Courtesy of Annie C

By Grockle
August 20 2025

150 years ago on 18th August 1875.  The Gentlemen of Devon entertained the Gentlemen of Somerset at Sidmouth and the Somerset guys had such a good time they decided to be a county side... and the rest as they say is history.  150 years later a bunch of cricketers, some more 'historic' than others, decided to celebrate the birthday on the same date at the same place.  The T20 between the men and women of Sidmoth and the men and women of Somerset had a few intersting little events in it that are worth recording for posteriety.  Here is a report on the events... please read it in 'tongue in cheek' mode as that is how it is written.  Love 'em all (Thanks to Annie for the photos)

The Men &Women of Sidmouth v The Men & Women of Somerset

@Sidmouth Cricket Club Monday 18th August 2025

The T20 competition between these two sides created a few interesting interactions as women of both sides competed on an equal footing with the men, some of whom were the people they watched while learning to love the game.  It was also a chance to see some names from the recent, and not so recent past playing the game again - in some cases a format they didn't play in their professional heyday.

Somerset added to Sophie Luff, Chloe Skelton and Jess Hazell (wk)by including their boss Jamie Cox and some of his former team mates in;  Keith Parsons, Mike Burns, Andy Caddick and Steffan Jones along with the 'younger' Mike Parsons, James Hildreth and Peter Trego.

The Sidmouth side also included 3 players from their women's teams and probably came from a different generation in terms of the male team including one of the younger Tregos.  On a Monday night in Devon this was the time for a game of T20.

Somerset batted first and opened with a pair some may have been surprised at.  Burns opening with Caddick!! Against the opening bowling of Bower and Murray.  George looked pretty much the way many remember him, Andy possibly a little wider than the younger version but still very tall... not 'stooped' quite yet.  He was motoring along at a run a ball though Burnsy was taking a little longer to get his eye in as they moved to 11 from the first two overs.

Burns had found his mojo by the start of the 3rd over and hit the first ball for four.  The rest of Bower's second however was solid including hitting the ex Somerset captain on the toe with the last ball of the over which ended at 17 without loss. He was obviously in some trouble but the real trouble came when Caddy took on Murray in the 4th over and was caught by "Bess" (which one) in the deep going for a boundary.  17 for 1 and Mr Caddick out for 8.

In came Pete Trego at number 3 and he set his stall out immediately with a four from his first ball.  He took a six off his third and ended the over with 27 on the board. Bower was put to the sword by both bats in the next over as sixes came from both Somerset men and the 5th over ended with the Somerset 50 up at 52 for 1.  A bit of an increase in speed.

This created a need for a long debate in the Sidmouth camp, lots of field changes and a possible change of bowlers after Murray seemed not to be continuing.  Eventually the 6th over was bowled by Murray after he was called back into the action.  It resulted in another 16 runs as the Somerset pair put on a 51 run partnership in just under 3 overs (17 balls) with 33 off 12 to Trego and 18 off 10 to Burns.

This prompted a change at the other end as Jordan came on for Bower.  He seemed to be far harder to get away and the score only increased by 2 at the end of the 7th.  The younger Trego then took over from Murray at 70 for 1.  He went for 5 with an all family four off his last ball to move the score to 76.

Jordan took the next and Trigger scored 11 from his first 3 balls.  When George tried to do the same with ball 4 he was caught in the deep by Patidar and left the field for 23 from 16 making way for James Hildreth to join Trego  who had reached 46 from 21 balls at 87 for 2.  They moved the score to 90 by the end of the over.

Trigger Junior kept it tight for the first half of the 10th but a 4 from the 4th ball was followed by another from the bat of the mighty Hildreth who didn't look much different from a couple of years ago to be honest. 

At halfway Somerset had reached 99 for 2 and a score over 200 definitely looked on the cards as new bowler Gaywood started the second half with his first.  The 100 came up with a single off the first ball and other than another single at the end a good solid over. 

At 101 for 2 we had the first woman in the bowling attack as Symes came on to bowl the 12th.  A swept four from her 5th ball moved Trego on to 49 and the over ended at 109 for 2.  Hildreth started to open his shoulders with a straight six off Gaywood at the start of the 13th and he followed it with a second pulled one the next ball.  The young bowler came back well with only a single before the last ball was deposited over the rope by Trigger Snr who then retired on 55 off 29 balls at 128 for 2. 

This brought Sophie Luff out to the middle to partner one of her heroes. She got off the mark with a single off Symes next over and the young Sidmouth bowler did well to hold them to only 5. The second Sidmouth female bowler Baxter then took the 14th over.  She had both bats sweeping her but they could not beat the infield and with 5 overs to go the run rate had been slowed considerably to 138 for 2

The spin of Ingham-Hill was then introduced and Hildreth took to him in the middle of the over with 3 consecutive sixes which moved Somerset past 150 to 156 and retired Hilda also for 55 runs from 29 balls. 

