Ashburton 1XI v Kingsbridge 1st XI
Varwell Field
11 May 2024
13:00
The 1st XI returned to Varwell Field for their first home game of the season, writes George Yabsley. Away from home last weekend, Lloyd White’s men commenced the 2024 campaign in style by trouncing Sandford by 7 wickets and hoped to continue with another victory back on home turf.
Previous encounters between the Chargers and Kingsbridge had seen the latter gain the upper hand of late. But Kingsbridge were themselves missing key players such as Freddie Ford, James Westlake and Richard Carr, so it was high time for Ashburton to set the record straight.
The temperature gauge was up and in the hazy early summer sunshine, Ashburton were put into bat. Openers Steve Edmonds and George Yabsley made a steady start against Kingsbridge’s opening attack, before a flashing drive finding the outside edge of Edmonds’ bat and Farzad Safi breaching Yabsley’s defence left the home side 50-2.
Enter Vaihbav “Bittu” Sheth. The Gujarati signing for Ashburton was the stand-out batsman against Sandford last week, and everyone hoped he would put in a similar performance in his first home fixture. He did not disappoint. With the steadfast assistance of Ash Berry (21) and Matt Churchill (45), Bittu pushed the Chargers to 179-5 with 10 overs to spare, before he himself succumbed to a fine delivery from Jack Brown, clipping the top of his off stump.
Bittu departed for 80, and after a useful cameo from another Varwell debutant Harry Bannister, who made 26 from just 14 deliveries, Ashburton were eventually bowled out for 258 from their full 45 overs.
Play resumed after tea with Steve Edmonds and Charlie Towers sharing the new ball. Edmonds (2 for 30) bowled well to pick off opener Jack Brown and no.3 James Ellis, and at 44-2 from 14.3 overs, the match was still in the balance. But Tom “Cowhead” Higgs had other ideas, and after smartly collecting the ball at extra-cover, he took full advantage of a Kingsbridge mixup, running out the opposition skipper with a direct hit at the bowler's end.
A further breakthrough was required however when a full toss from Bittu (3 for 27) was smartly caught in the deep by Jack Warren, and by now momentum was with Ashburton.
Despite proving stubborn as the shadows lengthened, the Kingsbridge resistance was finally mopped up by Chris Yeo (2 for 21) and Higgs (2 for 1), earning the Chargers a convincing 134 run victory.
Skipper Lloyd White reflected on the victory; "Being put into bat was a bit of a shock on a good wicket and the sun blazing. Our top-order batters all got starts and supported Bittu really well but we must also turn those starts into big scores. Great to get 250 when 200 was par, which allowed us to be flexible with our bowlers and squeeze the pressure. Credit to our ground staff who are still a few weeks behind after a wet April. A great team performance but we can still be more clinical with the ball."
Two wins in two for the 1st XI, who travel to Brixham next Saturday with wind in their sails.
Live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQl5EBsKHP8&t=9781s
Ashburton 2nd XI travelled to Torre Valley North to play Paignton 4th XI, who came out as 95
run winners, writes Jack Warren. With a couple of availability problems the Ashes won the toss and elected to field, Paignton
posted a score of 222 for the loss of 5 wickets off their 40 overs. Notable scores of 97 not
out for Billy Criddle as well as a handy 48 not out by Tim Ward, with Marcus West being the
pick of the bowlers (3-40).
Ashburton’s response started positively as they got to 58-2, however wickets at regular
intervals and too many single figure scores resulted in the Ashes falling to 127-9 off their 40
overs. The main run scorers being Marcus West (59 not out), Phil Pascoe (28) and AJ West
(12). The majority of the Ashburton wickets fell to Harry Knight (3-28) and Jack Gray (2-4).
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This season Ashburton’s highly successful Sunday XI have merged with Stoke Gabriel to
play in the South Devon Cricket League. Their first Sunday game this year was a T20
knockout cup quarter final against Plympton at the Varwell field. The home side won the toss
and elected to bat posting a sizeable total of 167-3 off the allotted 20 overs. With the main
contributors being Jack Tolley (51 retired not out), the same with Marcus West (50 retired not
out) along with a handy (35 not out) by J Robinson.
Plympton’s reply was strong getting to 72-1, tight bowling from the amalgamated home side
kept the response to 136-6 off 20 overs. Jack Tolley stole the show (3-14) along with AJ
West (2-18) and Alex Hayman with a crucial (1-33) which broke the Plympton opening
partnership. “ A great game where we played as a team and won as a team,” said captain AJ
West. “Everyone contributed whether with bat, ball or in the field. We played it the Ashburton
way with Jack Tolley and Westy both retiring on 50 after racking up 100 in less than 10
overs. Let’s hope we can keep this form going into finals day.”
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