A bit of bedtime reading this one, not a short post – a roundup of the last game of the year from the captains, and some thoughts on how the year went. Congratulations must go to Jack on a brilliant year for the 1st XI and promotion as Champions of A Division at his first attempt. He’s also been fantastic around the club and carried the captaincy with aplomb. Well done Jack and enjoy Australia – I’m sure you’re looking forward to meeting our ex-pro AJ!
DCL 1st XI – Captain Jack Moore
Mood was high in the camp especially after Reuben’s antics Friday night. On losing the toss, Thoverton decided to have a bat where they racked up 240. Standouts once again was Will Popham (10-1-51-3) who led from the front as the senior seamer in place of injured Theo. Rosh (10-0-52-2) and Tyse (10-1-30-1) were economical through the middle which enabled our very own impact player Jay Roth (5-0-31-3) to bowl aggressively, take 3 wickets and give the crowd what they wanted near the back end.
Going out to bat with a slightly different order to some weeks, we were still very confident they were 100 under par. It turned out to be about 200 as Bowser and Jay set off like only Jay knows and we were 80-1 of 10. We ended up eventual winners by 6 wickets with about 15 overs to go with myself, Fred, Aki still in the sheds. Jay 58 (36 balls, 11×4, 1×6), Bowser 22 (17 balls, 3×4), Tys 15* Theo 46(43 balls, 6×4) but standout was Rosh with a fantastic 85 not out (84 balls, 14×4). With the champions status already in place this win might go under the radar however with us not at 100% intensity and giving people opportunities in different roles, but it ranks as one of the best of the season for me and shows the depth we have as a 1st team squad.
It has been a pleasure to captain the set of blokes on a Saturday. I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it and I hope you as supporters have enjoyed watching the talent and development of the club within the last 5 months. I hope you all winter well and we are looking forward to your support in 2025.
PS. As some of you know I am off to Australia to play this winter and having mastered the reverse sweep, I can’t wait to come back with a fully developed Switch Hit for you all to view…..
Moorey
DCL 2nd XI – Captain Simon Wright
The final game of the season was an away trip to already relegated Thorveton. As has been the case for many games this season getting 11 together wasn’t easy and included myself, despite the fact I was on crutches. Jack was elevated from scoring duties to play too.
As has happened in many games this season we started pretty well with the bat, but the wheels then fell off a bit. Navindu looked like he was finally going to get the big runs his season has deserved before their overseas came on to bowl and the got one to shoot along the ground. Yet again Clarkey declared he was going to bat sensibly before getting out two balls later! We limped (quite literally in my case) to 159, it was great for me to finish the season batting with Jack who finished not out.
Our bowling started well and I managed to get a wicket, but we didn’t have enough on the board to defend, so ended up making sure everyone got a bowl. Nav picked up 3 and was aided by Nathan and Noah T, who both had good spells.
It’s been a long and sometimes difficult season. By my calculations we’ve got through 39 players throughout the season which highlights one of the main challenges in the second team. I am hugely proud of the fact that 11 of those 39 have been from our current under 17’s, seeing them come through and compete in 2nd XI cricket has been amazing. Another stand out thing for me has been the renewed attitude within the team or positivity and working together, it’s been tough at times, but the atmosphere has made it fun to play cricket, which is what I hoped for at the start of season.
DCL 3rd XI – Captain Ali Poll
We hosted our nearest neighbours Bideford for the final league match of the season. Bideford’s young skipper Sam Beckley won the toss and elected to bat first, and began the task of amassing a very impressive total of 306/6. All batters contributed, with Fionn Toland (94) and Matt Clarke (81) being the standouts. For North Devon Dom Carter took 2 for 40, and Rebecca Savory marked her senior debut with 4 overs for just 22 runs.
Facing a huge total North Devon started strongly with Ali Poll (24) and Phil Pennington putting on a season’s best 93 for the first wicket, but it was the partnership between Pennington (144no) and Sam Wormington (117) which took the hosts to the brink of an unlikely victory, with youngster Dylan Evans hitting the winning runs. A season’s best chase of 307/3 in the last match of the season.
2024 has been an interesting season for the Third team. From the first joyous bowling innings away at Alphington, all out for 41, to the not so joyous batting display 20 minutes later that left us 32 all out. From the exceptional team performances at Kilmington , our first win of the season, at Sidbury, where we so nearly beat the league leaders, to our memorable home win over Bideford where we chased down 307 on the final day of the season.
It was a great privilege to take over as Captain from Richard Clarke whose great form meant that he played for the Second team for most of the season. I am grateful to Richard for all the support and guidance he has given me, he’s a great bloke and a real asset for the Club. Two rain offs and just two wins meant we lost 14 games, and were relegated from Division F. This wasn’t an easy year, especially as we lost players to our Second team and the standard of cricket in rose sharply in our league.
The spirit in the team kept remarkably high, despite the results, and we took positives from each match. It was great to see youngsters including Rebecca, Kiaran and Harris make their senior debuts, and we benefitted from some very good performances from Izzy, Noah, Dylan, Charlie and Jools….all of which bodes well for the future.
