Sussex Report

The Exeter University 1st XI kicked off their campaign this weekend with a well-spirited draw against a strong Sussex side.

Rain unfortunately got the better of the two sides on Day 1, with no play taking place in order to push for two full days of cricket.

Day 2 commenced as planned, with Captain Dylan Church losing the toss, and the Uni were put into bat.

Conditions were testing, proving tricky for the Exeter side with fresher Tom Geffen departing early. The trend continued, as a 37 partnership between Church and Connell was broken by George Garton, leading to a mini collapse.

Akshay Bharadwaj took it to the Sussex bowlers, with a run-a-ball 26 the highlight of Exeter’s innings. The University finished on 117 AO with Tom Haines the pick of the bowlers with 3-11.

Sussex started strongly with Ali Orr playing some aggressive strokes in the first over off John Turner. But the SAFA didn’t have to wait long for a breakthrough, forcing the edge from Haines straight to Charlesworth for the Uni’s first wicket.

Turner was ravenous for wickets, and the determination paid off; first dismissing Alsop cheaply, and then taking a composed caught and bowled to leave Sussex 65/3.

After tea, Orr was dismissed by Harry Startin from a good deflected catch by Connell. The end of the day belonged to Bharadwaj, taking two wickets to break a crucial partnership between Carter and Ibrahim. Sussex finished on 142/6, with a superb finish by the Uni boys.

But Day 3 was even more fruitful. A beautiful morning was made so much better by John Turner picking up another wicket, thanks to a stunning catch by Connell with one hand.

Turner then dismissed Carson next ball, beating the batsman for pace with a deadly accurate yorker. The hat-trick was blocked out but the SAFA had breathed life into the side and the supporters, bringing up his 5fer in the process.

Luke Charlesworth then joined the action with a remarkably casual caught and bowled to leave Sussex vulnerable. Bharadwaj picked up the last wicket for three on his debut, setting up an exciting final two sessions for Exeter.

Openers Church and Geffen put on a 76-run partnership, really taking it to the Sussex bowlers with a few monstrous blows. Church was eventually bowled for 31 by a ball that kept low.

Connell was dismissed quickly, with Jamie Baird joining Geffen at the crease. A 77-partnership would form, with Baird providing great support to the debutant Geffen.

The opener played some brilliant shots, batting with experience beyond his years. Geffen bought up his hundred with a fine six over fine leg, summarising a maiden century that had it all.

Baird was out to Crocombe, with Buckingham putting on a fine 11 before being dismissed. Geffen eventually fell for 126 towards the end of the day, with Ingham-Hill and Boyle seeing out the day to secure a draw for Exeter.

A great pre season game had come to an end, with highlights including Turner’s 5-68 and Geffen’s maiden century.

Written by Billy Wootten

BUCS Review

1s

We started off the year very promisingly with a dominant draw at Hove against Sussex. Tom Geffin debuted with an outstanding 100 and Hampshire Seamer John Turner took at brilliant 5 wicket haul. Unfortunately from that point onwards we have lost the battle with the weather. We were only able to play 2 of our 7 scheduled BUCS games beating Solent and losing to Durham. Dominic Morgan took 4 wickets in an over vs Somerset 2ndXI, Harvey Cutmore smashed a 17 ball 50 against Cardiff and Johnny Connell scored an exceptional 86 not out against Durham. A number of friendlies, however, has left us fit and raring to go at varsity this year and we hope to get our own back after the tight loss last year.

Dylan Church

2s

The 2s season is still very much undergoing and so a greater report will be published at a later date

3s

After a long winters training, the EUMCC 3s were ready to get outside and get some overs in our legs. Unfortunately, the weather was not in our favour meaning we were going into the BUCS season having only played a singular preseason game.

We began our campaign against Plymouth, having batted first the boys were looking forward to putting on a big first score of the BUCS season. A few middle order partnerships later and a fluent 63 (74) by Albert Grieve put us in a comfortable position going into the second innings. Three wickets a piece for freshers Ben Way (10-3-31-3) and James Nelson (10-2-26-3) led us to our first win of the year. Our next two games saw us take on Southampton 2s and Southampton 1s. With spirits running high, we put on a strong performance against Southampton 2s. Everyone chipped in with wickets and runs, putting us at the top of the table with three games to play.

Having beat Southampton 2s, our next hurdle was against the same University’s first team. After the three hour drive, the boys arrived in Southampton. Bowling first, we put ourselves in a strong position with Southampton 60-6. However, a couple of strong partnerships between Southampton’s lower order meant we needed 181 to win off our 50 overs. For the first time this season, we were in need of an early rebuild having lost three early wickets. To the crease came the “prolific BUCS run scorer” Louis Mase (43 off 72) who managed to recover our innings from 30-3 to 110-4. A special mention must also go to Matt Avant-Smith who scored an eye catching 42 off 47 bring us within 40 runs of victory. However, after some tight bowling against our tail, it was the Southampton side that walked away with the win.

