Tintagel v Menheniot & Looe

Saturday 9th September

Cornwall Cricket League Division Two East

Tintagel (batted first) 229 all out after 44 overs

Menheniot & Looe 191 all out off 41.3 overs

This weekend presented the last league fixtures of a thoroughly entertaining Cornwall League Cricket season.

I packed the chair and headed off to the mystical lands of King Arthur & Co. 

Tintagel is more of a trinket town and camper zone than homely residence for knights on R & R these days. The main street, eateries & pubs were packed to the door, the place was heaving with tourists. Bit of a contrast to the serenity and sanity of the Cricket Club, I counted a dozen spectators enjoying the splendid action at the ground.

Menheniot were in a perilous position coming into this game at the wrong end of the table, they very much needed a win. It was never going to be easy at Butts Field, Tintagel had already secured top 6 status and still looked mighty competitive.

Weather: The heatwave continued. Slightly hazy cloud sporadically appeared before the blistering sun burned it off, it had vanished completely by the tea interval, 29 degree heat followed.

Attendance: Around a dozen (as mentioned earlier).

Bring Your Own Chair Necessity? Yes. Apart from some Pavilion furniture there are only a couple of single plank benches, one either side of the pitch.

Facilities: 

Attractive Pavilion with a bar area and clean toilets. One of those new type portable digital scoreboards was nearby. Looks like the club had suffered some sight screen problems, none at one end and the frame had lost most of its white sheeting opposite.

Location: On the far edge of town adjacent to the slightly rundown football field complex. Take a left turn near the modern church as you leave Tintagel centre on the road that heads for Boscastle. Its not that far before the Bossiney Coast Area car park. 

Tintagel is just a short distance inland from the glorious coastline near here, which includes the much publicised (rumoured) King Arthurs Castle.

Match: 

Tintagel compiled a respectable 229 which featured knocks of 79 not out from Captain Matt Joliffe, a half century from Ryan Pooley and 40 from opening bat Adrian Pooley. In response, Menheniot opener Peter Nance remained undefeated on 73 as the visitors battled to 191 all out.  

At the time of writing this report I remain unsure if the defeat resulted in relegation for Menheniot Looe. I hope not as I do enjoy popping in there from time to time, it's all the better if the Division 2 stuff is on the menu.

This was my last league fixture of the season, I have really enjoyed what has been on offer and may I kindly thank everyone who has acknowledged my reports, it is greatly appreciated.  

Duloe & Menheniot-Looe Bank Holiday Double Header

Not long left of the season now. 

Made the most of a dry August Bank Holiday to visit a couple of grounds amidst the finery of South East Cornwall.

Not exactly the grade Nasser & KP would be interested in but I was in the mood to take what was on offer, no problem whatsoever.

DULOE v ROCHE OLD BOYS 3rds

First up an early afternoon jaunt for a Division 5 East encounter at The Recreation Ground, Duloe:

Duloe batted first & walloped 252-8 off their allotted 40 overs

Roche Old Boys 3rds crumbled to 76 all out in 17.3 overs

Weather: Mainly dull and a little chilly, 4 layers on this afternoon.

Attendance: About half a dozen, seems most folk went to the Vintage Tractor Rally?

Bring Your Own Chair Necessity? Definitely.

Facilities: Nice looking ranch style wooden pavilion. Appropriate scoreboard. Also the attraction of a directly adjacent skate park for those who bring their own board, didn't see any old timers blitzing the curves this particular afternoon.

Location: Nestles off the main road between Liskeard & the seaside resort of Looe. Just around the bend from the stone circle sign in the direction of Looe.

Match: I know Roche are called 'Old Boys' but there were some rather young faces in the line up for this one. It's Division 5, it provides what it says on the tin. One cannot expect prime quality cricket. I was none the less just happy to see two eager sides purely doing their best. Duloe are top of the division and you can see why, that's a hell of a good total off 40 overs.

