Post date: Jul 19, 2015 9:16:57 AM
The Millaton men arrived from all directions after navigating to unfamiliar territory in North Devon. Jutson again won the away toss and elected to bowl but with a good looking, if used track, the consensus was that there was probably not much advantage either way, hence Jutson winning. Steve Batstone once again donned the gloves, resplendent in sartorial elegance and very much looking the part, pre-broken fingers and all. The standard modus operandi was adopted with Jutson and Shaw opening the bowling. Filleigh openers Williams and D. Squire survived some squeaky moments in the first few overs but gradually increased in confidence and played well. Shaw was struggling with his run up and with a well drilled opening pair who had clearly seen pace before, Jutson decided to make an early change introducing 'Bomber' Harris who was unlucky to have a catch dropped at short cover by Ewen early on. Dave Jopling replaced Jutson but by then the Filleigh openers were looking very solid as they passed 50 for no loss. With Jutson mixing things up, it was the introduction of newcomer Jack Barkwell that made the difference. Bowling some tight, swinging lines at pace, Barkwell tore through the Filleigh top order taking a Fifer that included 2 bowled, 2 l.b.w and a snick that was miraculously taken by Steve Batstone behind the stumps. Finishing with 8-4-5-16, Barkwell led the charge which included Keiran Lee's maiden wicket as well as wickets for Jopling, Jutson and the returning Harris. Keiran also took 2 smart catches in what was an all round excellent Bridestowe bowling and fielding performance. Filleigh struggled to 109, never looking like enough on a good pitch.
The Bridestowe reply was always a nervous affair. With the moor men having thrown away two games in similar conditions, even the ever calm Batstone admitted to some nerves as he went out with opening partner Jopling. Unfortunately, the anxiety was to be well founded as the Squire sisters looked to exact bitter revenge having both been extracted without troubling the scorer by Barkwell when batting. The girls bowled with relentless accuracy, and Jopling went early as Anne Squire swung a ball across him to take out off stump. Whilst scoring was tough, Batstone seemed secure, playing with a straight bat and getting to the pitch well. That was until Millie Squire pushed one wide and Batstone tried to thrash it to cover only getting an edge taken well in the slips. This brought on-fire Barkwell to the crease who set his stall out early, smashing Millie back over her head second ball for 4. After a couple of other brutal blows, he was then caught as Filleigh moved straighter at long on, setting the trap. Kieran Lee was unlucky to get a corker first up from Mille Squire that speared in and ripped out off stump first ball. Ewen came and went in similar fashion to Barkwell, again to Millie Squire but this time to a stupendous catch on the boundary. So with Ewen shaking his head on the way back to the hutch, Bridestowe found themselves at 30-4 and even the optimistic were beginning to think that it was going to be a repeat of the Exwick game. Fortunately, this time the pitch was not a mine field and this allowed Shaw (40 n.o) and Jutson (17 n.o), to build an innings. Things eased considerably as the Squire girls bowled their allotted overs and the change bowlers simply could not maintain the standards set by the sisters. By the time enough overs had been bowled for them to return, Briddy were nearly home and Shaw and Jutson survived a few anxious moments to secure a good win.
Another game played in great spirits against good opposition that pulls the second-string back into league contention. A good performance in the field was exemplified by Jack Shaw and whose ground fielding saved something like 20 runs on a day where Bridestowe could well have travelled short. That and the return from the X-Box wilderness of Tom Batstone made the difference. Tom also saved a lot of runs in the field and demonstrated the nonsense of genealogy by showing that unlike his dad, his arm is made of something more substantial than chocolate. With a Ewen family wedding and holiday season in full-swing, it will need all hands to the deck next week to ensure that both BCC sides keep the push for the top going.
Wounded soldier Steve Batstone, displaying one of his 2 broken fingers following the win at Filleigh.