Ansell hammers a ton for North Devon during guest appearance + and there's a ton for Ottery batter Brook in win over Upottery
By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE
Tier Three
TOM Ansell racked up and unbeaten century for North Devon 2nd XI in their 70-run win over their Hatherleigh counterparts at Instow.
It’s only a couple of summers since Ansell was opening the batting for the Devon county side, which was before his job took him to London.
As Ansell was home for the weekend visiting family in Bideford, he was offered a game in the second team and stroked an unbeaten 123 in North Devon’s total 280 for six.
Ross Clayton hit 64 and shared a stand of 124 for the third wicket with Ansell.
Bowling successes were hard to come by for Hatherleigh, although Niall Leahy would have been pleased with his three-for-35 return from eight overs.
Hatherleigh had two half-centurions in their all-out reply of 210. Harry Arden made 54 and Jay Porter 55. No one else reached 20.
The stand-out bowler for North Devon with four for 40 was youngster Archie Popham.
OPENER Sam Brook struck an unbeaten century in Ottery St Mary’s 63-run win over Upottery.
Brook hit 14 fours and faced 101 balls for his 111 not out which formed the backbone of Ottery’s 198 for six. Next best with 37 was George Mutter.
Upottery gave 10 bowlers a twirl and the only one to take more than a wicket was Peter-John Kaal (3-13), who came on last!
James Salaman opened for Upottery and hit 12 boundaries en route to reaching 70. When he was fifth out at 120 the chase went into a terminal decline.
The last five wickets fell for 11 runs scored as Upottery went from 124 for six to 135 all out.
Jake Tierney (3-21) bagged early wickets but it was Harley Smith (5-29) who nipped out the stragglers.
Ottery won again on Sunday afternoon when they pipped Honiton by just eight runs in a 30-over friendly.
Will Lamb (46) shared partnerships worth 123 runs in Ottery’s total of 170 for seven. Will Harrison (20) and Freddie Eul-Barker (27no) weighed in with support.
Richard Potter (46), Mike Docherty (27) and Pete Matravers (51no) took Honiton in touching distance of victory despite the best efforts of Tierney and Eul-Barker to slow them down.
Honiton needed 29 to win off the last two overs, bowled by Matt Jeacock and Harrison, which proved too many despite some lusty blows from Matravers.
Harley Smith (3-31) was among the wickets again in Honiton’s final tally of 162 for seven.
EXETER new boy Gus Laws-Mather drew attention to his arrival from Hertfordshire with a quickfire ton for the second team in a 17-run win at Sidmouth.
Laws-Mather formerly turned out for Harpenden in the Hertfordshire Premier Division before moving to Devon to study. He opened up with Mike Wilkinson (36) and put on 111 for the first wicket.
Graham White was next to take guard and his stand with Laws-Mather was worth 99. White finished on 63 in Exeter’s total of 249 for three.
Sidmouth were undaunted by the challenge of the chase and got to the final five overs needing 39 to win with eight wickets in hand.
David Watkins (43) and Cameron Grainger-Evans (72) had wiped 82 off the deficit and by the time Grainger-Evans fell to Matt Williamson he had put on 76 with Ollie Pugsley, who went on to make 60 himself.
Tor Ziegler-Evans accounted for Pugsley just in time and his four-for-31 return swung the game Exeter’s way.
Twenty-three to win off the final over proved too tall an order though and Sidmouth ran out of time on 232 for seven.
BIDEFORD defeated Braunton by three-wickets in a low-scoring affair at Westward Ho!
Joe Barnes hit a top score of 61 for Braunton, who were all out for 127. Jamie Lathwell (4-13) and Tom Brend (3-37) took the bowling plaudits for Bideford.
Bits and pieces from James Hayter (25), Jack Ford (30) and Billy Blackburn (22no) got Bideford through, once the had seen off Braunton bowlers Barnes (4-30) and Steve Moore, whose bowling figures were nine overs bowled one wicket taken and nine runs conceded.
ASHBURTON skipper Ashley Berry hopes a 63-run warm-up defeat at Ottery St Mary got the glitches out of the system before the serious stuff starts.
Ashes are at home to Shaldon this Saturday in a South Division Three game that gets the Tolchards DCL season up and running.
Ottery made 201 all out in the last of their 40 overs – opener and captain Alex Clements the last man out for 92 – then dismissed Ashburton for 138 in reply.
Berry was phlegmatic in his post-match comments and said: “A bit of rust to shake off for some of us, but that’s what it’s all about.
“Now we look forward to our mini-league against three good sides.
“The big point is to make sure we enjoy our Saturdays. That’s been our main ethos for the last couple of years, but is emphasised even more during crazy times like this.”
Clements batted from start to finish for Ottery and was severe on anything short of a length. He it 10 fours and two sixes, both off Robin Lambert.
Charlie Towers, a 15-year-old prospect with the new ball, had two wickets for 18 runs from seven overs. Matt Churchill, Jerry Crouch and Jake Pascoe had two wicket each.
Clements was finally out for 92, caught on the ropes by a diving Lloyd White off Pascoe (2-23).
Ashburton were 88 for three with 15 overs to go with Chris Pascoe (26) and Ashley Berry (26) settled in.
Jody Clements (3-19) removed Pascoe at 116 and Berry 10 runs later. After that Ashes declined to 138 all out and a 63-run defeat.
Ashburton’s opening game in South Three is at home to Shaldon.
Paignton 2ndXI have a derby date against Stoke Gabriel, who may have hard-hitting Seb Ansley available as he is home on holiday.