We also welcomed Tyler and Connor from Newton Tracey. Both very good players and people, although Tyler needs to come out of his shell more. Also new to the Club was Alex who contributed greatly in the field throughout the year, and started to do well with the bat late on, and Sam who scored heavily whenever selected….we hope he will be a fixture in the side in 2025.
We sadly missed Keith for much of the season due to an awful fall which could have been much worse. We’re grateful for his umpiring during the middle of the year, and were glad to have him return to the team recently.
A special mention must go to Tom whose 368 runs were by far the greatest contribution to the batting, and Wes whose 15 wickets topped the bowling, despite often offering to take the ‘bad end’, and generally being a captain’s dream.
I am grateful to the 40 players who represented the team this summer, sometimes getting three teams out is extremely difficult, and I am grateful to Jack, James, Simon and Jonny in selection for their advice and support. Next season we compete in Division G, and I am looking forward to it already!
Tarka Ladies – Match Manager Jan Witheridge
The 2024 season started well with Tarka Ladies entering the DCL Indoor League for the first time. The matches were far more fun than we had anticipated and after some great games in the North Region based at Torrington School, we qualified for the final at Exeter. After a fantastic day of cricket, we became DWCL Indoor League Champions 2024.
We were ready for the start of the 2024 season, but we were not prepared for the bombshell of the increased number of Devon Ladies Fixtures impacting so negatively on the DWCL. Almost all Devon Ladies fixtures were put on Sundays. Clubs with significant numbers of Devon selected players were faced with challenging weeks where they struggled to field sides. Ironically this proved to give clubs with few or no players playing representative cricket an advantage.
Despite the challenges of having Gee Lilii, Ruby Davis and Rose Ball selected for Devon matches we realised that every cloud had a silver lining and a number of non- cricketers but able sportswomen stepped in to assist so that we could always raise a side even if it meant playing with 8 or 9. Conceding was not an option if we wanted to remain in Division 1 as it carries a -10 point penalty. The support of these extra players was crucial and the team spirit we have always had in abundance at NDCC Tarka just seemed to thrive under the circumstances. Credit to Kate Williams who after sustaining a broken finger at Taunton still attended every game to encourage her team. Of course, much credit must go to our Captain Lauren. She has had a solid season with the bat and is exceptionally hard working and positive in the field a fantastic role model who leads by example. She gives every player an opportunity to participate and develop, especially enabling our junior players to flourish. I must also thank Matt Dart and Andrew Cameron for the joy that is playing on the Instow pitch. We get so many complimentary comments from opposing sides. Also, Merv for his coaching and wisdom throughout the season. Thank you.
The season has just now drawn to a close and we have had some fantastic moments. I shall mention a few.
Gee Lilii – an amazing 562 runs in 8 matches, Issie Ollis (U15) – 110 runs NO against Plymouth, Ruby Davis 101 NO against Cornwood, Rose Ball 105 NO at Plymouth, Milly Squire 56 runs against Exeter and 54 NO against Paignton, Flora Corbin 6 wickets and a catch against Cornwood, Olivia Kingdom 4 wickets and a catch at Plymouth, Megan Zeleniewicz (U14) 3 for 14 against Hatherleigh, Milly Squire 3 wickets and Gee Lilii 4 wickets against Cornwood, a run out and caught and bowled for Rebecca Savory (U15) against Paignton. The list could go on.
Outside Devon the ladies continue to cheer on our NDCC Tarka Ladies and Lauren and Kate travelled to Lords to watch our very own Ruby Davis lead Loughborough University to victory over Exeter in the University Final.
I am certainly extremely proud of every player who has contributed to the success of NDCC Tarka Ladies this season. Beaten only by Exeter who are lucky enough to have sufficient high calibre players be able to field two teams in the league! We have finished runners-up in the First Division of the DWCL 2024. We were equal 2ndwith Cornwood going into the last match. With some masterful match management, we finished 3 points ahead of third placed Cornwood, 22 points ahead of fourth placed Paignton and 50 points ahead of Hatherleigh.
Played 12, won 7,drawn , lost 4. An amazing achievement.
Thank you all.
Jan With
North Devon League
It was a mixed year for the NDL side – we don’t take the league as a serious priority to win, more as a gateway to younger players experiencing adult league cricket. Despite this, we finished third in the table. Lots of great performances, Roshan with 202 not out against Nomansland, 147 for James Tyson against Westleigh, 157 not out for Jack Moore against Newton Tracey plus 80 for Navindu Vanderbona against Heathcoat as one of the younger players coming through. That obviously makes Jack and James sound old!
In the bowling, Oscar Meech’s 4-36 was the standout from the younger players, but some great performance from Navindu, Kiaran Wormington, Noah Deurden, and Dylan Evans show there’s some great bowlers coming through.
There’s likely to be some changes to the structure of our Sunday games next year – more details to come soon!
And finally – top 10 batting and bowing last year, all competitions and games which shows just how much time some gave up for the club! Roshan has done amazingly this year and I can confirm that we have signed him for next season and our assault on the Premier League.
Batting, total runs.
Bowling, total wickets.
Sorry for the long post, but it has been a great year this year – if not results then the culture of the club and the players. We have some plans for next year, and as always volunteers are always welcome (especially scorers and the bar. Mostly the bar!) so make yourselves known to the team if you can help, even if only for an hour or two.
Next up awards night for the juniors and the adults – more info to come!