeper and the bowling is a lot more consistent. With lessons learnt and 7 bonus points collected, it is a trip to city side Exeter next.

The Womens softball team were in action again on Sunday at Cullompton; the reverse of last weeks fixture.

There were debuts for Nic Fice and Cat Vincent with Thorverton lining up as:

Sophie Whiteley (C), Lisa May, Vanessa Wilson, Natasha Carbines, Cat Vincent, Nic Fice, Lucy Harget and Charli Harlow. 

There had been plenty of rain overnight resulting in a wet outfield but luckily the astroturf pitch could be used. Having won the toss, Thorverton took to the field. May opened the bowling followed by captain Whiteley who struck with her first ball – a sharp caught and bowled to dismiss her opposite number. Cullomptons first pair finished on 20-1.

Carbines and Wilson bowled the next set of 4 overs which were full of action. Quick fielding and an accurate throw from Harget into Carbines resulted in a run out in the first. The Cullompton pair then came back with a couple of boundaries in the second before the Harget and Carbines combo struck again with an identical run-out. The final over swung back to Cully with Coonick striking a four and a six! 48-3 at halfway.

The momentum continued with the home side through the overs of Fice and Vincent who were both bowling for the first time ever in a match, the score stood at 91-3 with four overs to go. Harget and Harlow were the final Thorvy players to bowl, but it was their fielding that created the wicket. A pinpoint throw from Harlow and quick hands from Hargetresulted in the third run-out of the innings. Similarly to the previous week Cullompton were aided by a few wides and finished on a total of 130-4.

Having taken four wickets the Thorverton chase started on 20. The May-Whiteley opening partnership worked well with both players striking two boundaries each and putting on a 30 without losing a wicket to take the score to 50. The accurate Cully bowling quartet soon got into their rhythm though and took the wicket of Wilson. Carbines counter attacked with a boundary before a mix up between resulted in a run out and the score at 72-2 at halfway. Fice and Vincent left the ball well to pick up the extras but the bowling was becoming increasingly hard to get away and a good catch in the field left the score at 95-3. The final pair of Harget and Harlow were left with a big ask of 50 from the final four overs. The intent was clearly there with a boundary off the first ball and quick running between the wickets. Harlow carved a four through the off-side but was then smartly caught the next ball. Hargetwent all out, smashing the ball straight and through the leg-side for three boundaries in the penultimate over.

The Cully captain took the final over and was right on target.The Thorvy pairs great running continued with three twos but it was Cully who had the final say with Harget out bowled going for another boundary. It was a valiant effort with 45 scored from the final four overs but it was not quite enough as Cullompton came out on top by 15 runs.

Cullompton – 130 runs scored + 5 wickets taken = 155

Thorverton – 120 runs scored + 4 wickets taken = 140 

Thank you to Cullompton for getting the game on and providing a fantastic tea – good luck for the rest of your season!

A definite improvement for the Womens team in their second league match with all eight players contributing with bowling, batting and in the field. More runs scored and wickets taken than the previous week, two debutants and plenty to take forward into training. 

We also bid a fond farewell to Charli Harlow as she moves away, good luck ‘up North’ and hope to see you soon!