Many of the most memorable occasions that I can recall with the Club have occurred whilst on tour and I am sure that applies to many of the tourists who have travelled with the Woodpeckers over the last twelve years.
Cornwall July 1979:
This was the first ever Woodpeckers Tour and was based at the Lanarth Country Club and Hotel at St. Kew Highway just north of Wadebridge in Cornwall. After a fairly heavy lunchtime session Woodpeckers met their first tour opponents, Wadebridge CC and won the game with some style. Henry Dallman contributed with a marathon 24 over continuous bowling stint from the river end with very economical figures. Unfortunately the celebrations later in the evening for yours truly were spoiled by some poorly stored lager at the Wadebridge Club.
The first match was followed by wins against Gorran and losses in the match against St. Blazey and St. Austell although it must be recorded that the Club put up a very good fight against the St. Austell XI whose side contained several Cornish First XI players.
North Devon - 1980:
Staying at a hotel which served beer that most of the tourists who attended would rather forget, the first fixture was unfortunately rained off. On the Tuesday we played Minehead and won in a low scoring evening 20 over game. From here we went on to the Wednesday game against RAF Chivenor having in the intervening period settled up with the Local Authority various fines for illegal parking adjacent to the hotel. On a blustery bright day the RAF team proved to be too strong for us although they won by a relatively narrow margin.
The Thursday game against Barnstaple Nondescripts proved to be one of Dick Witcomb's finest matches. It is almost unbelievable to recall that Dick, Captain for the day, was on the field for virtually the whole match in steady drizzle to light rain. The opposition total was restricted by tight bowling particularly by Brian Jones who also achieved the scalp of a Mr. Rowe, a Somerset Second XI player who opened the batting with a reported average for that season in excess of 100. To have bowled him when on 65 having not played a false shot to that point was one of the best moments in Brian's playing career. In reply Dick Whitcomb was the mainstay of the Woodpeckers batting, scoring a fiercely determined 50 in what was ultimately a drawn game. Celebrations for another successful tour went well into the night resulting in some people taking a very long time to drive home the next day.
Cornwall 1981:
Staying once again at Lanarth the first match was against St. Austell. Batting first Chris Nicholls and myself provided a solid start before a very productive partnership by Phil Edge and Chris took the score to 84 for 1. Somewhat disappointingly the final total was 132 all out which St. Austell achieved for the loss of six wickets. Phil Edge bowled tightly taking three wickets for thirteen runs.
In the second match against Western Excavating, Woodpeckers restricted the opposition to 121 for 6 off their 40 overs but could only manage 82 in reply. Woodpeckers were 38 for 8 at one stage but recovered somewhat with Martin Ruxton and Mike Edge top scoring. Worse was to follow the next day with a one sided match against Devon and Cornwall police. Batting first Woodpeckers scored 81 with only myself (26) and Dave Jones (10) reaching double figures. The Police XI knocked off the runs for the loss of only one wicket and then left the ground before tea for an evening knockout game leaving the tourists somewhat shell-shocked.
The final game of this tour however saw Woodpeckers putting up a good performance against Grampound Road whose side incorporated some strong players including Pat Coombe of the Cornwall First XI squad. Batting first Woodpeckers scored 173 for 4 with Chris Nicholls scoring 38, Phil Edge 50, Steve Witcomb 27 and myself 45. Grampound Road were restricted to 166 for 9 with Pat Coombe scoring 75. Nigel Ruxton took 2 wickets for 22 off 10 and Phil Whitcomb 3 for 57 off 10.5 and Dave Jones bowled an important spell at the end of the match to take 2 for 25 with his off-spin.
1982 - Sussex
Staying at a seafront hotel the squad arrived only to find that the first game against Glynde CC was cancelled due to poor communication with the opposition club by the commercial tour organisers.
The second match was against Battle CC and the team
photograph of that day which is enclosed was taken before a
very exciting game. Batting first Woodpeckers scored in
excess of 220 on a small ground where 6's only counted as
4's much to Mr. Witcomb's disappointment as he scored 6 4's
which would have counted as 6's on most grounds in a cameo
knock of 40. The moon rose early that evening over a
sociable barbecue.
A good win the next day against Sidley CC (the ground with the steep hill at one end) preceded a memorable victory in the final match against Bexhill CC, a very strong Sussex club. Batting first Bexhill were limited to a score of approximately 120 which Woodpeckers achieved with a loss of only one wicket, Steve West and Phil Edge steering Woodpeckers home. Sympathetic tourists were giving much needed support to Steve Gabb who had a mysterious stomach complaint that day although he made a miraculous recovery in the bar later on.
1985 - Tour of South Devon:
Staying at a hotel on the outskirts of Totnes the first game was against Stoke Gabriel who had visited Woodpeckers at home during previous seasons and also two weeks prior to the tour commencing. A good win here was followed by a second match at Holbeton, a beautiful ground in a parkland setting on the Holbeton Estate.
Unfortunately the home side had double booked the fixture and Woodpeckers ended up playing Plymouth College CC with Holbeton acting as spectator hosts. Batting first Plymouth College scored approximately 110 runs in their 20 overs (this was an evening game) and Woodpeckers clinched the match with Gordon Smith and Henry Dallman indulging in some clean and long hitting towards the end of the innings. The occasion was made memorable by Martin Watts who hit a glorious straight 6.
