Axminster went down by 62 runs on their visit to Tavistock.

The South Devon side are thought to be one of the leading sides in the B Division this season and it proved to be a frustrating day for Axminster skipper Tristan Wakeley who was left thinking his team might have got a lot close to the home side.

He said: “I felt we let ourselves down in particular with the batting which, if I am honest, was simply not good enough on the day. Application is the key word, and we showed little of it with the bat which is disappointing. Our bowling and fielding was good and I was very pleased with how we pulled the game back our way when, at one stage in their innings, it looked like we might have to chase 250 plus! I felt at tea that the target of 212 was certainly not beyond us,. If all our batsmen came to the party and delivered. Sadly that did not happen.”

However, the Axe skipper also drew positives fro the performance saying: “It was a real boost to get Gary (Larcombe) back in action and he bowled well for his three wickets whilst Matt (Prior( put in another good shift with the ball. We were also treated to a catch which I doubt will be topped this season!”

That catch was the one held by Alex Wraight at square leg who threw himself to hold a one-handed catch while horizontal to the turf!

The Axminster reply to the home teams 221-9 was 150 with Joel Seward the top scorer with a gritty 67 whilst skipper Wakeley and the returning Larcombe both chipped in

with scores of 21.

On Saturday Axminster hosts Barnstaple. Wakeley says: “Given that I’d expect Barum to be a mid-table side this season which is where I am hoping we are, at worst, going to be, then I’d like to think, given we are the home team, that we’d bank the lion’s share of the points. However, based on our batting at Tavistock what I would say is it is going to need much better application from the batters to get us those points!”