Sidmouth teach us a lesson
Fortfield, Sidmouth, Devon, 6/9/2013
Sidmouth won by 5 wickets
Strongroom: 158-5 [T.Wetherill 40*]
Sidmouth: 163-5 [C.Miles 58*]
View the Scorecard
Strongroom were bolstered by the arrival of talented Aussies Tom Henderson and Tim Weatherill, and we weren’t in too bad a shape considering the Sunday fixture is usually a tough one for any touring side. Conditions were perfect for cricket - sunny, warm and a light sea breeze.
Myself and Adrian struggled with the opening bowlers, largely because one in particular whanged it down at a good pace, and peppered us with bouncers which neither of us were accustomed to at this level of cricket. We didn’t last too long, but the bigger blow was losing Tom for just 7 to one that turned very sharply. Dave Gower (20) and Jules (28) both steadied the ship, pooling together their shrewd intuition of Devonian cricket. However, with their removal we were in some trouble, and it was only with a swashbuckling, unbeaten 40 that Tim Weatherill enabled us to achieve a non-disgraceful total. We struggled to score runs at an adequate rate throughout, such was the quality of the young Sidmouth attack and fielding.
Clearly we were always going to struggle to defend such a low total, but Tim and Joe both snared top order wickets to just create a chink of light. However, Miles (58*) had other ideas, and he hammered the way to victory, being particularly severe on Chris West’s only and final over of the game.
With 40-50 more runs, and a couple more middle order wickets, we could have made this game a bit more interesting, but as it was we were short on both counts. Ultimately this was a disappointing way to complete an otherwise enjoyable tour.
Written By: J.Gower
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