A convincing defeat inflicted by Dartmouth College the next day was followed by the final game against Marlborough CC. Marlborough built a useful score batting first, their innings made memorable by the approach of one of their opening batsmen who deliberately ran out his partner off the first ball apparently reflecting some sort of personality clash. This particular incident has given the umpire on the night, Dick Witcomb, much amusement subsequently. In reply Woodpeckers made a valiant effort but a setting sun immediately behind the bowler's arm at the west end made batting impossible for Henry Dallman and this of course was carefully explained to the opposition side in the bar afterwards.
Cornwall 1988
Lanarth Country Club was again the venue for the third tour
of Cornwall.
Gorran CC - batting first Woodpeckers scored a creditable 219 for 8 with Ron Jones 74, myself with 66 and Darren Jones with 35 being the main scorers. Gorran were dismissed for 102 with Ron Jones taking 3 wickets for 15 and Phil Whitcomb 2 for 14.
Grampound Road CC - in this second match the tourists compiled 181 for 7 with Ron Jones 40, Phil Whitcomb 35, myself with 33 and Darren Jones 25. This was beaten largely as a result of a monumental effort by Steve Raven, a formidable batsman who scored 118 not out including 6 6's. It is worth noting that he was brought in as a ringer by the Grampound Road side as a consultant striker. He played against us on later tours but fell victim to some carefully laid traps set by the bowlers before causing significant damage.
St. Newlyn East CC - Batting first Woodpeckers scored 146 for 8 on a pitch of variable bounce and little pace with Ron Jones top-scoring with 63. St. Newlyn East won in the closing overs with some determined batting, Kevin Phillips top-scoring with 36.
Tour of Cornwall 1989:
Staying at the Marcorrie Hotel in Truro this was the third of the four tours that I have organised to date.
Gorran CC - batting first against our old friends we scored 154 all out with Darren Jones scoring 53, Simon Probyn 26 and Ron Jones 22. Gorran reached the total for the loss of four wickets which made up for their disappointment the year before.
Polwhele CC - batting first Polwhele amassed 207 for 5 with Paul Bunt scoring 56 and David Prisk 60. Dave Jones started the Woodpeckers innings off soundly with a crisp 42 and in an unbroken century fourth wicket partnership Ron Jones and myself took Woodpeckers to 211 with Ron scoring the first century on tour remaining unbeaten at the end with 103. St. Newlyn East - a solid batting performance by the Woodpeckers resulted in a score of 218 for 6 with myself scoring 87 not out, Ron Jones 27, Dave Jones 24 not out and Jonathan Bridgeman 22. St. Newlyn East put up a brave fight reaching 170 all out, Nigel Ruxton taking 4 for 28 off 7.5 overs.
Grampound Road CC - on a very hard dry pitch during what was a Summer heatwave Grampound Road batted first and amassed 259 for 2. 173 for 8 was the final Woodpeckers score with only Darren Jones compiling a significant innings, this of 73.
Cornwall 1991:
After a break of one year we returned to Cornwall, this time staying at the Atlantic View Hotel at Perranporth. Cloudy and damp weather prevailed in contrast to conditions during the previous two tours of Cornwall.
Newquay CC - batting first on a artificial strip the tourists scored 187 with David Peacock (guesting from Upton St. Leonards CC) contributing a solid half century, Nigel Ruxton playing an opener's role with 28, Darren Jones 33 and Ron Jones retiring on 28, generously giving others an opportunity to bat. Good bowling and fielding resulted in Newquay having to fight hard for their runs and culminated with Newquay requiring one run off the last ball to win when they achieved a boundary.
Polwhele CC - on a damp pitch Polwhele batting first reached 137. On this small ground this appeared very achievable but batting was never easy with the pitch offering no real pace and with many balls keeping low. Batting at No. 11 Nigel Ruxton came to the crease with over 40 more runs required to a victory. Undaunted he hit the Polwhele attack into the trees and over the adjoining main road with some clean hitting but was left with 36 not out and with the team just short of the Polwhele total.
Grampound Road CC - batting first. Woodpeckers got off to a fair start with Earl Davies putting his previous batting disappointments behind him and playing some exquisite cover drives in his 27 followed by a powerful 47 by Alastair Boore and 41 by Ron Jones. In conditions varying from drizzle to light rain Grampound Road were dismissed well short of the tourists total.
St. Newlyn East CC - this match is most memorable for the unparalleled hospitality which followed. Roy Scaife, the Newlyn East Captain for the day, is a keen cricketer of Yorkshire origin who believes in playing cricket very competitively but with a great sense of fun.
Batting first Woodpeckers were soon up against some tight bowling by Roy Scaife and his many young bowling proteges Facing a somewhat difficult position batting first at 17 for 2, I strode to the crease as Captain for the day, took guard and with an air of quiet confidence hit the ball firmly to cover and negligently called for a kamikaze single only to be run out by a third of the length of the pitch. Roy Scaife insisted I resumed batting, a gesture which truly reflects the spirit in which Newlyn play the game. Woodpeckers went on to win a low scoring game and in the subsequent bowling at unprotected stumps competition the first game was tied at 4 wickets each and Newlyn East won the decider. Our hosts provided a superb buffet supper in the adjacent hotel after the match to round off a very enjoyable tour.
The Club can surely look forward to many more enjoyable tours and if those experienced during the last twelve years are anything to go by there is a lot of good cricket and excellent socialising to look forward to in the years ahead.
