Whimple were beaten by 17 runs in their C Division East game at Braunton where the home side batted first and were bowled out for a useful total of 264.

Simon Harris (3-20) and Matt Richards (2-38) were the principle wicket takers for Whimple, who then replied with 247-8. Nathan Kidd (62) and Cameron Kidd (67) provided the bulk of the runs in terms of individual contributions as Whimple came up just short.

However, that Braunton final total might have been a lot less had it not been for their number 10 batsman as Whimple skipper Ben Silk explained saying: “At the halfway stage they 127-6 and, as we did not have an umpire, their skipper was out doing a stint and he said to me that he felt it was now either a 170 all out or a 270 score – sadly, from our point of view, it was the latter for their number 10 had ‘one of those games’. Everything, and I mean everything, he tried, came off! To be fair he batted well and this sort of thing happens to you probably once a season. His knock got them to 264, but then we had a right go at chasing it and just came up short.”

He continued: “No complaints from me, we lost. That said we did come home with 10 points which, when you get beaten, is what you need to be looking to do. There really are so many positives we can take from the game, none more so than we got as close as we did to chasing down a 250 plus score, and we will take the positives and move on to the next game.”

That next game sees Whimple entertain basement side Clyst Hydon. Silk says: “They (Clyst Hydon) look to be having a tough time, but this is a division this year where, with the exception of Sidmouth 2nds, everyone is beating everyone else. I expect us to be well prepared for the Clyst Hydon visit and would like to think it will see us back to winning ways.”