Cricket- County Division Six (East)

Tideford II v Luckett II

On yet another hot and sunny day at St Germans, both Captains were anxious to bat first and not endure a long and tiring afternoon in the field. Tideford won the toss and duly elected to bat.

Tideford's game plan was to keep the opposition in the field for 48 overs under a hot sun, post a competitive score and then to take early wickets, exactly what Luckett have done to so many other teams this season with great effect on their way to the top of the table.

Vaughan Roberts, having finally made himself available for selection, showed again what a fine attacking batsman he is by hitting a number of boundaries in his 44 before he became Robin's first wicket with the score at 66-2, Luff having departed earlier for three out of an opening stand of 46.

By the time Luckett wicketkeeper Robins had called for the helmet, it had become apparent that this was not quite the batting track it had appeared at the toss and balls were popping off a good length, making life difficult for both batsman and keeper alike.

Ian Trundley batted with patience and application for 24 before he became the seventh wicket but there were no other significant contributions from the bat and the innings closed at 156 in the penultimate over. For Luckett, 14-y-o Adrian Robins had bowled well for his 5-58 return off 15 overs and Ingersen chipped with 3-23 at the end of the innings.

In reply, Luckett were reduced to 26-3 after 9 overs and the game appeared to be going Tideford's way, particularly after Gair had been dismissed by an 'unplayable' ball from Olver whicb kept ominously low. At the other end, Bolitho reasoned that the only way to play on such a wicket was to go for his shots. His gamble, aided by some poor catching was to prove successful, but only just.

With the Luckett middle-order struggling, Colwill came in to bat at No.7. He prodded his second ball nervously to short cover, but crucially the simple catch was not taken and this was to prove vital. He played a typical unorthodox innings, pulling everything he could square of the wicket, scoring a match winning 38. Bolitho, the only other significant contributor, was finally caught for 44 after being dropped a number of times, the most farcical being when three fielders converged at mid-on to catch a simple skier that was ultimately grounded.

With the scores tied at 156-9 in the 43rd over, young Adrian Robbins nudged a ball into the covers and scampered home for the winning run as a mis-field prevented the chance of a run out and with it, another tied match for the home side.

In the end it was the narrowest of defeats for Tide ford and their mixture of young and not so young players against top of the league opposition, but they were left to reflect on the old adage, ~catches win matches".

Scores - Tideford 156 (Roberts 44, Trundley 24, Robins 5-58, Ingerson 3-23, Colwill 1-21, Bolitho 1-46). Luckett 157-9 (Bolitho 44, Colwill 38, Ingerson 17; Olver 3-37, D Holland 3-49, Shaw 2-23, R Holland 1-31).

Luckett (18) bt Tideford (7) by one wkt.