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Posted:
Monday 1st September 2008
Source: Stephen Birley
The final game of the 2008 season proved to be as dramatic as it
could possibly have been with the 1st XI going into the game at
Barton knowing that in order to be crowned champions of the A
Division they needed to bank TWO more points than Bovey Tracey
would in their match at Braunton.
Aussie all-rounder Adrian Ezquerro once again served up a
wholesome afternoon�s work with a five-wicket haul then the side
top-scorer and Devon under-21 all-rounder Ross Acton also served
up a �fivefer� and the entire contest at Barton was done and
dusted, with the players enjoying a well earned cup of tea, and
all with the clock registering 4:15pm!
Barton had been bowled out for a paltry 78 thanks to those
�fivefers� that left Ross Acton with figures of 5-33 and
Ezquerro with 5-39. But wickets fell in the run chase. Tim Piper
was 4th man out for 22, Ezquerro was last man out for a top
score of 24 and Gary Newall was left with the task of sealing
the win and with it scoring the final run of the 2008 season.
That left Joel Murphy�s men wondering if the 17 points they
accrued from a five-wicket win would be sufficient. Mobile phone
calls to North Devon revealed that as title rivals Bovey Tracey
were chasing down a miserably low total they were actually
losing wicket after wicket, after wicket but the stumps stopped
falling after the 8th wicket fell and Bovey claimed a two wicket
win. This left the overall points
tally for both Bradninch and Bovey Tracey on 214 meaning under
League rules the side winning the most games is deemed the
Champion. In this case Bovey�s last day success was their 11th
and the Bradninch win at Barton was number nine of another
glorious campaign. So the
promotion cake that was baked, rested and iced the week before
did not get the title cherry to sit atop but the side can be
very, very pleased indeed with their collective efforts over the
eighteen weeks of what has been an exciting and successful if
rather soggy, season. The County Ground, Exeter � watch out,
Bradninch are going to be the new kids on the block in the top
flight of the Devon County League next summer.
The 2nd XI completed their season which saw them finish a very
creditable 4th in the 2nd XI A Division. The final game seemed
to sum up their season in general. The simple truth is that the
2nd XI have as good a batting line up as any of the other sides
contesting the Division but they have lacked one even two
�strike bowlers�. Fittingly in
the final game of a glorious campaign for the club, Chairman
Derrick Foan, a player who has gone out to bat over more years
at Kensham Park than any other current regular player,
top-scored with 41 and one very much �for the future�, teenager
Nick Dean, provided the next best score with a fluent 31.
Another of the �grand master� brigade, Andy Nicholls chipped in
with 29 and, helped by a half-century of extras the 2nds closed
on 201. Visitors Barton II finished the day on 188-7. Andy
Nicholls and young Dean both bagging braces and another season
of Devon League cricket was done and dusted. | 
