Yealm couldn’t believe their luck as they were under the impression that teas were not provided during a midweek 20/20 but Modbury decided it was the day to provide some complimentary buffet bowling to a batting attack that were ravenous.
In form tosser captain John Compston saw his successful tossing streak come to an end which resulted in Yealm optingto bat first.
It was a shame the groundsman had gone to such lengths to prepare a wicket for the game given Modburys initial refusal to pitch any balls on the wicket and instead send down a barrage of full tosses which were promptly dispatched to the boundary.
The pregame talk had all been about Dan Claytons batting but there had been no mention of his bowling. So, it was quite the surprise when he was thrown the ball after just the 5th over. 7 balls later and 19 runs added to the scoreboard and Clayton was promptly hooked after just one over with captain Compston replacing him with himself to add more fuel to the fire of their rivalry as Compston was seen to say ‘If you want a job done properly, you have to do it yourself round here’.
With midweek rules stipulating retiring at 25, Yealm soon had more retirements than a care home.
A chance early in Guy Speeds over was dropped on the boundary by Tom Coates who may have been seen to have been enjoying life too much in the shade to have any interest in engaging with the match being played in front of him.Fortunately, the drop only cost about 82 runs as it was 94 runs on the board before Modbury took their first wicket.
With no signs of wickets coming and the flow of runs needing to be plugged, this author/umpire/spectator called out at Compston to bring the infamous ‘Slappuccino’ on to bowl. Slaps at first feigned injury declaring he was still not fit to bowl but eventually he gave in to peer pressure and took hold of the ball. Everyone waited with bated breath; if any man can do it, Slaps can do it.
He bowled his first ball which was promptly dispatched in to the neighbouring field for six leading to cries of ‘who’s idea was it to let him bowl!’. But Slaps doesn’t dwell on the past. He shakes it off and goes again. The batsman high on confidence attempted the same shot but this time there was a different outcome. The sound of leather clattering in to wood was followed by a brief period of silence for Modbury had seemed to forgotten what a wicket actually was given how long it had been. A wicket had fallen and momentum was about to swing. The next batsman was clapped in and immediately clapped out as Slaps bowled the exact same ball with the exact same outcome. Slaps was now on a hat trick.
The field moved in close, tensions were evident. Could it be the hat trick of dreams? Alas, it was not for the batsman blocked the ball and with it blocked all hopes of the hat trick being completed. Following the over Slaps exclaimed ‘I should have game changer printed on the back of my shirt’. Clearly, the England cricket jacket continues to boost his ego.
That over however sparked something within the Modbury team as the following over Compston took two wickets; one bowled and one smartly caught behind by Ethan Bell. It would be fair to say that it wasn’t Ethans best day with the gloves (nor was it particularly anyone’s best day in the field) and he was lucky to survive the infamous death stare fromSpeed when he dropped a regulation catch off his bowling.
Whilst the bowling had suddenly improved, the fielding showed no signs of improvement.
Sam Price continues to use his patented fielding method of adopting the long barrier and not trying to use his hands to stop the ball, having full faith his kneecap will not explode if a ball hits it. His ongoing battle between land and air remains a sight to behold; his commitment never to be questioned but his methods certainly give food for thought.
The Modbury misfielding continued; too many to list but certainly some to highlight.
Ben Lane turned into a human polo as the ball went straight through him for four in the 17th over.
Jim Hornagold was taken out by a sniper in the 18th over when the ball was hit towards him. Fortunately, he managed to make a full recovery just in time for the ball to have gone past him and allow another fielder to gather the ball on his behalf.
Several members of the team had resorted to the crocodile clap catch attempt all with the same outcome.
This trusted and experienced journalist did at one point notice that the Modbury team had decided to ignore their captains request of where to field and instead were standing in positions where there was the most shade available to themwhich helped create plenty of gaps in the field for the Yealmbatsmen to navigate.
Tom Hatch and Sam Collidge returned to bowl at the end and both picked up a wicket with Collidges wicket coming courtesy of a great running catch from Tom Coates which drew applause from everyone except Guy who couldn’t help but wonder how he caught that one but dropped the absolute dolly off his bowling.
