Saturday 5th. June 2010 vs Swinton Park- on tour

East Prawle maintained its unbeaten record against Swinton Park CC when it travelled to North Yorkshire to play on the grounds of the stately Swinton Park Hotel.

Captained by Mark Cunliffe-Lister, Swinton Park won the toss and batted. But with only seven runs on the board they lost their first wicket in the fourth over when Prawle Captain Pete Burner took a sharp catch off the bowling of Dave Hampden-Smith to dismiss S. Mukherjea for 2 runs. Then the always-to-be-expected ringer came in in the form of Richard Shepherd. Under touring rules he had to retire at 30 and Prawle were glad to see the back of him only to have Lister take guard. He made an exciting 32 before he was politely asked to retire. Jones was bowled in the ninth over for 4 by Adrian Martin and neither Hinton nor Moubayed batting at 5 and 6 respectively troubled the scorers. Samit at 7 put on a handy 25 before he was run out. Swinton Park finshed their 30 overs with 147 for 7 and Tim Johnson was Prawle's outstanding bowler with 3 for 3 off 3. DHS, Martin and John Swaddle took one apiece.

Alec Browne and Alex Tucker opened the Prawle innings and put on 37 runs before Tucker was clean bowled by that man Shepherd for 8 runs. Browne went on to make 34 before he was mandatorily retired. Robin Surtees also had to retire when he made a handsome 30 and Martin threatened to be the third man to walk proudly but was caught behind by Lister off Shepherd for 21. Steve Tucker sealed the match for the visitors with a sweet boundary on the first ball of the 29th over, fittingly bowled by Shepherd.

We can proudly say we went to Yorkshire and came home victors by 2 wickets.

Saturday 19th. June 2010 vs Pigs Nose - away

East Prawle Cricket Club made a quarter mile journey this week to Tripp's Field in the village to face the Pig's Nose in a 30 over match.

Always a lively and entertaining contest this year proved no exception. Prawle won the toss and Captain of the Day Steve Tucker decided to bat. Julian Brazil and Pete Burner opened and they both made a steady and promising start until Brazil was spectacularly caught and bowled by Simon Hornby on 11. Burner went on to make 25 before he skied one to wicket keeper Chris Browning. Wickets fell fairly rapidly and when Prawle was 69 for 8 it looked like the home side would have an easy day of it. But Charlie Ansell and Sam Lamble at 9 and 11 put on 32 runs to take the visitors to a credible 139 for 9 before the overs ran out. Will Baker was the Pig's bowler of the day taking 3 wickets for 2 runs in his allotted overs. Jason Moore took two wickets but was expensive at 27 runs. Hornby, Dixon, Scott Robinson and Ken Turner accounted for the others.

When the pub team came in to bat Phil Martin and Dixon put on an opening stand of 29 runs before Martin was caught behind by Tucker off his brother Adrian'Martin's bowling for 16. Dixon put on a solid 24 before he was caught by Pete Thuel off Answell's bowling. Scott Robinson made a handy 18 before he was clean bowled by Brazil. But nobody could dislodge Hornby who was 41 not out and ended the day's entertainment with a cracking boundary in the 29th over to give the pub side a 5 wicket victory.

Saturday 18th. July 2010 vs. Malborough - away

We travelled to Malborough for a 35 over match with Tim Johnson acting captain for the day. We lost by 76 runs but most of us were a bit bemused by Malborough's expensive new artificial pitch.

They won the toss and elected to bat and their openers Gus Morgan and Mike Martindale put on 200 runs for the first wicket. We knew the game was up by then but we soldiered on. At the end of their 35 overs they had amassed 239 runs for only 2 wickets and we had a hill to climb. Morgan went first when he was caught by Adrian Martin off the bowling of Alex Browne on 82 and then Martindale was caught by Browne off the bowling of James Millard when he was on exactly a ton. Baldwin and Burke put on 14 and 15 not out respectively to end their innings. Millard was the best of our bowlers-not a hard task-with 1 for 24 off six overs. We put up a fight nonetheless. Browne made a good 38 before he was bowled by Lee. Pete Davies made a stylish 34 before he was caught by Morgan off the bowling of Drew. And Wicketkeeper Steve Tucker made 25 before he was dismissed by Martin.

We were all out for 163 but our wounds were healed by a splendid meal provided by the hosts afterwards.

Sunday 1st. August 2010 vs. South Pool - at home

A bitter/sweet week in Prawle. One of the cricket club's most loyal supporters passed away and we had a moment of silence before our game with South Pool to honour his memory. Rex Horsman was only 65 when he died suddenly from pneumonia. He and his wife, Rose lived in Gloucestershire but owned a home in the village for over a dozen years and were very much a part of village life. He will be sorely missed.

As to the match itself Tim Johnson captained again and started off as usual by losing the toss. South Pool chose to bat and openers Dave Lovett and Nick Massey put on a solid 21 runs before Lovett was brilliantly run out by Jacob Surtees-Smith from the deep when he was on 13. Third man Robert Darke only lasted 7 more runs, two of which he made, before he was comprehensively bowled by Dave Hampden-Smith. South Pool struggled to find any form after that with only James Millard, a late substitute to their team, making double figures. He made a dashing 17 with four 4s and a single before he was bowled by our new young discovery Will Pike. South Pool were all out for 74 in only 16 of their allotted 35 overs and Pike was undoubtedly Prawle's best bowler. He took four wickets for one run.