MENHENIOT LOOE 2nds v WADEBRIDGE 3rds

Next up was my main match of the day. A Division 4 East fixture between Menheniot Looe 2nds and bottom of the league Wadebridge 3rds. Proper grass roots stuff.

Menheniot Looe batted first & sped to 236-5 off the 40 overs

Wadebridge fell well short, 151-9 from 35.1 overs. Unfortunately one player couldn't bat due to injury.

Weather: Pretty much the same as at the Duloe ground (above).

Attendance: A good few in the pavilion & dotted around, not bad really, it wasn't first team 11's playing.

Bring Your Own Chair Necessity?: It would be beneficial regards getting the view that best suited you, however, there are 9 benches apportioned around the pitch and a few more on the pavilion patio, so you could get by without a chair. 

Facilities: Nice sizeable pavilion with a wall laden scoreboard attached. Its clearly visible from around the ground. There is a lovely charismatic older scoreboard on the ground no longer in use, splendidly adorned with a few surrounding benches and colourful foliage. I possibly drove in the wrong entrance to the ground, it's signposted on the gate before you reach the village from the A38 direction. It was accessible but there is plentiful better parking if you go through the village and take the lane towards the Primary School. You end up just behind the pavilion, importantly you're also out of reach of the big 6 hitters, still pumped up from watching the previous evenings 'Hundred Final' on the TV (a competition I personally have little time for).

Location: (See above, facilities) Menheniot is a few miles east of Liskeard, you can get to it off the A38, a couple of miles past the Railway Station, or, if it suits you better, off the Liskeard to Callington road, take the turn off at Merrymeet.

Match: I found this a good standard of cricket and I stayed longer than initially planned. Some fine batting from Menheniot, and Wadebridge do look rather smart in their classy kit with all the player names on the back. There was a good mix of knowledgeable older heads and aspiring youthful players amidst both sides which was pleasing to note. There was certainly some decent cricket to see.

A Callington Revisit. Fixture v Redruth. Better weather than forecast.

Cornwall League Premier Division

Saturday 26th August 2023

Callington 120-4 from 26.4 overs

Redruth (batted first) 119 all out off 44.1 overs

The rain showers have affected a lot of cricket over recent weeks. This, and being overseas has put the brakes on the 'Bring Your Own Chair' site. 

Our Met Office got it wrong today (happens quite a lot). Saturday turned out reasonably dry amidst the odd light shower, I took a gamble and headed off for a Callington revisit. I didn't have the proper camera and hadn't packed the chair. Sadly no pictures to post and plenty of standing up, most of the few seats near the pavilion were naturally taken.

Relegation threatened Redruth struggled with the bat, thanks to a last wicket stand they managed to give Callington a bit of a challenge, but 119 was never going to be enough when the home side has the likes of Wagg & Lindsay at numbers 3 & 4. The home side casually strolled to victory with the odd big 6 chucked in by Mr Wagg.

As mentioned the weather was better than the experts predicted, decent spells of sunshine, it was certainly nice to watch some Cornwall Cricket again.

More Rain

Looks like a second weekend running the rain is going to spoil Cornwall League Cricket again.

Bude v Menheniot Looe

Saturday 8th July 2023

Cornwall Cricket League Division 2 East

Bude 223 All Out off 41.4 Overs

Menheniot Looe (Batted First) 251-6 from 45 Overs

1pm Start

Long queues of day trippers and holiday makers poured into Bude around midday. The modest town centre en route to the ground looked rammed. 

Weather: The incompetent Met Office had promised nailed on excessive, cloudless sunshine, apparently the kid on work experience had been given authorisation to do the weekend forecast. Everybody appeared to be in flimsy tops, t-shirts and shorts. Unfortunately everyone looked frozen. A solid bank of dark grey cloud, laced with a cool breeze and the odd spot of rain had made camp over the resort. If this was a County Championship game they'd be off for bad light.

Attendance: Around the 20 mark. Half seemed to spend most the afternoon in the Pavilion snack bar area.

