Previous Match Reports

North Devon Cricket League season 2006/2007:

Newton Tracey 2nds v Bishops Nympton 9 September

On a cloudy and overcast afternoon, skipper Colin won the toss and inserted Bishops Nympton in a must win game. After 3 early boundaries for the opposition, Jo and Colin started making inroads and in no time at all they were 28 for 5, Colin taking 4 for 9 in his 9 overs, however a large stand for the 6th wicket between skipper Warren and Lochead steadied the ship. Colin was forced to try Rob Howe for a couple of overs before Andy hurt his calf muscle bowling only his 3rd ball. Mark and Bill were strangely off colour bowling, though Bill got 2 wickets. Bishops Nymptons total was 170 for 9

In reply Bill didnt last long, hitting straight to cover for a pair for the weekend, Graham Moore was bedding down for a long innings at the other end as a succession of partners fell. Mark Cowling came out at number 7 to steady the ship getting 21, before holing out on the boundary. Mark stayed there acting as a runner for Andy, before he got bowled. The run rate was fine all the way through, Graham started opening up as darkness was getting nearer as Newton took over 3 hours to bowl their overs! He eventually fell with about 15 required, holing out on the cover boundary for 86, leaving the job to Colin and Jo which they managed comforably in the 42nd over, by just 2 wickets

 

Men of the match  Graham Moore & Colin Wadsworth

Sandford  V Newton Tracey Aug 19th

On a wet, miserable morning, captain S.Gear took a phone call from Sandford who were angling to call the game off which would have arguably suited Newton's title hopes. Backing his side Gear preferred to travel on the off chance the weather would clear up, it did!

Newton won the toss and put the home side (that included 6 of their Devon league side) in on a green wicket. As expected, seamers Chatham and Steward got the ball to move around but despite this R.Tucker looked in good form and kept the runs ticking over with a series of well struck boundaries. The change of pace that followed saw R.Gear take the first of his four wicket haul but it was not danger man Tucker.

After Chatham had finished his 7 accurate overs, Steward got a chance from the other end and removed Tucker thanks to a well taken low catch from ball magnet Soby. Surely, this must have been one of the 'Key moments' that prophet/captain S.Gear had referred to in his inspirational 'There will be eight key moments ahead if we are to win this league' speech a few weeks earlier. Newton then began to make steady inroads through the Sandford order.

Two more good catches one from Steward and the other from Whormsley removed the other two main run contributors in what was a good fielding display, underpinned by a fine wicket keeping performance from Screech who took a stumping and and conceded no byes. Barter's impressive form with the ball continued as he took 2 wickets. By the end S.Gear also had taken 2 along with Steward which left the home side all out for 149.

Although 149 was by no means a big score, Newton were aware that it was not the friendliest of batting tracks and approached the run chase with due caution. S.Gear opened with new partner J.Turner as Screech had sustained a nasty foot injury whilst wearing flip flops. Both openers batted sensibly and it was only a run out that broke what looked like a match winning partnership, Turner being the unlucky casualty.. This seemed to prompt S.Gear who now had his eye in, to come down the wicket and hit some great six's and fours before he was caught in the deep for 73..

With only 40 runs needed and with 8 competent batsmen remaining, Newton knew that the hard work was done, this showed in the extravagance of Newton's batting, R.Gear hitting A.Wright for four with a reverse sweep before also being caught. Moore followed suit after hitting a couple of boundaries. Having lost a few wickets I Gear was sent out to consolidate and did exactly that to see Newton home by 6 wickets. Well played boys, another step closer to the title  MAN OF MATCH:   SIMON GEAR

Filliegh V Newton Tracey Aug 5th

A weakened Newton side (no R.Gear or J.Turner) lost the toss and were put in by a Filleigh side that knew all too well how much Newton prefer to chase. Despite a first baller for Screech, Newton got off to a positive start thanks to a solid batting display from S.Gear whose 56 provided the back bone of the innings. Gear got plenty of support though with Williams and Steward both getting into the thirties.

