By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE
BETWEEN 1964 and 2005 a limited number of Minor Counties were eligible to compete in the national one-day competition that morphed over the years into the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy.
Ten or 11 Minor Counties sides went into the first-round draw and almost always were pitted against a First Class side. A home draw was regarded as a money spinning opportunity.
The plucky amateurs and part-timers of Minor Counties cricket seldom stood a chance against fully professional sides with their quota of Test match stars. The best the Minors could hope for was generally a man-of-the-match gold award, accompanied by a cheque for a three-figure sum.
Occasionally, Minor Counties sides ended up facing each other, which happened to Devon in three of their first four games. They lost two of them.
From 1999 onwards all 20 Minor Counties played qualifying ties to reach the first round proper of the C&G Trophy. Gold awards were given out in qualifying games and by the time Minor Counties were removed from the competition Devon had won their fair share.
The first of Devon’s 15 gold awards was won by Bob Healey in 1968 for his six-wicket haul in a 98-run defeat by Hertfordshire at Stevenage. Bad weather meant it took three days to finish the game.
Devon had to wait until 1980 when they faced Cornwall at Exeter for their next gold award. Gary Wallen pocketed the cheque for £100 having made a century in a 145-run win. Charles Barnett, the former Gloucestershire and England batsman, was the adjudicator.
Devon went through to face Warwickshire at Edgbaston in round two, where they lost by seven wickets. Devon’s Brad Green (59) won man of the match, again awarded by Barnett.
A more convincing man-of-the-match award went to batsman Kevin Rice in 1985 for his century in a losing cause, also against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
Nick Gaywood, a prolific run-getter for Devon in the 80s and 90s, won the gold award against Notts at Exmouth in 1986 for a knock of 49. In a low-scoring game umpired by former Devon players David Shepherd and John Harris, only Derek Randall made more runs than Gaywood, who went on to play a handful of games for Notts 2ndXI in the same season.
Nick Folland carried off the gold award for Devon against Essex at Exmouth in 1991 with a top score of 55 in an eight-wicket defeat.
Devon had to wait until 1999 for their next golden boy, who was Neil Hancock. He made the job easy for man-of-the-match adjudicator Conrad Sutcliffe by slamming 113 not out against Berkshire at Torquay and taking three wickets for 18 runs in a 68-run win.
Andy Pugh’s 54 not out against Worcestershire in the next round was a gold winner, even though the team lost by 45 runs.
Matt Theedom, then an out-and-out quick bowler, took five Staffordshire wickets for just 18 runs to take the gold at Torquay in 2000.
David Lye’s 56 was a consolation prize for the second round defeat by Surrey at Exmouth later in 2000.
Bob Dawson (88) steered Devon to a three-wicket win over Bedfordshire in the 2002 qualifier at Exmouth, which earned him the first of three gold awards.
There was a second gold award for Hancock (73no) when Devon lost to Lancashire at Exmouth in 2003.
Dawson’s second gold followed a season later when he cracked 138 in a qualifying round win over Cumberland, also at Exmouth.
Lye was in the money again after taking 121 off Suffolk at Exmouth in 2003. Devon won that match by 88 runs.
Devon’s 15thand final gold award was Dawson’s third, which was as team captain and leading run getter with 42 in the win over Leicestershire at Exmouth in 2004.
To enter a team in the Devon All Stars competition, select 11 players, a captain, a wicketkeeper and a 12th man and send it to conradcopy@btinternet.com