Bring Your Own Chair Necessity? There are 8 benches on the shallow banking adjacent to the Pavilion but your own chair gives you a degree of more privacy and a nice choice of view. 

Other than the bank, one side of the field is taken up by car parking, the other side runs parallel to the beach-front route for the public, many of whom naturally stopped to gape at a Cricket ground bang next to the sea.

General Facilities: There is a long modern looking Pavilion which hosts changing rooms, viewing patio, decent toilets and a snack bar facility. 

As already mentioned Car Parking is pitchside and a little tight to the pitch in places (so be aware of the slogger factor should you be a bit nervous of dint damage & cracked windows). 

There is one of the small digital scoreboard contraptions, the type on wheels, which was perfectly adequate for keeping up with the scoreline.

Location: Its stunningly positioned above the beach and waves slap bang on the sea front. 

Take the road past Sainsburys Supermarket at the top end of the small town centre and head down the road to the seafront car park. Take the lane up the hill signed for the Cricket Ground. There are open aspect views across the sea, surrounding headland and distant inland countryside.

The Match: Bude fielded first. Unfortunately they dropped more catches than the England Test side (which takes some doing), a cascade of boundaries slipped beyond (and under) desperate attempts to defend the perimeter. 

Menheniot Looe took full advantage and racked up the runs, Luke Ripley smashed a splendid 127.

At one stage 300 plus looked nailed on until Bude tightened up their act, grabbed a few important wickets and put a block on some younger batsmen in the visitors ranks. Bude paceman Brett Hunter finished with 4 for 20 off his 9 overs. The early surge of the Menheniot Looe innings provided too much of a mountain for the home side and they fell 29 runs short of victory. Stuart Nye bagged 4 wickets for 32. 

Tavistock v Abbotskerswell

Saturday 1st July 2023

Devon Cricket League A-Division

Abbotskerswell 281-9 (Batted First) off 50 Overs

Tavistock 160 All Out from 36.1 Overs

12.30pm Start

Weather: Plenty of sunny intervals but a strong chilly breeze plagued the proceedings. Certainly needed a few layers on.

Attendance: 20 to 30, some could have been players in leisure wear waiting to bat.

Bring Your Own Chair Necessity? Not essential, there are 14 benches in total, mainly on the far side of the pitch opposite The Pavilion. Beware though, they are decidedly uncomfortable after a few overs.

There is nothing at either bowlers end of the field but the stiff cool breeze negated putting a chair out for too long, it was simply too cold. 

Another issue for chairs near the sight screen is the sloping nature of the pitch, particularly at the Whitchurch Road end, it's literally like looking up a hill.

General Facilities: Familiar generic type Pavilion at club level with a small one room bar, decent clean toilets at the rear of the bar beside the changing rooms. There is an adjoining Digital Scoreboard. Plentiful open space for parking exists.

The pitch is certainly undulating here, although the square is level, it is evident that The Pavilion rests at the foot of a distinct slope originating amidst the continuing countryside of the hillside. Obviously this benefits anything hit towards The Pavilion and alternatively offers comfort to the fielding side cutting off (what appeared nailed on) boundaries up the slope.

Location: Less than a couple of miles up the hill from the busy charismatic vibrant town centre. Its on the road to Whitchurch Village, look out for the sign directing you (left) up Chollacott Lane. Go up the narrow lane to the very end where a gate has to be opened (and closed afterwards) for access to glorious open countryside. The ground, appropriately titled 'The Ring' lies in clear view before you. The perimeter of the playing area is blessed with characterful stone pillars which make for a splendid backdrop to the field of play.

The Match: A bit of a slow burner to be honest. Bit like the Clint Eastwood western, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

Tavistock have a couple of bowlers, one a pace man, the other a crafty spin merchant who made it hard for Abbotskerswell to gain progressive momentum.

Sadly for Tavistock the support bowlers and general fielding leaked too many runs, including too many dropped catches. Abbotskerswell opener Jack Neylon scored a massive 137 off 129 balls. In reply, after a stuttering dodgy start 17-2, Tavistock impressively struck back to 85-2 at one stage before tumbling all out for a miserable 160. 

