Strongmen ease into Devon Tour
Harberton, Devon, 5/14/2010
Strongroom won by 63 runs
Strongroom: 132
Harberton: 69
View the Scorecard
And so, 25 years into its existence, Strongroom began its first ever tour by making its way to the delightful hilltop ground in Harberton near Totnes, Devon. Strongroom assembled pretty much on time as Captain Orme gradually edged the good ship Dolphin down the narrow lanes and moored her in the village. The match was an evening, 20-overs affair, arranged to gently ease our way into the tour. The opposition were appropriate in that they included 9 former players from neighbouring Diptford CC (now disbanded), with whom 5 Strongroom players had formerly toured in Worcestershire. The game was under threat from grey skies but the ground is well drained and everyone was keen to get some action. Although it never approached high competitiveness, the match involved everyone in the touring party, partly because two Strongroom players (Mark Mellor and Gower senior – as he is known in these parts) joined the opposition and one non-bowling Strongroomer (Martin Newkirk) was substituted by a non-batter (Hem Patel). Strongroom almost never play 20 over cricket, and so the game might also have been seen (if we had thought about it) as useful ahead of our involvement this year in a North London Twenty20 competition.
The opportunity was taken to give some batting action to Strongroom players all too often marooned in the lower order. Ujjal, Joe, Paddy and Guy all showed glimpses of their batting quality in top 5 cameos. The Harberton bowlers offered mostly a great lack of pace and plenty of dobble – something that Strongroom have struggled to resist in recent times, and so it proved again as we were bowled out in 19 overs with many batsmen looking for gigantic sixes. Three wickets were taken by the wily septuagenarian, Hawtin. Jules played the stand-put innings of the match with his characteristic blend of technical, watchful defence and perky chips and lofts.
Harberton never got going in their reply. The light gradually deteriorated, the temperature dropped, and Strongroom’s bowling (and especially fielding) was just too sharp for the ageing Devonians. Key to Harberton’s reply was going to be how the classy duo of Simon Claro (brother of former Strongroom player James) and Christian Larder would fare in their first games for far too long (8 years in the case of Simon), but they managed only three runs between them (Simon castled by a precise Jon Gower corker yorker). Andy Orme bowled 4 tidy overs (including the game’s only maiden). Mighty Mark Mellor was unable to test his teammates with the bat as he was given out lbw to an unnecessary appeal from Rich. Whatever the merits of that appeal, and the disappointing hat-trick ball, Rich bowled a lively, probing, in-yer-face spell and picked up the best figures of the match. This contributed to his notable appearance in the next day’s game at Lustleigh. Other highlights of Strongroom in the field were a Jon Gower catch, and a steady Hem Patel spell that also probably benefited him in a stunning appearance the next day.
So, a bit of a limp contest, but we got a game in despite the grubby weather. The tour was safely up and running, and soon to be reinforced by a bouncy evening in the Church House Inn and a night under canvas/in dolphin. A special mention to Oliver, who showed up for this game even though he had to get a taxi at 5.30 am on Saturday to miss the rest of the tour because of an East Anglian wedding (not his).
Written By: D.Gower
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