With the league title still in touching distance, our next game was against our very own University fourth team. A severe lack of availability and a fierce spell of bowling from fourth team player Harvey Stiles led to our second loss of the season. Special mentioned must go to Ed Snushall scoring his highest BUCS score (20 off 19), and having multiplied last years season average of 2.8 across 6 innings by over five times. Cheers the Lord.

It’s been a short and sweet season lads and for the boys left at Uni - best of luck next year.

Will Greenall

4s

The Exeter University Men’s 4th team set their sights on following up the brilliant campaign of last year, with the team being promoted from Division Western 3B to Division Western 2B, where they would be playing alongside the 3s. The news of Dan Dixon taking over as captain after recovering from his ACL injury led to great promise for the squad. Despite his sensational leadership of the squad last season, Tom ‘Big’ Chesser was named Vice-Captain in what seemed on paper a tough decision, but with Dixon and Chesser leading the troops and a leadership core of Mase, Cunningham, Walker and Lee, all of whom were stalwarts of last years side, the team’s prospects were incredibly exciting, and though the 3s were in the same division, the goal at the start of the season was to push for promotion.

However, some of this early promise was derailed as Tom ‘Big’ Chesser, who some refer to as the best BUCS bowler of his generation, decided to tear the ligaments in his ankle in a freak accident leaving him unable to participate for the entire season, leaving Louis ‘the Money’ Mase to become VC. It was the beginning of a list of injuries for the 4s who also saw Seb Bradley break his leg on an ‘academic’ trip to Marbella and also become sidelined for the entire season. Without players of these calibre who had shone last year for the side, it was likely to be an extremely competitive and difficult season for the men.

A derailed preseason saw the 4s having zero fixtures or even practice sessions before going into the first league game of the season against Southampton University 1XI. With veterans Matt Walker, Spencer Lee and Alex Anthony unavailable, the selectors turned to young guns Tom ‘Cal’ Wilson and Sidney Desk the 2nd to sure up the lineup. The game started well with Lucas Pugh taking 4 wickets alongside Aryan Raignaiger taking 2-9 from his 10 overs. The men were set 119 to win on a tricky Topsham 2 deck. What occurred next was nothing short of calamity. Alex Cunningham and George Lloyd opened the batting at a very slow pace, leading the men to 21-0 off 14 overs before Cunningham tried to flamingo flick a ball on off peg, seeing his stumps rearranged. This led Louis ‘The Money’ Mase to the crease to join Lloyd. But this was short lived with Lloyd falling almost immediately and former 5s Stalwart Ed Taylor falling soon after having been dropped twice by the same fielder. Ed Taylor stated at the crease to Mase that he was indeed a ‘Western 3B merchant’ and that ‘Western 2B was just too big of a step’. The loss of Brew and Desk led the men to slump to 66-5 off 21 overs with Mase and Dixon at the crease. A brief partnership of 19 between the pair of big fish provided hope before Mase threw away the game chipping one to mid off and ruining his BUCS average of 78 from the previous year in the process. Leaving too much for Dixon and Co to chase, the rest of the total leaving the men 99 all out.

The comeback fixture saw the men take on Plymouth University 1st Team. The need to bounce back saw Alex Anthony, Jonty Seabborn, Rob Macintosh, Cam Sprott, Nick Damley-Jones and Archie Del Mar all come into the side. The change of team saw drastic results with the men this time opting to bat first largely due to the nature of the deck at Topsham 2. While Cunningham, Wilson and Dixon unsurprisingly didn’t trouble the scorers; Anthony made the difference. A graceful 89 that included 7 mixers made the difference with the gritty Mase staying alongside him to see the men make 222 all out. Wickets were shared around with Plymouth being rolled for 132 in what was an incredibly satisfying comeback win, particularly after tempers flared at the end of the game, with the opposition wicketkeeper not being particularly happy in particular.

A third fixture saw the men take on Southampton Solent 2s, once again at Topsham 2. Promotions for Mase, Lloyd and Raignaiger led to the return of the veterans Lee, Stiles, Walker and a debut for Pike. The men once again opted to Bat first with Cunningham, Lee and Dixon once again shockingly failing to score any runs of note. Anthony was able to provide a 30 alongside Pike before being triggered by the now infamous Umpire Barry. A cameo from young Archie Del Mar helped the men struggle to 130. The bowling innings started poorly with Walker unable to bowl on the right side of the stumps, bowling 9 wides, and not returning for the rest of the innings. A fired up Archie Del Mar bowled delightfully taking the 2 key wickets. Wickets continued to fall for the men who with 2 a piece for Desk, Damley-Jones and Stiles aiding to put Plymouth 114-9. Another questionable decision from Barry saw the Plymouth captain being given caught behind by Dixon off Damley-Jones to win the game. An inspired comeback that led to a sliver of promotion hope if they could win their last two matches.