DHS had another good day taking 2 for 7 in 3 overs. John Swaddle also bowled well, taking 1 for 7 in 3 overs. DHS and Joe Stephens opened the batting for Prawle and got us off to a very shaky start. Between them they managed 5 runs before they were dismissed. 3rd man Roger Tucker went cheaply to some good bowling from Nick Massey, but then Swaddle came in and settled things down. He made 20 before he was clean bowled by Geoffrey Tantum. Surtees-Smith was going smoothly before he was out to a controversial lbw decision but his father Robin stepped in and put on a handsome 27 to ensure victory for us by 3 wickets. For South Pool Ben Bushell took 2 for 11, Massey had 2 for 7. Collins , Tantum and Lovett accounted for the others.

Sunday 15th. August 2010 vs. 22 Bedford Row - at home

Lost by 4 wickets

Fortunately the rain stayed away for our second match with 22 Bedford Row. It was a beautiful summer’s day and our Captain for the day Adrian Martin was off to a good start by winning the toss. He chose to bat and Pete Burner and Will Pike opened but not resoundingly. Burner was out for 4, Pike fell for only one and Alex Browne for the same score. Marcus Nolan came on to steady the ship and put on 39 before he fell lbw to the bowling of Morgan. The captain had a good innings and was high scorer with 40 before he also went out lbw off the bowling of opposing captain Richard Sharpe. Because The Bedford Row team had players who were returning to London in the early evening we played only 25 overs each and at the end of our innings we’d made 144.

The Bedford Row openers of Beasley and Morgan put on 43 runs before Morgan was out lbw to Nolan for 15. Sunil Panwar rushed on as third man and announced he had a taxi coming so he would probably get out early. He didn’t but instead made 29 runs before he retired “cab waiting.” Things started to look up for us as we took two quick wickets but then Captain Sharpe arrived and smashed the ball all over the ground. He put on 44 runs including 5 sixes and two fours. The sixes came all in one over, and the bowler’s name is being withheld. Sharpe was caught out with his side needing only two runs to win and ironically his entire team cheered mightily when he was dismissed. They went on to win by four wickets in their 20th over. The quirkiest part of the day—one of their players arrived with a grey parrot and a budgerigar in separate cages and they squawked and whistled through the entire game. Drove the scorers crazy.

Sunday 29th. August 2010 vs. Pigs Nose - home

Won by 1 Run

The two village cricket teams met for the second time this summer in what is always a strongly contested game. Back in June the Pig's Nose team beat East Prawle Cricket Club by 5 wickets, so we were looking to even the score.

Playing at home pitch we won the toss and Captain for the day Charlie Ansell elected to bat. Openers Marcus Nolan and Steve Tucker put on 36 runs before Tucker was given out lbw by his son, John, who was standing in as umpire. The senior Tucker made 23 before he was dismissed. Pete Davies, still grinning from his excellent A level results, came in at 3 and he and Nolan put on a splendid 50 partnership before Davies was clean bowled by Gareth Treverton for 29. Mark Lister came and went on the second ball he faced and Nolan followed shortly after when he was run out on 29. Julian Brazil was the third batsman of the day to make 29 before he was caught out by Phil Martin off the bowling of Ken Turner. Turner went on to take two more wickets for only 10 runs in his spell of bowling. He accounted for Alex Browne who made 10 and James Millard, seven. Scott Robinson and Treverton cleaned up the remaining batsmen for not many and Prawle finished 167 all out in the penultimate of our 35 overs. Treverton accounted for 3 wickets for 10 runs.

The Pig's Nose had a shaky start and were 45 for 3 when Treverton came to bat. He carried his bat to the end, making 95, including 13 fours and 3 sixes, but it was not enough as his team-mates collapsed around him. None of the batsmen after him made it into double figures but most of the spectators and some of the Prawle team thought he was going to do it on his own. He may well have except for the slapstick run out of Fred Robinson. When they needed only three runs to win, Treverton smacked the ball for what looked like another boundary but it hit the umpire on the foot and rebounded to a fielder who winged the ball to the wicket keeper, who bobbled it and failed to dislodge the bails. Treverton and Robinson, meanwhile, found themselves side by side next to the wicket keeper who was trying desperately to pick up the ball. Robinson set off for his end of the pitch only to arrive there after the bowler, Millard, had dislodged the bails. In came Dave Hampden-Smith, a late substitute for the Pigs at number 11. Treverton took a single and Hampden-Smith faced Millard's last ball of the over. He was comprehensively bowled, giving East Prawle a win by one run. Honours even for the year, but what a match.

Saturday 4th. September 2010 vs. President's - home

Won by 51 Runs

It was President's day this week for us, which is really just an excuse for a good party. Club President Jim Keltz picks a select team to play the club regulars in a 35 over match after which we all retire to the beer tent for a ram roast and other assorted delicious foods. We do, however, play a sort of serious game. The club team, captained by Pete Burner, won the toss and elected to bat. It was a wise decision. They put on 227 all out with Richie Thuel undefeated on 53. Phil Martin made 45 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Will Pike. Alex Browne made 40 runs before he was lbw to Peter Blyth. Others in double figures for Prawle were John Swaddle and Pete Davies, both on 16, and Julian Brazil and Tim Johnson, both making 10.

The President's X1 had a very shaky start to their innings and were 49 for 5 in almost the blink of an eye and the President was looking decidedly unhappy. Truth to tell if it hadn't been for Peter Blyth and Mark Lister the President's side would have been humiliated. Blyth made 66 before he was clean bowled by Browne, and Lister was 43 not out. The other participants failed to reach double figures and the President's side was bowled out for 176, giving the club side a win by 51 runs. At the end the President's Captain Steve Tucker said having lost two years in a row he resigned, but was told he couldn't because he was sacked.