Finishing one run short of 200 Newton felt they had a 50/50 chance of defending their total. Enter Phil Steward, who thanks to healthy support from his fielders, proceeded to produce surely one of the best bowling spells Newton have seen, taking 5 wickets for just 9 runs in 9 overs. This ripped the heart out of the Filleigh batting order and the remaining batsmen fell to some good support bowling from Chatham and Gear for a total of 66.

MAN OF MATCH:  PHIL STEWARD

Newton Tracey V Beaford July 22nd

Newton won the toss and elected to bowl, Steward bowling with good pace found edge after edge only to concede countless boundaries through the third man area. This allowed Beaford to get a good start but they were soon pinned back by a great bowling spell from R.Gear (9-4-13) Newton's other bowlers supported well and Beaford limped to 142 -9 of their 45 overs.

Newton were always confident of chasing such a low total, but all did not go according to plan. None of Newton's top 5 got over 20 and there were plenty of nervous moments before Steward proved that he's not just a bowler by guiding Newton home with an impressive 33 leading Newton to a 2 wicket win  MAN OF MATCH:   PHIL STEWARD.

 

Newton Tracey v Bideford (NDL Div 1) 08/07/07

Bideford won the toss and elected to bat in this potential title contention eliminator. Steward opened the bowling up the hill and was on the spot from the first ball. The former Hampshire 2nd's bowler's rehabilitation back into the sport following a plane crash in which he broke his back seems to be well on track. He produced his best spell for Newton cleaning out danger man M. Allin and only really conceding runs through the wicketkeeper to 3rd man area. Spencer-Peet at the other end struggled through injury and at times paid for it but was still able to dismiss another danger man, Bowser before his handicap got the better of him.

Despite losing two relatively early wickets, Bideford's run rate was actually quite high as so many boundaries had gone between third man and fine leg. Consequently, after some impressive boundary hitting from Kerr and some awful fielding by Newton, Bideford at 85-2 off 15 overs, looked to be amassing a daunting total . Sensing this, captain S.Gear decided to take the pace out of the attack bringing on spinners Turner and R.Gear, this proved to be exactly the right move and once again R.Gear displayed why he is so vital to the team by bowling a tight spell of 9 overs 1-18. More importantly, the wicket he got was the batsman Kerr who had been doing a fair bit of damage at the other end. Turner and Gear bowled through and by taking a wicket each, helped to peg Bideford back and change the course of the innings.

By the time captain S.Gear and Whormsley came on to bowl, the team seemed more upbeat and this was affirmed when both Gear and Soby took good catches to dismiss Aussie, Hughes and another hard hitter. Bideford's problems were compounded when Whormsley ran out another batsman off his own bowling. All in all the last 15 overs heavily went the way of the home side as Bideford limped to 191-9 thanks to tidy bowling from S,Gear 7 overs 1-19 and Whormsley 4 overs 3-11.

Openers S.Gear and Screech took up where they had left off in the previous fixture between these two sides before rain had cruelly intervened. Both batsmen seeming to effortlessly hit boundaries got the home side to a great start. But the partnership was ended with Gear on 21 being given out LBW despite having seemingly got a good chunk of bat on it. This brought in Julian 'ginger ninja' Moore. Gear's dismissal seemed to affect Screech and he started to go after everything, frequently despatching all manor of good deliveries to the boundary. Ultimately he went after one too many though and despite almost putting it into orbit, was caught very convincingly by an agile, young fielder.

R.Gear batted at number four and came in at a time when Bideford's captain had also drawn the conclusion that it was a slow bowlers wicket and brought on the joint spin attack of Bowser and Clarke. Clarke won the encounter and Gear departed for 6 giving a simple catch. As the run rate was never going to be a factor Whormsley and Moore dug in against the spinners who on a dying wicket were proving hard work. Moore fell next on 33 with a similar dismissal to R.Gear, then the new batsman I.Gear departed after Bowser turned one a considerable distance up the hill. Whormsley on 10 was then bowled off his pads by Clarke in his last over leaving the bowler with figures of 9 overs 3-10. This left the game in a precarious position with Newton 152-7, with 14 overs remaining.

