DEVON turned it on when it mattered to beat Oxfordshire by 167 runs and claim the victory they needed to avoid relegation from Western Division One.
Cornwall, Cheshire and Devon went into the fourth and final round of fixtures in the five-team table in danger of being relegated. Divisional winners Berkshire had already finished and could not be overhauled at the top.
Devon knew as long as they beat Oxfordshire at Banbury CC they would be safe, irrespective of the outcome of the Cheshire-against-Cornwall match at Chester. The script said a Devon win would spell disaster for either Cheshire or Cornwall.
A six-wicket haul for spin-bowler Sam Read in Oxfordshire’s second innings, and two each for Ben Privett and Kazi Szymanski, sped Devon to the win they craved with time to spare.
Cheshire were the side who finished bottom of the table as a consequence of their drawn game with Cornwall.
Devon went into their make-or-break game without a win in three starts. They were largely average in defeats by Berkshire then Cornwall, but were the most likely winners when rain and bad light prevented the meeting with Cheshire reaching a conclusion.
It was a different story at Banbury where Devon could claim outright at least seven of the nine sessions over three days. Oxfordshire definitely won the bits of sessions when they put on 161 for their final three wickets on day two.
Devon’s dominance started with Sam Elstone (156), Privett (75) and Ben Beaumont (73) stacking-up 402 for eight in the first innings. Oxfordshire, even after a battling 96 down the order from Max Mannering, were 101 runs adrift.
Privett took three Oxfordshire wickets and there were two each for Read, Szymanski and Cornwood’s Matt Skeemer.
Devon topped-up their lead to 298 with a second-innings total of 197 all out. Lawrence Walker (54) and James Horler (49) the main run-getters.
Devon would have had at least 70 overs to bowl-out Oxfordshire to win the match. They did it in less than 44.
Read’s Devon best six-for-27 haul – which included two in four balls and a spectacular one-handed catch off his own bowling to dismiss George Tait – helped remove Oxfordshire for 131. For the second time this season, Read finished the match with eight wickets.
Horler, the Devon captain, said among the individual highlights a collective one stood out.
“There were plenty of highlights: starting with the innings from Elstone, another 50 for Lawrence Walker and a career-best from Sam Read,” said Horler.
“Our fourth-innings bowling performance was a perfect display. The wicket was still holding together, but we remained patient and earned our wickets with a total on the board.
“We were ahead in the game since the first session, and we never really let it go. It was a fitting end to our three-day campaign and season.”
Horler said he felt Devon ‘fully deserved’ to remain in Division One.
“It's tough in a five-team division to not be amongst the relegation candidates, but we were hampered by bad weather against Cheshire and Berkshire, and got 'Blaked' in Truro,” said Horler, referring to Alex Blake’s marathon second-innings century that altered the course of the game.
“It has been a journey this season, with plenty of ups and downs, but superb to see a lot of big performances, especially from some of the younger individuals, which bodes well for the squad’s future potential.”
Cheshire’s replacements in 2025 will be Herefordshire, who defeated Shropshire by four wickets in the promotion decider at Eastnor to book a return ticket to Western Division One at the first attempt.
Cheshire paid a high price for dropping Cornwall captain Paul Smith on 11 as he scored 133 in a last-wicket stand of 152 that changed the course of the game.
Berkshire, the Western Division One champions, will play-off against East winners Staffordshire at West Bromwich Dartmouth CC for the overall National Counties title.