Now we had Sophie's nightmare as she was now batting with the boss CEO 'Buzz' Cox! Two Somerset captains batting together on the 150th birthday of the club.  The older ex-opener took a four from his first ball and the score moved to 160 for 3 with 4 overs to go.

Baxter continued and was rewarded when she had the Somerset women's captain caught behind by keeper Matravers for 5 from 6 at 163 for 3.  Out came Keith Parsons to bat with his old captain (in more ways than one though Jamie looked pretty much the same in all ways you could compare!!)

After going for 22 from his first Ingham-Hill continued and found the Somerset pair in boundary form as he went for another 15 off his second as the score moved to 180 for 3 (with 2 retirees). Bower returned for the penultimate over and they took 8 from him to put the 200 target in the sights.

Sidmouth gave Gaywood the last and Parsons tooks a six off his first ball to move the score into the 190s.  However he was then caught in the deep by the younger Trego trying the same thing again and he went for 13 from 7 to bring Steffan Jones to the crease to face 4 balls.  A dot and 2 singles followed by Steff going the same way as Parsons caught in the deep by Trigger Jr finished the innings on 196 for 5 with Cox not out on 24 and Gaywood taking 2 for 29 in his 3 overs.

A daunting total from the Somerset crew with some aggressive hitting from our iconic aggressive hitters in Pete Trego and James Hildreth who looked no differnent to how they were in the years before Covid.

  Great to see Coxey, Parsey  and George looking like the eyes for the boundary haven't gone yet and great for such a servant of women's cricket in the county to get the chance to bat with people she watched as a girl and as a member of the Academy in her early cricket years.  Good stuff all around.  Now... what's the bowling like these days? 

The Reply

This might be a hard task for Sidmouth against the bowling of Caddick, Jones, Trego, Parsons K, Parsons M and Skelton.  Then again we are talking about a bowling attack with a total age well over 250 years (sorry Chloe) so how do they compare to their heyday in terms of speed and accuracy with the red pill?

Well the Sidmouth openers Patidar and Brock are going to find out with the first over being bowled by fast bowling coach and ex Somerset pace man Steffan Jones coming in off a shortish run but still on the money almost immediately though maybe not at the same speed of 20 years or so ago.  Patidar is off the mark with a quick single while Jonah's 4th ball is wide of the mark.  However his 5th isn't and Brock comes up the wicket to him only to 'fish' the ball to Pete Trego at second slip and Sidmouth are 2 for 1 with Brock going without scoring.

Steff stands defiantly in the middle of the strip with both hands above his head.  Not sure who was more surprised the bat or the bowler!!  Matravers replaces his operner and takes a quick single to get off the mark as the over ends at 3 for 1.

Pete T opens at the other end but he is not treated with the same respect as the Welsh 'elder statesman' and the first and second boundaries come from the bat of Patidar in the middle of the over.  These are followed by a pulled six and another four from the same bat as Trigger goes for 19 from his first!!  22 for 1 at the start of the third and back to earth with a bump for the Somerset side!!

Jones is also treated to the 'long handle', this time by Matravers who sixes him and then adds a two and a four before the bowler gets his line back.  36 for 1 after 3. This onslaught prompts a change as Mike Parsons comes on, looking not disimilar to the way he used to except with considerably less red hair!!   Patidar is not slowing down however as he moves to 28 with 2 more early over boundaries before being caught in the deep by Sophie Luff for a quick 28 off 13 balls at 44 for 2.

Ingham-Hill is the next man in and he is quickly off the mark while Matravers finishes the over with another 4  taking 13 off the first Parsons M over.  After this Trigger changes ends to see if he can keep the over score under double figures. 

The Sidmouth 50 comes up off a straight four from Ingham-Hill from 25 balls and while the 'old pro' looks to tighten up, the bats keep sending him on his way with a six before the end of his second over which moves the score to 60 before Pete gets his own back having Matravers top edging one straight up in the air, caught by Hazell behind the stumps. 60 for 3 and Pete is 1 for 30 after 2.

Matravers leaves for 25 and the younger Trego comes in as Mike P continues wth the last over of the 'Powerplay'.  However, Ingham-Hill does not stay with him because after hitting a boundary he fires the next ball straight to James Hildeth and departs for 10 at 64 for 4.  In comes Jordan to take over.

