Devon Dumplings v Exeter School

 

The game was brought forward a week to accommodate exams being held early due to Covid restrictions. It meant that the weather was chilly but with bright sunshine. And the ground was in fine condition after a long dry spell.

Graham White had collated  the usual mixture of players, most notable for having five former pupils in it.

Dumplings’ innings suffered an early setback when the lively Katie Donovan had an in-form James Horler caught behind for 1. White joined Sam Read and the score progressed at a good pace. Read was hitting the ball clean and hard and White continued to probe at the covers. The ball raced away once past a fielder. Having added 99 in 16 overs, Read retired on 67 ( from 52) to make way for Gary Chappell. He continued in a similar vein, adding 51 with White who was eventually bowled by Tyler, having scored a solid 41. Two wickets fell in short succession and when Chappell was out for 56 ( from 38) the score was only 197-6. In previous years this would not have been enough to keep the School’s batting at bay. However, Andrew Donovan compiled a useful 23, supported by Adam Fradgley and Tor Ziegler-Evans, leaving Dumplings on 228 from their 35 overs.

The School had bowled well and fielded very well, as is to be expected. The only disappointment was the lack of variety in the bowling, with a notable absence of any spin bowlers.

Katie Donovan was by far the outstanding bowler – 7-0-13-1 , whilst James Tyler and Bobby Heard each took a brace of wickets, though at some cost.

The School started in a lively fashion, with Max Cockram and Ben Eve pushing the score to 50 in 7 overs. The pace of Ziegler-Evans was converted into frequent boundaries. However, Donovan then struck, with three wickets in two overs, and when Niall McCarthy was trapped lbw by Fradgley the School had gone from 51-0 to 65-4. Charlie Ferraro joined Ben Eve and they added a confident 58 in good time. At 123 from 24 overs their target was still within reach. However Paul Berman took the key wicket of Eve, caught at mid-on, and this unlocked the door to the remaining batsmen. The spinners Chappell and Mark Gribble took two wickets each to put the School on 147-9. 

At this point mayhem ensued and Oscar Lovell and Raff Piggott-Gill dished out some of what they had suffered when bowling. They put on 37 runs off three overs to leave School on a creditable 184. 

Donovan was the pick of the bowlers with Gribble and Chappell also taking [rather more expensive] wickets.

Dumplings had won but the School clearly has a continued stream of talented young cricketers to follow in the tradition of recent years. 
                                                                                                                                       PMB

Devon Dumplings 228-7 (Read 67 N.O. ; Chappell 56; White 41)

Exeter School 184 AO (Eve 64; Cockram 32; Lovell 24; Donovan 6-0-22-3; Chappell 4.4-0-35-3; Gribble 6-1-38-2)

Dumplings won by 44 runs