Take a trip down Memory Lane with Plymstock's Colin Gill

Torquay, the dominant team of the 1970s

TORQUAY’S Premier Division title win last season jogged the memory of former Plymstock cricketer Colin Gill, who was playing when the competition started.

Gill played for Plymstock in the 1970s and was a member of the team who won the league title in 1973.Colin Gill in the mid-1970s

Unlike today when the league stretches to 15 divisions, there was only one division then and the 12 teams taking part played on a merit table basis.

Tavistock (21) played more games than anyone else. Exeter St Thomas, who finished second, only played 11 games.

Places were decided on a percentage basis with Plymstock averaging 3.69 points per game.

From 1975 there were 13 teams in the league, playing each other home and away in 24 matches.Torquay won five titles between 1972-1980, Exeter won three.

The season started in mid-April and continued until mid-September before Exeter were crowned league champions with South Devon second and ousted champs Torquay third.

Games lasted 46 overs in those days and bowlers were allowed to bowl all the way through. 

Twenty-three over spells were common – and there were teams whose opening bowlers stayed on all afternoon.

Max Waller Max Waller took 33 wickets at 6.67 from 80 overs bowled for Torquay last season, breaking the record previously held by Barton’s Aqeel Ahmed. Ten overs is the maximum per bowler now.

How times have changed!

Gill said in 1976 – the first year any sort of records are available for – Plymstock clubmate Ian Roberts bowled as many overs in a month as Waller did in a season.

“Ian topped the averages in 1976 with 67 wickets at 8.65 when there were no maximum restrictions,” said Gill.

“He finished fourth in 1977 with 59 wickets at 11.39 and bowled 329 overs.

“Ian would have bowled 80 overs in a month.”

Gill topped the bowling averages in 1977 with 42 at 10.31 each from 154 overs, although it took a while for his feat to be recognised.

A clerical error by league officials led to seven of Gill’s wickets not being included in the end-of-season statistics.

Plymouth’s Pete Moxham ‘won’ that season’s bowling prize for 50 wickets at 10.5 each.

It took Gill more than a year to get the record righted and his place in the league history books confirmed.Barrie Matthews

“I felt that if records are to be kept and awards given then at least they should be accurate and the correct person should receive the award,” Gill said at the time in a newspaper interview.

In the season that Roberts finished top of the bowling averages, he wasn’t the leading wicket taker.

Exmouth’s Paddy Considine (80) topped the aggregates with Roberts second and Torquay off-spinner Mike Goodrich (66) third.

Torquay won the title that year and three of their batters – Gary Wallen (557), Dave Traylor (668) and Barrie Matthews (628) filled the top four spots in the averages. Exeter’s John Tolliday (664) was the odd one out.

Joe OliverOther batsmen to profit during the long, hot summer of 1976 were South Devon’s Joe Oliver (609), the late John Tozer of Exmouth (629) and Gill with 564.

Had their been an all-rounder award in 1977, Gill would have had a respectable claim to it.

Not only was he top of the bowling averages – eventually – he finished ninth in the batting stats with 541 runs at 31.82.

Tozer (864) was the leading run getter by more than 200 runs from Matthews (623), South Devon’s Dave Webber (627) and Buckfastleigh’s Bill Soper (612).

Tolliday topped the batting averages with 495 at 49.50 from 10 completed innings.