A defeat which means Tavistock replace the visitors at the foot of the table.

Wadebridge v Penzance

Saturday 24th June 2023

Cornwall Cricket League Premier Division

Wadebridge (Batted First) 242-7 off 50 Overs

Penzance 212 All Out from 46.0 Overs

1pm Start

Gridlocked traffic on the A30 through Bodmin encroached into the town centre and my planned route to Wadebridge. Hold up circumstances unknown, unsure if it was a crash or just tourist traffic but it meant trying to remember a crafty detour through the Bodmin back roads. Fortunately I came out on the right side of the town for a clear run to Wadebridge.

Weather: Hot and sunny yet again. Some people are beginning to get a little tired of it, we all forget what a horrible cold incessantly wet winter we had. There was the benefit a light gentle breeze cascading through sections of North Cornwall today but it was random in placement. This was very much evident on todays field of play. In parts it was sweltering, across the pitch a cooling path of air brought players and spectators welcome relief.

Attendance: Around 60 at the start rising to the 100 mark mid afternoon.

Bring Your Own Chair Necessity? Not entirely necessary here. 

There are both benches and picnic tables around the Pavilion area extending towards the Scoreboard, even a few beside the Sight Screen at the town end of the ground.

The club also put a range of chairs in front of the Pavilion. On a nice dry day you can also get a great view casually sat amongst the trees on the grass banking for the Camel Estuary, which runs beside the Pavilion side of the ground. 

I left my chair in the hot sun by the boundary for this cooler shaded area a couple of times during the proceedings.

General Facilities: Looks very much like Pavilion Development work is in progress. A large area of freshly laid foundations reside behind partitioning directly adjacent to the existing section of the quaint charming building. There is a small bar area, a welcoming waft of warm pasties (unless my imagination was playing tricks on me again) and clean functional toilet facilities. 

Outside the Pavilion a bit of a beer garden area entices you, with those picnic tables I mentioned earlier nestling below shading umbrellas. Looks like there was the makings of a barbecue for later too. All very nice.

Also have to say, there is a nicely designed large digital scoreboard here. If you want the score in the comfort of the external Pavilion area they've even got a mini digital scoreboard panel on the wall beside the Union Jack flagpole.

Like a few Premier Division grounds these days there is a live stream of the match available, I believe todays clash was available on You Tube.

Last but not least its a first class playing surface here and certainly not as undulating as most pitches I've witnessed this season. You get the vibe this is a good ground as soon as you enter the gate. Speaking of which, car parking is available both sides of the track heading to the Pavilion. 

I got my vehicle in one of the last spaces. If it's full the hard standing Council car park directly in front of the ground entrance is available and it's free all day on a Saturday & Sunday.

Location: The ground is called Egloshayle Park, its the jewel in the crown of Egloshayle Playing Fields which dates back to the mid 1940's. 

Nowadays it's a great area for locals and tourists to chill out with both tennis and bowling facilities as well as playground activities for younger children. You can easily take the short walk from the ground along the footpath of the Camel Estuary to the charismatic little centre of Wadebridge with a whole host of interesting shops and hospitality establishments. The famous Cornwall Showground is on the edge of town.

The Match: Mid table Wadebridge gallantly got the better of a classy Penzance side who had taken a full maximum of points before todays encounter. An impressive result for the hosts. Personally, granted, it was a fine achievement but entertainment wise I struggled to get into the game at times. Obviously the hot weather plays a part in that, in turn, what looked a hard dead-track pitch didn't help, especially with long periods of seam bowling attaining limited periods of interest. Just my personal opinion. Some very good batting cameos though and some solid decent fielding. 

Be interesting to see how Wadebridge take this lift going forward, equally, eager to see how the Penzance machine shifts gear.

If you find yourself near Wadebridge on a match day, go along, you won't regret it.