Fortunately, Bideford did not have any more slow bowlers to replace Clarke or Bowser and Newton still had experienced batsmen to come in the form of Soby and Turner. A good second spell from Bettis put a bit of pressure on, but a young bowler at the other end gave sufficient opportunities for the two to guide Newton home to a 3 wicket win without too many nervous moments. A relatively comfortable win in a massively important game was particularly satisfying because the team displayed real grit and determination to turn the game around, a quality that has not been common in recent seasons. Man of the match is a hard one but as he bowled and captained well, caught their Aussie out and was unlucky to be out, the Man of the match is: Simon Gear

Bishops Nympton V Newton Tracey 2nd XI

Despite bowling the home side out for 94 thanks to tight bowling by A.Chatham (3-8) Wadsworth and Cowling. Newton could not chast this total down and flopped to a disappointing 66 all out. With Chatham top scoring with 14 ! Come back Graham Moore all is forgiven ! Man of Match A.Chatham

 

 

Newton Tracey v North Devon (20:20 Knockout cup Semi final Semi 29th June)

North Devon won the toss and put the home side in to bat. Despite the fact that a wet wicket meant that Devon's pace bowler Allin was not getting much life out of the track, both openers Whormsley and S.Gear struggled to adapt to the slow, dead track. It was all too inevitable then that both went early playing overly expansive shots. J.Moore and T.Williams were the next two in and after sensibly giving themselves a few balls began their usual six hitting escapade. North Devon's other opening bowler Payne began to feel the pressure after being hit for consecutive bounderies by Moore and the extras started to flow. The Replacement bowlers did not fair better however, particularly North Devon's Devon League spinner Dart who was taken for 27 in his first over thanks to some breath taking six hitting from Williams. With Newton starting to run away with the game further bowling changes followed and the experience of M.Gear and M.Westaway soon began to tell as the Newton's wickets began to fall. Four LBW's and a run out later, Newton were thankful for their wealth of batting as they were able to consolidate through the experience of Soby, Gay and A.Chatham. The wickets did continue to fall however and  A.Chatham finally followed in his son's footsteps by also being run out. This left Newton with a slightly below par score of 127 all out.

Newton would have to bowl well to defend this total against such a good batting side and they did not disappoint. A very determined G.Chatham opened the bowling down the hill partnered by an equally focussed P.Steward who has patiently waited for his chance with the new ball. They both bowled superbly well and looked to be generating more pace from the track than any of North Devon's bowlers. Supported by two good catches from Gay and Soby a shell shocked North Devon had slumped to 17-4 . The away side however, also benefited from depth in batting and Westaway and Overton 'steadied the ship', against controlled spells from Barter & S.Gear. As both spinners kept the visitors below their required run rate, they rewarded by bowling through . This left 4 Overs to go, the game was delicately poised with North Devon needing 9 an over at 90-6. With Newton needing two fresh bowlers, Turner backed himself and bowled the 17th Over down the hill. Westaway who had batted sensibly for 10 overs was struggling to find the boundary ball and gambled half way through Turner's over coming down the wicket. It came off as the ball narrowly avoided Soby's safe hands and went for 6. Despite this, the run rate remained at 9 with Whormsley to bowl his first over up the hill. Benefiting from a larger boundary behind him Whormsley pitched the ball up and restricting the visitors to just 4 from the over and also got a wicket courtesy of a good Steward catch. Danger man Westaway was still in though and Turner bowled a tight last six balls to leave the Instow side needing 15 to win off the last over. Whormsley's first ball went for 2, then 1, then crucially a dot ball stemmed the flow and put Westaway in a situation where he had to hit a boundary a ball. This pressure was too much for him and to much elation a well placed yorker finally removed the thorn in Newton's side. This left the visitors needing 11 off 2 balls. In true Newton style, Whormsley then kept the game alive by bowling a slow, full toss which was smashed by Payne and dropped/fumbled over the line for 6 by Williams meaning 5 was needed off the last ball. Fortunately Whormsley got this one right and produced another yorker which ended the game and will take Newton to the cup final for the first time in the club's history! Newton win by 5 runs. Man of the Match- N. Tracey! Nice one lads. !!

