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What wonderful memories I
have of my Devon cricketi ng
days. For my club, Exmouth and
of course for my county Devon.
From aged 7, when a science
teacher at my school taught
me to hold a bat at the cricket
club a world of Devon cricket
opened up for me.
My fi rst game for Devon CCC
was in the Peninsula Cup against a strong Cornwall side. I was 16 I believe,
as was my great friend Nick Gaywood, who was also a debutant. We faced
a big scary fast bowler, who seemed to bowl off 18 yards. “Gapers” was hit
on the head, I felt prett y terrifi ed, but Devon had welcomed us as naïve
youngsters with a litt le potenti al. The county stuck with us. It was my third
season by the ti me I scored a 50 in the Championship. I now look back with
appreciati on of the support provided by both the Captain and Committ ee
in backing youth. We were lucky and it lead to 20 years or more of highly
competi ti ve Minor Counti es cricket, some great successes, friendships and
memorable ti mes.
We were Devon boys and this was important. We enjoyed being a part of
putti ng Devon cricket on the map a litt le. Beati ng the Cheshires, Durhams,
Lincolnshire’s of this world. They really did seem to think they were rather
good! A lot of fi ne young cricketers came out and sti ll conti nue to come out
of Devon and Cornwall and we relished this challenge, as we became bett er
and more confi dent cricketers. I have a great deal of respect to all those
who have given so much ti me to the development of young players in the
Devon Youth cricket set up. There have been many successes.
We grew as a team under the late Hiley Edwards, post the Barry Matt hews
and Doug Yeabsley years (what a superb bowler he was and what a great
pleasure it was to play with him). I then captained before my Somerset
CCC days. The arrival of Peter Roebuck took us to whole new levels. A good
team had become a fi ne team. His captaincy was quite brilliant at ti mes,
mad at other ti mes and as a cricketer he was top class, mainly as a bowler
then, although he would occasionally show up as a batsman when we
needed him. Peter kept the game simple, but he was also lucky with the
ammuniti on he had in that team. Devon lead the way and conti nued to for
some ti me. It was such fun. A big commitment, juggling work for many of
us, but it was good hard cricket and for a while we dominated. We set the
tone with aggressive batti ng, bowlers who tried to get people out and we
risked losing in order to win. I count myself very lucky indeed to have been
a part of it.
The diff erences between the amateur game and the professional game
should not be underesti mated. I tasted the Pro game, but perhaps a litt le
too late. Pace is key and this is the same of most sports. The higher one
climbs, pace becomes the crucial factor. Perhaps it has shown in the recent
Ashes series. A footballer, hockey player or rugby players’ fi rst ten meters,
where space is closed down so much more quickly, pace is the most useful
asset. One’s touch, technique and awareness is brought into questi on and
challenged that much more as speed increases. In cricket it is about ball
speed and in turn pace leads to head height deliveries. There are many
who can bowl quickly in the amateur game, but they do so on slow, knee
high bounce wickets and consequently it is a diff erent game. Bounce
opens up the game to new levels. Slip catching, bat pads, aggression from
batsman and bowler. Slow, low wickets are the death knell for good cricket
and the amateur game too oft en suff ers from this. Investment has to go
into faciliti es and surfaces if really good players are to be created.
Like many sports, the modern game of cricket has moved on enormously,
but not everything has changed. The range of skill shown in batti ng,
bowling and fi elding is light years ahead of the game I played, as is the
analysis. As a teacher, the challenge with young people is oft en to convince
them that getti ng the base and the fundamentals right is sti ll the key. It is
performing these basics at a higher and higher pace which is the challenge.
The incredible hitti ng one sees in 20/20 cricket and indeed the bowling
skill, cannot come without a knowledge and understanding of these basics.
It needs to be grooved just like a golf swing.
Then comes the mind, probably even more important and a whole diff erent
story!
Nick Folland: January 2018
Nick Folland
Picture courtesy of Conrad Sutcliff e BTEC QCF Mktg