Hannam (pictured) plots course for Bideford win with a ton | 'Ollie Hannam’s innings was brilliant to watch and exactly what we needed' – Jack Ford

Ton-up kid! Ollie Hannam, who took a century off Bovey Tracey 2nd XI

OLLIE Hannam belted his first league century in three calendar years to put Bideford on course for a 94-run win over Bovey Tracey 2nd XI.

Hannam slammed 105 towards Bideford’s 50-over total of 265 for eight. Along the way he shared stands of 94 with Fawaaz Gallie (36) and 51 with brother Alex Hannam (42).

Ollie Hannam’s last ton was 117 not out against Ipplepen in July 2023 – the fourth and final one he made that summer.

Only Kiwi spinner Sam Veal (2-32), Harry Pitman (2-44) and Freddie Harvey (0-25) kept the runs down consistently for Bovey when they bowled.

Bovey needed a better start than being 97 for five to have a respectable chance of chasing down the runs. Only Ryan Jones (25) made much headway as Alex Hannam (2-25) and Elliot Curry (2-19) did most of the damage.

Brad Causey (36), Harvey and stand-in captain Pete Bradley (27no) resisted long enough to earn batting bonus points in a total of 171 all out.

Gallie (3-40) and skipper Jack Ford worked their way through the bottom half of the order.

Winning skipper Ford had plenty to smile about after the match, but can see clear areas for improvement.

“Ollie Hannam’s innings was brilliant to watch and exactly what we needed,” said Ford. “It allowed big brother Alex Hannam whack a few around in the latter overs, and his innings too was lovely to watch.

“We know we were a long way off of our best in the field and with the ball. We need to find different ways of wrapping innings up more quickly and efficiently

“Bowling a team out for 170 and winning by 94 runs, whilst not being anywhere near our best for half of the game, is also a big positive in itself as to how well we’re playing as a team currently.”

Pete Bradley, who covered for unavailable Bovey captain Dan Green, said: “Bideford were better than us. They showed our young team how to bat in club cricket. They kept it simple. Keep out the good ones, hit the bad ones, batted in partnerships and set a platform and go big in the last 10 overs.

“Our four young seamers – average age of 19 – showed they are improving and learning. And an inexperienced batting line up, showed a bit of fight and didn’t roll over.”

Bradley said there were two work-ons. “Fielding – no excuse for a young team – and batters turning 20s and 30s into 70-plus.”