Normally Devon end their annual Midland Tour with only ten or eleven fit players but this year with the fifteens playing in the National finals they were down to the bare eleven before they even left Exeter. Devon stopped at the Gloucestershire Services and the Mercure Wolverhampton was found with little difficulty. We returned to the Holly Bush after a couple of years  and all were all fed well. Devon avoided the City Centre as they took the cross county route to the Wolverhampton Cricket Club. Staffs won the toss and batted. Despite the first over going for nineteen Devon clawed their way back and by lunch had taken six wickets conceding one hundred and thirteen. Leese was caught behind by Rudolph off Moore in the fifth over, Tom Mitch bowled Foster in the twelfth. Sam Read removed Hesketh, leg before, in the nineteenth and in his next over he had Dass caught by Luke Medlock and three balls later JWhite took the catch to send back Hunte. In the twenty-sixth over Bertie Creer caught Ward to give Luke Medlock a wicket.  Baked potatoes with a choice of filling for lunch and Devon well placed. Creer had started to find his radar in his pre lunch spell pitched one up to give keeper Eddie Rudolph his second catch. JWhite bowled Heiskanen in the forty-five over with the home side on one hundred and eighty and eight down. The eighth wicket had put on the highest partnership of the innings with the two batsman fully utilising their strength shots hitting in the air in the V and working off the hip leg side. Once these areas were sealed the batsman were forced to score in less successful areas and they were both dismissed. A key lesson for both bowlers and captain. The ninth wicket added fourteen and the tenth wicket fell on the same score one hundred and ninety-four. Sam Woodcock took both wickets in the fiftieth over of the day, caught Horler and leg before. Read had taken 3-40 and all the other bowlers had taken at least one wicket.

Devon did not reach tea unscathed as Kopparambil was bowled by Degg and the visitors came in for a cuppa with seven runs on the board. Rain brought an early conclusion at nine minutes to six with Devon three down and ninety runs on the board. James Horler had been caught in the twelfth over and Read trapped in front in the sixteenth in both instances the bowler was Ward. JWhite and the captain took Devon up to the rain break and close. Devon were now one hundred and four behind. We returned to the Holly Bush, it rained overnight and there had also been a shower of towels and a duvet storm. It transpired that a house-keeper had chosen the most direct route to the laundary for the towels. Sandy Allen, an avid follower of 24 Hours in Police Custody, undertook the investigation into the duvet with some probing questioning and with some No Comment answers. By lunch he had resolved Duvetgate and there is undoubtedly a future for him in interrogation.

In his everyday role he tried to set up a game before play commenced and did not receive a positive response but a result was still achieved. The game did not take the anticipated course as Devon experienced difficulties in taking a first innings lead. JWhite was bowled in the ninth over of the morning session, that had started thirty minutes early to make up some lost time, for forty-two. This was James White's highest score of the summer for the sixteens and if he is to fulfil his true batting potential it is hoped he will score big hundreds in 2019. The pair had put on the highest partnership of the innings eighty in eighty-three minutes. The captain was out forty-two balls later for fifty-four and he too will have to make scores similar to his two hundred against Worcestershire next summer. From one hundred and forty-two for four Devon fell away to one hundred and sixty-nine for nine as three partnerships did not pass the minimum score. Bertie Creer made his batting debut and with Sam Woodcock took their side to a first innings lead and five runs of a nominal second batting point. Woodcock's twenty-four was a Devon best and he then decided to start slogging! He was out next ball but had demonstrated how valuable his innings had and can be.

Devon bowled four overs before lunch and Staffordshire were seventeen ahead. The home side then set up a chase making a very fair declaration at tea. They scored one hundred and ninety-three with Tom Mitch and Sam Woodcock both taking three wickets with more catches for Kopparambil (2), Horler and Medlock. Devon had thirty-nine overs to score at just under fives. Sam Read ran himself out in the third over to allow James Horler to join Abraham Kopparambil. The openers had put on eight so Devon would not have all partnerships of ten and over. The second wicket pair batted until the sixteenth over when AB was caught. Devon had reached fifty-eight and still needed one hundred and thirty-five off one hundred and thirty balls. Even without field restrictions this was very much in Devon's favour. James White with Horler took Devon to one hundred and twenty-five with a sixty-seven partnership off seventy-seven balls in thirty-nine minuets. Whilst the pair were batting the captain made the wise decision to promote Luke Medlock and he and James Horler nearly took the side home. If there had been a criticism of Devon's approach it was that they had not taken the opportunity of taking the ones, concentrating on the big shots to the determent of wasting balls and rotating the strike. Medlock and Horler quickly had a rethink and they put on fifty-eight off forty-eight balls in a minute over half an hour. Medlock scored thirty-six at a strike rate of 150 and Horler's rate increased as he dropped the previously essential anchor role to score an undefeated seventy-five in just over two hours facing one hundred and twelve balls. Jack Moore joined Horler with ten needed and he did not face a ball as Devon got home with eight balls to spare. This had been an excellent demonstration of chasing down a total as Staffordshire did everything in their power to stop them doing so. A really worthwhile end to the game in glourous sunshine. Staffordshire had again provided us with two most worth while days of cricket. The M6 Toll beckoned.

Scorecard