For our NERD with eight weather APPS on his phone the rain that had a fairly large say in this match caught him completely unprepared - no wet weather gear. It needed the excellent Steve Horler to alert us of a change on the Met Office forecast that rain was going to affect us after lunch on the first day but no mention on the second. In fact the first rainfall was over lunch and followed by a thirty-nine minute break between innings and a much longer delay on the second day. This was our first of two visits to the Exmouth ground this summer and in looked in perfect condition in the initial bright sunshine. Gloucestershire won the toss and batted and reached lunch on 85-7 so it would appear to have been a good toss to lose. Devon had looked reasonable in the field over the first session with Ed Rudolph making his debut at this level. The two Tom's - Simmons and Mitch opened the bowling but it was the Captain, Jack Moore, that struck with his first ball bowling Boyle and having Humphreys well caught by Sam Read with the last ball of his first over. Max Hancock had entered the attack an over earlier and took his first wicket in the fifteenth over trapping Ahmed in front.. The visitors were now 47-3. On the same score Moore bowled the well thought of Naish and with no further addition Hancock bowled Millard. Another ten runs were added for the sixth wicket when Sam Read with the final ball of his first over had Trotman leg before. Elliot Hamilton took over from Hancock and on his twelve delivery, all the previous eleven balls had been dots, had Lewis caught by James Horler. After thirty-five overs lunch was taken with Devon very much in the driving seat. Jacket potatoes and a Michelin style desert was enjoyed and Simmons and Hancock continued after the break, Hancock bowled Shafi with his first ball but the score had progressed to ninety-one. Gloucestershire reached three figures in the thirty-ninth over and in the next over Tom Mitch held a caught and bowled. Disappointingly thirty-one runs were added by the last pairing before Kopparambil bowled Russell. All in all a total of one hundred and thirty-one would have been taken at start of the day. Max Hancock took three for thirty-six off sixteen and Jack Moore three for twenty-one off eight.
Devon had ten overs before tea and another thirty-four after to get well past their opponents first innings total. On his home ground James Horler was bowled on the sixth delivery he received but Abraham Kopparambil and Sam Read took Devon up to tea one hundred behind. Devon fell away after Read was dismissed in the seventeenth over from 46-1 to 75-6 in the twenty-third over. Read was bowled, Hamiliton leg before, Medlock bowled, Beaumont stuck in front and Moore caught. It had been all very tentative and with Kopperambil batting confidently at the other end a little more momentum had been needed. Freddie Ford provided it but just as it appeared Devon were back on track he was leg before but Devon were now only twenty-seven behind. It was Hancock that demonstrated how to do it helping take Devon forty-three runs ahead. At close Kopparambil was eleven short of a hundred and Hancock twelve from a third county fifty.
It had been cold on the first day and this had been for the first time for weeks but it was winter on the second not just cold but thoroughly unpleasant. Misty rain, some heavy brought forward Lunch - Pasta and Pavlov and play started at seven minutes past two. A stand in ground team with Steve Horlers guidance got us back out again. Kopparambil passed his first hundred at this level in the second over and Hancock reached his fifty next over. He was stumped in the same over and Devon declared sixty-eight ahead, the pair had added five short of the hundred. They had batted together superbly Kopparambil had faced only one hundred and thirty-nine balls hitting thirteen fours and Hancock had scored at a run a ball with eight fours
In their second innings, at close, Gloucestershire were ninety-three ahead having lost seven wickets. Sam Read took 3-26, Hamiliton 2-10 and Medlock and Hancock one each. The poor weather had created planning problems in making this a more meaningful game but the opportunity of a first look at some of the players had been taken. Over the last five days at Exmouth playing Gloucestershire an awful amount of time has been lost to the weather but this remains a splendid ground to play cricket. Fortunately the exceptoiopnal 2018 summer returned the next day.
