Cornwall cricketers could win promotion without winning again

Cornwall went down last summer as the only county to lose a match in a rain-hit top division. Twelve months on they are back at the sharp end, and two good weekends could send them straight back up.

The push for promotion from Western Division Two of the NCCA Cluberly Championship comes down to the next fortnight, and Cornwall are the form side going into it.

Two wins, two thumping margins

Cornwall have made their intentions clear. They beat Shropshire by nine wickets at Truro, then saw off Wales NC by ten wickets at Ebbw Vale, taking maximum points from both. That has opened up a nine-point lead over Shropshire, who have played a game more.

It is a sharp turnaround for a team relegated only last season. A poor session against Devon at Cornwood proved costly in a washed-out Western Division One, where Cornwall were bowled out for 91 in their second innings and beaten by six wickets. They were the only side to lose a match all summer in that division.

Cheshire and Dorset stand in the way

The two counties left to face are the only other unbeaten sides in the division. Cheshire, who have drawn both of their matches so far, come to Redruth on Sunday. Dorset, who beat Wales before drawing with Cheshire, host Cornwall at Wimborne seven days later.

“We have got two very tough games coming up. Cheshire haven’t lost yet and neither have Dorset, even though they haven’t won both like we have, we know the challenge that they both possess,” said Cornwall captain Paul Smith.

“We will be looking to carry on the momentum. We had a tough 50-over competition and it was looking a bit bleak, but to turn things round in the T20 competition and then into the Championship has given us a lot of momentum,” he said.

Paul is not about to change the plan. “We will continue to play positive cricket. We understand that we might not win every game by nine wickets or ten wickets as we have done so far. We take the games session by session, look to get as many bonus points as we can in the first innings and evaluate the game from there.”

“First innings is where you get your points and the second innings is where the game develops. We try and bat our 90 overs in the first innings like most teams do, and if you can seize an opportunity to get a big lead then we really try to kick on which, luckily, so far we have been able to do.”

Three centurions in a single innings

The win over Wales showed what this side can do at full tilt. Cornwall built a first-innings lead of 308 and wrapped the game up inside two days, declaring on 437 for six. Three batters passed a hundred in the same innings, only the second time that has happened in the county’s history.

Paul was one of them, reaching the second century of his career alongside former Kent batter Alex Blake and all-rounder Will MacVicar. Will also took eight wickets across the match.

“I have never played in a game before where three people have got hundreds, and to be one of those was particularly pleasing,” Paul said.

It is a formula built for the three-day game. “The way our middle order have been batting, we have been able to take the game away from the opposition and put ourselves in a position where something has to go severely wrong for us to lose, which is obviously the way you want to play three-day cricket. You want to be in a position where you can lose for as little time as possible,” Paul said.

The margins have been heavy enough that Cornwall could, in theory, ease off. “We are in a position where, potentially, we could draw two games and still win the league,” Paul said. Not that he is planning for it. He pointed to a happier detail after last year too, with not a single day lost to rain in the three-day matches this time around.

The Kent men who became honorary Cornishmen

Alex and Will have been Cornwall regulars for four seasons now, despite both being based in Kent. This year they have been joined on the long commute west by Elliot Hooper, the former Sussex and Kent batter and slow left-armer brought in to replace Max Tryfonos.

“All of them are outsiders from the east of the country but they are brilliant lads,” Paul said. “They are very good cricketers first and foremost, but all three of them fit into our dressing room perfectly. They bring the perfect combination of professionalism and being able to fit in with the camaraderie in the camp. I can’t fault them on or off the field.”

Elliot has plugged a specific gap. “Elliot has brought in a left-arm spin option we had been lacking since Max Tryfonos left. He has given us control. I think he bowled 20 overs, one for 20 on the end of day two against Shropshire, also with a wicket-taking aspect,” Paul said.

Will chipped in with a hundred and eight wickets against Wales, and Alex, as Paul put it, “can turn a match on its head in a matter of a session”. The two long-servers have earned their place in more ways than one. Paul calls them “honorary Cornishmen” who have “earned their county caps”, and jokes that the county has “nationalised them”. Elliot, the newcomer, “has got to earn his stripes yet”.