Another week, another selection crisis, but rescued by Saf Wallace, who played on loan and brought two new signings with him. Add in Paul Higgins from Menheniot Looe and seven hardy survivors from the Gunnislake club and we managed a full eleven. The ground was waterlogged on Friday evening, but after a dry summer drained well, and was deemed fit for play, to the surprise of some. Thanks Cliff for your continued hard work on the ground!
For once Gunnislake won the toss and chose to bowl on what looked a damp and tricky wicket. This was despite being down to one regular bowler, the ever youthful Sylvan Pook. Tintagel opened with the experienced Richard Pethick and Aaron Washer, fresh from scoring 124 not out in his last match at Menheniot Looe (you could have warned us Paul). Pook started in his usual miserly way, while Finlay McKinnon making his debut opened from the village end. A sedate seven came from the first three overs and then Washer tried opening his shoulders: nine from McKinnon’s second over, with the square leg boundary an apparent target. A player was posted to the ropes, and next over Washer obligingly hit one straight to him, only to see the chance spilled. Not uncommon in Division 6, but my, was that to cost Gunnislake! Pook kept one end tight, but Tintagel were out to enjoy themselves; at half way they had reached 128 with all their wickets intact. Washer was scoring three quarters of the runs and we were already on to the third match ball, as the surrounding hedges took a hammering. In the twenty-fifth over Gunnislake finally took a wicket as Pethick perished seeking a second run. It was, however, no more than a short respite. New batsman Martin Seldon joined in the fun, hitting several fours through the covers, but in fact perhaps his main job was scoring a single to give Washer the strike. The 200 came up in the 30th over and by now Washer was aiming to hit almost everything out of the ground. There was the odd miss and an odd miscue but Gunnislake took a battering, straight, square, behind square and occasionally through the covers. Washer was dropped four more times, and one or two more landed kindly for him, but the end result was perhaps something out of the Chris Gayle School of Cricket. 134 runs came off the last ten overs as Tintagel amassed a total of 334 for the loss of just the one wicket, and Washer finished on 249 not out. A special mention for Pook, who amid the carnage, bowled his ten overs for a meagre 19 runs.
Pook followed these heroics with a rare appearance at the top of the batting order, eager to get home to look after his not so well wife. Too eager, for he was back in the pavilion in the fifth over. Adam Emmerson briefly took the attack to Tintagel but fell to the wiles of Captain Dave Holland, bowled for 25. Thereafter there followed an all too familiar Gunnislake collapse, no one else reaching double figures. That is until second new on-the day signing Dave Knowles came to the crease at number nine. He took a while to get his eye in (understandable as he was playing his first match for 20 years), but eventually found his rhythm and the leg-side boundary with increasing regularity. By now Tintagel were on their seventh bowler, but failed to dislodge the last pair, with Geoff Husband once again blocking out the last few overs to deny Tintagel maximum bowling points. Knowles was undefeated at the other end on 23, as Gunnislake closed on 106 for 9. Lane and Ollie Beaumont took three wickets apiece for Tintagel.
And so Gunnislake slipped to another big defeat, Tintagel ending up victors by 228 runs. A famous saying of Ian Pemberton was “catches win matches”; well perhaps not a win, but if Gunnislake had held just one of several offered by Aaron Washer then the margin could have been much less.
Tintagel (19 points) beat Gunnislake (two) by 228 runs.