Gunnislake were faced with a daunting trip to Buckland Monachorum on Saturday, Buckland being one of three teams clear at the top of Division 5 East. Gunnislake’s problems were compounded by a selection crisis, with a wide range of valid unavailability’s. The last piece of the jigsaw fell into place early on Saturday morning when Joshy Varghese valiantly offered to play, despite a 3am get up the next morning. And so, a hopeful team gathered, led by old age pensioner and chairman Stephen Lees, to take on the relative might of Buckland Monachorum’s first eleven.
Buckland won the toss and asked Gunnislake to bat. It was to prove both a lively pitch and lively bowling! Sam Graber and Kevin Beare battled hard, with Graber taking the unusual step of calling for a helmet. He was looking good until a fast full and straight ball from Adam Talbott knocked over his stumps. 16 runs for both Beare and Graber were poor reward against some excellent fast bowling on such a variable pitch. More resistance followed from Brian Martin and then Russ Holloway looked briefly good, guiding defensive strokes off his back foot into gaps for singles. But when Holloway was stumped off the leg-spin of Toby Halloran, the future looked bleak for Gunnislake.
Adam Talbott ripped through the middle order and it was left to loan player Josh Lancashire to show late resistance, with some powerful hitting to the leg side. When he was out for 22 the Gunnislake’s innings subsided to 96 all out, with Stephen Lees stranded on 10 not out. Talbott returned memorable figures of six wickets for 12 runs off seven overs, but all of the bowlers contributed. Gunnislake never gave up and lasted 35 overs but were in truth outclassed.
The best cricket tea of the season (thank you ladies) helped cheer up the players before Buckland’s reply got under way. With Lee Roberts the only regular bowler available, Russ Holloway was pressed into action with Roberts and showed his talents are more than just with the bat. Buckland played with control waiting for the occasional bad ball, until Harry Tredwin missed one that came back slightly, to fall LBW to Roberts. It was to be Gunnislake’s only success. Jim Maunder pulled and cut with aggression, while Talbott was more watchful, driving when over-pitched. Talbott hit the winning runs in the 23rd over, lifting a six over the mid-wicket boundary, to hand Buckland a nine wickets victory and the maximum 20 points. Talbott finished on 26 not out, while opener Jim Maunder was 56 not out.
It had been a day of damage limitation for Gunnislake, who put up some resistance with a depleted side; 2 points seemed scant reward for some dogged effort. Buckland are left to chase down the top two teams, with Wadebridge now in their sights having beaten them the previous week. Meanwhile Gunnislake have to hope for better availability next week.
Gunnislake 96 (J Lancashire 22; A Talbott 6-12, T Halloran 2-20). Buckland Monachorum I100 for 1 (J Maunder 56no, A Talbott 26no). Buckland Monachorum I (20 points) beat Gunnislake (2 points) by 9 wickets
Buckland have also started a You Tube channel and are uploading matches here.