Yealm eventually finished on 151/7 off there 20 overs having at one stage been well on the way to score 200+ Modbury found some comfort in stemming the flow of runs and having a chasable target.
The contrasting batting styles of Speed and Clayton went out to open. As a seasoned opener Guy knows how to build an innings and when to put the bad ball away. Clayton, a relative novice to opening, preferred the more agricultural village approach of swing at anything and hope for the best. Unorthodox, but somehow it worked.
Having hit a 6 and a 4 in consecutive balls Speed was looking solid but a few balls later was bowled by one that stayed low. Ethan came out swinging in his usual way, and a few quick boundaries saw the runs on the scoreboard start to creep up.
Clayton took a nasty blow to the elbow when a ball popped up off the wicket. The Yealm team all showed great sportsmanship checking he was okay however the umpire took a more stearn approach and advised Clayton if he had used his bat to hit the ball he wouldn’t have got hurt. But this seemed to ignite a fire in Clayton. He had put his body on the line for Modbury and wasn’t going to let this effect him.
He had begun to accumulate runs and confidently told the umpire ‘I’ve been counting my runs, I’m on 24 so just need a single and I can retire!’. Dot Ball. Dot Ball. Dot Ball. The pressure was building. And then on the fourth ball of the over Clayton wafts at one which comes off an unknown part of the bat and beats the fielder. Clayton sprints and raises his bat to the air celebrating this moment. But his moment was premature. For Clayton was not on 24, he was actually on 23. Trying to walk off with pride at retiring at 25, he was sent back to the wicket where he promptly hit 2 runs to end up on 26 and was then able to retire. Brief embarrassment, but the record books will not show that, only this match report, for the scorecard read Daniel Clayton 26 Retired Not Out…
Fresh from his golden duck, Sam Price walked out to the middle knowing things could only get better or remain the same; regression was not possible when you start at the lowest point possible. Upon receiving instruction from the umpire that the bowler was left arm round the wicket, Price took this as instruction to walk to the left and appear to bat on the neighbouring wicket at which point the umpire had to inform him he still needs to stand on the wicket that everyone has been playing on exclusively for the last 27 overs.
Having survived his first ball with a swing a miss, the next ball did make contact with the bat and Price had officially scored his first ever runs in a game of cricket. Full of confidence and with runs to his name, he was promptly clean bowled the next ball to bring him back to earth and remind everyone that cricket is a sport to humble you.
Collidge, Compston and Lane survived for a collected 15 balls and 7 runs between them which helped ensure the customary Modbury mid order collapse was adhered to.
Tom Coates was looking good with the bat and was up to 20 off just 14 balls having hit several boundaries and looked like he could help pull off a miracle. Hatchy thought the same and in his desperate attempt to ensure that only Coates would be facing, he called him through for a 2nd run which left Coates approximately 21 yards short of the wicket when the direct hit from the fielder who was stood five metres from the stumps came in.
Having absolutely barbequed Coates for the run out, Hatch quickly followed him back to the pavilion courtesy of some good glovework from the keeper who stumped him.
This brought out James ‘Game Changer’ Sloman who slowly walked his way to the crease. Upon taking guard he asked ‘is that roughly middle?’ a clear sign of a man that couldn’t really care less about batting. Slaps was eventually dismissed with just 2 balls of the innings left which brough back Dan ‘not out’ Clayton. Some argue this is the worst possible position to be in. Two balls remaining to score 51 runs, or 2 balls to block out and protect the average and go home with the red inker. A swing and a miss at the first ball showed Clayton was hungry for more runs and couldn’t care less about his average (which is refreshing to see and something Lee Merchant should consider). The final ball saw Clayton charge down the wicket and attempt to hit the ball into the River Yealm. Unfortunately for him he missed the ball by several feet and was stumped by the keeper whilst out of his ground by at least two metres to bring the game to a close.
And so, a run of four wins in a row sadly comes to an end. But with a game on Sunday against Elephants Nest just a few days away, Modbury will be looking to bounce back and restart another winning run of fixtures.
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