Bideford 2nds V Newton 2nds (1st July)

 

 Newton Tracey cricket club v Englefield Green (Friendly)

 

 

Newton Tracey 1st XI V Bideford 1st XI (June 18th)

Rain spoiled a game that was shaping up to be a real thriller:

Newton won the toss and opted to put the home side in on a green looking wicket that looked inviting to seamers. Newton's opening seam attack struggled to capitalise on this however and it was Bideford who gained early control of the game thanks to some fine strokes and a half century from Mat Allin. Newton did have their chances to break the partnership but wasted two great run out opportunities. This unfortunately seemed to set the tone for most of Newton's fielders and wave after wave of poor fielding displays followed.

A tight spell from Robert Gear reigned in Bideford's good start and he was rewarded with the first wicket that of their Australian Hughes. Frustratingly Robert was the only bowler who was able to bowl 6 good balls an over and although he also bowled M.Allin before the end of his spell,Bideford continued at 5 an over with Bowser (48) and Tom Allin (52)(who timed the ball beautifully from ball one) also able to exploit some very average bowling. With 15 overs to go and wickets in hand, Bideford looked like posting close to 300 but a disciplined spell from Turner (who took the pace out of the ball) and  better second spells from S.Gear (3-50) and Barter dried up the runs at the end. which restricted the home side to 247-6. 

Overall a disappointing fielding and bowling performance (with the exception of R.Gear's (2-20) and Turner's spells, a good catch from Whormsley and another stunning catch from J.Moore) allowed Bideford to post a  big score. Which, despite Newton's extremely strong batting line up, could well have still proved a challenge.

S.Gear and R.Screech opened the batting and Bideford's openers Bettis and Perham bowled with the discipline that Newton lacked leaving Newton with only 2 runs after 5 overs. Having had a decent look at the bowling, Newton's assault started in the 6th over as Gear began to come down the wicket to drive the bowlers to the boundary. Screech joined in with some hard hitting as the away side dominated the bowlers taking them for 45 in 5 overs. At 47 for 0 off 10 overs it was Newton who were probably the most disappointed that terminal rain descended.

A shame that we will never know what would have happened, one thing we do know from that performance however is that Newton are going to have to raise their fielding and bowling performances if they have any aspirations of winning this division!  Newton's  Man of Match: R.Gear

 

Newton Tracey 1st XI V Barnstaple & Pilton 1st XI (11th June 2007)

Barnstaple won toss and eleced to bat first. Uncharacteristically Spencer-Pete struggles to find line and length but Barter up the hill keeps Barnstaple's openers on the back foot. Barter is rewarded for his tight spell with a couple of wickets and Spencer-Pete gets one right to dismiss a very competent looking no 3. A great spell from Rob Gear then holds down his end for 9 overs despite some ordinary ground fielding from Newton. Turner capitalises on this pressure and takes 3 wickets at the other end. Leaving Chatham and Whormsley to bowl at the death. Overall a tight performance, with Turner getting 3 wickets and Barter and Whormsley picking up 2 a piece. Some good catches particularly one lunging dive forward by Turner. Two chances were put down however.

Rob Gear and Richard Screech opened after tea and both made impressive starts with some great pieces of timing. Gear waited until the journal photographer turned up before trying to mow a good ball and got bowled to the photographer's delight! Screech kept the score ticking along nicely which allowed his new partner J. Moore to play himself in. Screech finally went for a useful 42 caught in the outfield of young spinner Mcendoo. J.Whormsley then took the crease and patiently played himself in against a fine duel spin attack of Henry Mcendoo and Steve Moore, J.Moore batted superbly to keep Newton ahead of the run rate and it wasn't long before both batsmen were cashing in on a fine batting track. The result an unbeaten 120 partnership leaving Moore on 104 n.o and Whormsley on 45 n.o, and an 8 wicket victory with 7 overs to spare.  Man of the match: Julian Moore.

 

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