Seaton skipper Ben Morgan cemented his name in the history books of the Court Lane outfit when he claimed the first wicket of the 2020 campaign, albeit taken by him knocking the stumps over with the third delivery of the term, sent down on July 11!

Midweek Herald: A historic moment at the Court Lane home of Seaton CC as the players take a hygiene break which is part iof guidelines laid down by the ECB now that cricket has been allowed to return, albeit under strict Covid-19 guidelines. Picture SEATON CCA historic moment at the Court Lane home of Seaton CC as the players take a hygiene break which is part iof guidelines laid down by the ECB now that cricket has been allowed to return, albeit under strict Covid-19 guidelines. Picture SEATON CC (Image: Archant)

With Coronavirus hitting cricket hard it is only now, three months after the scheduled start of the season that players are back in action.

Seaton marked the belated start of the campaign with an in-house game that drew a good number of spectators to the Court Lane ground.

The contest was between two teams put together by Seaton skipper Morgan who said: “We actually had 28 wanting to play such was the desire and yearning to finally get some action in and so I put together two sides that I felt were well matched.”

It was Morgan’s XI that fielded first and, with the third ball of the game the skipper knocked over the stumps defended by Rhys Davies. Ollie Aplin then had the honour of scoring the first Seaton CC run of the 2020 season and Aplin also struck the club’s first boundary while the first catch of the new term was held by Toby Tucker off the bowling of Morgan. Joel Seward hit a half century and Joe Berry chipped in with 44 as the first innings closed on 227-8 with Morgan returning the best of the bowling figures, 3-25. Morgan then top scored with 46 before falling to a catch held by Joe Berry off the bowling of Tim Mitchell as the reply closed on 152-8.

Midweek Herald: The Court Lane home of Seaton CC looking an absolute picture ahead of an inter-club game to mark the first day of action in a 2020 cricket season hit so badly by the restrictiosn enforced following the Covid-19 pandemic. Picture: SCCThe Court Lane home of Seaton CC looking an absolute picture ahead of an inter-club game to mark the first day of action in a 2020 cricket season hit so badly by the restrictiosn enforced following the Covid-19 pandemic. Picture: SCC (Image: Archant)

Morgan said: “It was the first time we have played an inter-club game for many years and worked a treat. We opted for an ‘in-house’ fixture to start with as we wanted to get everybody back together and we were keen to see just how we all coped with the guidelines in place for a safe return of cricket ahead of any competitive action to come. In terms of the actual action, it was great to see that we had as many as seven Under-16s involved and all performed well, mostly with the bat. It was also so encouraging to see the youngsters bowling against the adults and causing them problems.”

He continued: “The weather was great and we had a wonderful turn out which meant the bar finally got some much needed use. Credit must go to Steve Pritchard for overseeing the implementation of all the necessary guidelines and signage and I have to say that side of things went like clockwork. What’s more we made sure we were diligent in stopping every 20 minutes for players to sanitise their hands. Yes, all in all, our return to cricket was a huge success.”

On Saturday (July 18), Seaton travel across to meet Uplyme & Lyme Regis while back at Court Lane there’s a game between a Seaton Old Boys XI and a side put together by Jamie Bond and Greg Foxwell with that 25-over contest getting underway at 4pm.