The two new men, both on zero, then look to forge a new partnership with Jordan starting with a boundary which moves Sidmouth on to 68 for 4 after 6 overs.  We next see an English icon from New Zealand take the ball as Mr Andrew Caddick comes on to bowl, same height, slower arm speed and less of a run up but again he is on the money from ball one.  Unfortunately the umpire 'wides' him with the next one.  The ex England international is not impressed and kicks the stumps down as he comes through (the stumps are the type that flash when they are distrubed and they are disturbed so they flash!)  The umpire warns Caddick for unruly behaviour and on we go as the over ends with 71 on the board and 3 against the bowler's name.

Mike continues (he seems capable of bowling more than 3 overs off a decent run up which is something!!)  But both bats find the boundary in his 3rd (the 8th) and it goes for 10. 

Somerset then turn to the considerable modern day talents of Chloe Skelton who is no mean bowler and she has young Trego as he looks to clip her first ball away but only into the waiting hands of George Burns for 6 at 81 for 5. 

In comes the first Sidmouth woman bat as Evans joins Jordan.  She is keen to take a single from her second ball but Jordan leans on his bat and declines the chance!!  So Evans hits a four instead and moves the score to 85 for 5 after 9.

The 10th over sees a change of Parsons as Keith takes this one.  More spin than medium pace these days giving the ball quite a bit of air to begin with.  He has Evans bowled for 4 playing across his third delivery and Sidmouth are 87 for 6.

The second Sidmouth women bat, Baxter, comes out to join Jordan and after taking a quick single her partner shows no respect for the Soemrset bowler by dispatching him through the covers for consecutive fours to move the score to 96 for 6 and himself on to 19 from 11.  The winning total is on at halfway but they have lost possible a few too many wickets to make it easy going from here.

Skelton continues with the 11th and the 100 arrives from a Jordan four in the middle of it.  She holds the line however and they only move on to 101 by the end of her six balls.  Keith also stays for the 12th and Jordan looks to push on sending the ball skyward without being all that sure where.  It lands in the bucket hands of Pete Trego and the aggressive bat leaves for a sweet but short 23 from 17 at 102 for 7.  He is replaced by Slim, the third woman in the Sidmouth team and the female pair bat out the 12th with an extra run added to the total.

Sophie Luff replaces Skelton for the next one and Sidmouth take 2 off her over to move to 105.  Needing another 92 from the last 7 overs, it is becoming a larger and larger task as Skelton changes ends and only goes for a single herself.  When the 15th, also from Sophie, also only goes for 3, the 'press' is most definitely on and the drying up of runs has pretty much put paid to any chance of a Sidmouth win in this contest with only 30 balls to go and an RRR of about 3 a ball.

Chloe with figures of 3 overs 1 for 10 takes the 16th and she bowls Slim for 3 with her third ball. 108/8.  In comes Gaywood with a hell of a job to do but he seems to be determined to make a fight of it as he is up the wicket to the first ball he faces and sharp fielding from the bowler is the only reason he doesn't score something.  He looks for something different with the last ball as he attempts a reverse sweep but is stumped by sharp work from Hazell as he misses the ball 108 for 9.

Hildreth takes the 17th, again spin taking over from the medium pace we remember but he is still hard to get off the cut strip though he does bowl a wide which moves the score to 109.  Keith comes back against Murray, the last man in.  He gets off the mark with a boundary and their 5 move the score to 114 for 9.

Then comes probably the coolest part of the whole evening when CEO Jamie Cox brings himself on to bowl the 19th over.  He takes the ball, bowls the first, takes the return catch passes the ball to the umpire and walks off having ended the innings at 108.

The Somerset Men and Women win by 82 runs with Murray out for 5 and Baxter not out for 6.

A great celebration and a really fun evening of cricket with some memories thrown in.  Great atmosphere around the place and on the field.  6 women playing and none looking out of place on a cricket field.   Chloe Skelton was probably the pick of the bowlers on both sides.  The innings of Peter Trego and James Hildreth certainly were the difference between the sides (though Pete did try to give the runs back with the ball :-). Watching 2 generations of the Trego dynasty playing on the same pitch was fun and the CEO taking the last wicket was the cherry on the cake.

Here's to the next 150 years.  See you there on 18 August 2075 for the 200th!!

The Sidmouth 150th Birthday Game

Discussion started by Grockles.com , 22/08/2025 18:47

Grockles.com
22/08/2025 18:47

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:08:25:12:09:25 by Grockle.

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sfwithers
23/08/2025 16:18

Hah!

Andy Caddick!!

Was it in genuine anger or a bit of a case of playing to the crowd?!

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Grockle
23/08/2025 16:38

Oh I think it was playing... but you never know!!

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