Ottery St Mary' ground in Salston Lane

By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE

UP-and-coming youngsters will be queuing for places in the Ottery St Mary 1stXI next season.

That’s how skipper Alex Clements sees the team scene at Salston Lane after his young guns started firing.

Ottery’s statistics in the Tier Three of the reduced Devon League programme were skewed by Sidmouth 2ndXI playing half their games as friendlies due to problems getting home-grown teams out.

George Mutter’s century against Sidmouth won’t count in league records, neither will Lawrence Walker’s 89 in the same game, but that did not bother Clements.

What Clements saw was young cricketers getting to grips with the hurly burley of adult cricket on a Saturday afternoon.

“We gave youngsters experience and all of them played big parts in our games,” said Clements.

“It was great to see Eddie Rudolph and Lawrence Walker contribute with the bat. George Mutter showed determination at the top of the order, not only scoring his first senior hundred but also with some promising innings to go with it. 

“Matt Jeacock showed he will be a vital weapon for us with the ball next season and his consistency was missed when he broke his thumb. 

“Freddie Eul Barker brought pace and energy and is a real player to watch going forward.

“And Jonathan Triner made an impression in the last game versus. Shaldon with four wickets and 28 runs opening the batting. Hopefully, he will play a bigger role next season too.”