After their game against Southampton 2s was postponed due to rain, the derby match against the 3s looked likely to decide the winners of the league, with the 3s coming in unbeaten. Dixon was unavailable for this one, due to him receiving colours for contributions to AU sport. The team was not too fussed with this loss, however, as Dixon averages 6 with the bat this season, and his replacement Oliver Berlet is an infinitely better wicket keeper. Mase, Raiganger and Brew were all playing for the 3s, however a strong 4s squad with a delightful mix of the experience of Lee, Walker, Stiles and Pugh with the youth of Sid Desk, Del Mar and Wilson alongside the main man Anthony in the team, now as captain, meant that spirits were high. Having won the toss and batted first the 4s were able to score 160, with Anthony hitting a classy 60 including some very large sixes, whilst Sebborn looked very good for his 30. Knowing that this would be a very competitive score, they went in for the kill with the ball with Sid Desk bowling nicely at the top and taking the wicket of Ed ‘Lord Panic/King of the Suzuki’ Snushall. The 3s rebuilt however, and at 60-1, the game looked lost. On came Harvey Stiles. A sensational spell of swing bowling from the once second team quick bowler swung the game in the 4s’ favour, taking 5-7 in six overs. A nice spell from Del Mar and a couple of wickets for Desk and even one for Spencer Lee who also chatted out Mase from first slip led to a win of 69 runs. This win puts the 4s in the driving seat for promotion from Western 2B if they can win against Southampton 2s next week.

All in all, a brilliant season with some excellent cricket played, particularly in the bowling performances in the three wins, defending a score. Though we have lost a number of games this season due to weather, we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves when given the opportunity, particularly in various friendlies at Winslade, Hatherleigh and in the Franchise hundred competition. We bid farewell to a number of fantastic men who have been outstanding figures in the club for a number of years at the end of the season. Though their talents on the field are not as immense as others in the club, Spencer Lee, Matt Walker and Alex Cunningham are three of the finest human beings one might wish to meet off the field, and will be missed both socially and in and around the club as a whole. Lucas Pugh has proven this season that he has the class of a 2s player, with his warm ups as our resident sports science student proving excellent. Jonty Sebborn and Winslade are a match made in heaven and have produced some fine moments this year, with Jonty perhaps being the finest player Division Western 3B has ever seen. A great season, thanks go to all the boys involved, in particular to Dan Dixon for his leadership, his captaincy, his cricketing brain, and his companionship but we do hope that for the club’s sake you take up a non playing role next year. We would be very grateful.

Player of the Season: Alex Anthony
Most Improved Player: Archie Del Mar
Fresher of the Year: Sid Desk 2nd
Bloke of the Century: Matt Walker

Written by Dan ‘The container ship’ Dixon and Louis ‘the money’ Mase

5s

The 5s were the first of the EUMCC sides to complete their campaign this year. With an early 266 win over Southampton, the men looked set for a compelling season. Jonty Seabborn notched up the innings of the season with 128* and then Southampton never stood a chance in their reply being bowled out for a meagre 45 with Archie Del Mar the pick of the blowers taking 5-12. What came next was a far tougher test for the 5s in a game where a poor decision at the toss simply cost them and chasing 128, the men were skittled for a meagre 60. A spell by their opening bowler proved too good as he returned with figures of 10 overs 5-5.

Looking to put that defeat behind them and after a break due to the weather, the a much changed side took to the field in a game against a stronger Southampton side and at the half way stage looked good for another victory. For a second game running, however, the top order went missing and only thanks to a fantastic partnership between Jake Shepherd and James Bradley did we get close, but ultimately we fell 13 runs short.Keen to put all of the frustration of the previous weeks game into a strong performance, the 5s met the 6s at Winslade in a grudge match. Boy did they bounce back as Ludo and Mackenzie skittled their top order for 51. The top order knocked this off without breaking a sweat as we romped home for a 9 wicket victory.

The season ender was our first and only away trip of the season. In a reduced game, our 5s made a competitive 201-5 off 40 overs, Pri Jha the pick of the batsman with a well made 97. A tight and disciplined bowling display saw Bournemouth fall 22 runs short. This leaves the 5s currently top of the league, but with many teams still to play, a number of results will need to fall their way for them to remain there.

Freddie Hanbury

6s

Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe sh*t

Jake Shepherd