The annual struggle between Dumplings and Stragglers played out for the first time this year in Somerset at the lovely Bishop's Lydeard ground. The resulting win means the Trophy will be staying in Somerset until at least next year. It can in the meantime be seen in the Museum at the Taunton  cricket ground.
A detailed report can be found on the fixtures page

Fixture List and The Oxford Tour
There are 25 fixtures this season. Members are encouraged to contact match managers if available. New members are always welcome and if you know anyone at your club that would enjoy Dumplings cricket it would be great to see them. Any changes to fixtures or cancellations due to the weather will be on Play-Cricket and the Facebook page.
The Oxford Tour is booked for Tuesday 5th to Thursday 7th August:
  Tuesday 5th August: South Oxfordshire Amateurs
  Wednesday 6th August: Nomads
  Thursday 7th August: Frogs
The costs have once again been kept at £25 per game including food. Optional barbecues are £10. Camping costs £5 per night on the ground and there is a range of local accommodation options including hotels and university halls.
If you would like to tour for all or some of the games, please contact tour organiser Peter Jolliffe
(phg.jolliffe@btinternet.com, 07928 294293, 01626 330216 or Facebook Messenger) or by posting on our Facebook page.
Club Events During the Season
1. The Peter Spencer Memorial Trophy match vs. Somerset Stragglers is being played away at Bishops Lydeard this year. The game is on Wednesday 4th June, 1pm start. All welcome.
2. Patrons’ and Former Players’ Day on Tuesday 8 th July at Exeter CC. 11.30am start. We are playing the Wye Rustics, and there will be refreshments provided. This is to say thank you to all patrons and for former players to meet and watch some Dumplings cricket.
3. Ladies Day is our last game of the season against the SOA, on Thursday 14th August at Exeter. We especially would like to thank the ladies for supporting the club and enabling our players to play for us.
If you would like any information about the above events, please contact Wendy Hardy (details on the fixture card) who is still co-ordinating cricket games. Keep an eye on emails and Facebook for more details closer to the events.
Walking Cricket
Walking Cricket is a low-impact version of traditional cricket designed to accommodate players of all ages and abilities, especially older adults or those with reduced mobility. The game retains the essence of cricket, including batting, bowling, and fielding, but with simplified rules and a slower pace to ensure inclusivity and enjoyment for everyone.
The rules of Walking Cricket are adapted to suit players' abilities while maintaining the core of the sport:
No Running: All movement is limited to walking, whether between wickets, bowling or fielding.
Shorter Matches: Matches are typically shorter, lasting an hour or so.
Modified Equipment: Softer balls and lightweight bats reducing the risk of injury.
Smaller Teams: Teams are usually smaller, accommodating fewer players on the pitch.
Inclusive Rules: Flexibility is key, allowing players of different fitness levels to participate.
Walking Cricket provides health benefits, improving overall health while having a low impact on joints and engaging in a fun and social activity can improve our mental health.
The Club is exploring whether we can provide this, possibly indoors during the winter. If you have any comments or are interested in trying this growing walking sport, please contact Wendy Hardy or Richard Tidball. They would love to hear from you. Contact details are on the enclosed Fixture card.

Follow the Season Online
Play-Cricket (https://devondumplings.play-cricket.com): The majority of our scorecards can be followed live in real-time on the website or the Play-Cricket Live app. All scorecards will be available on our Play-Cricket website at some point after the match. Match reports will also be posted on the website.
Website   Match reports will appear on the website a few days after games.
Instagram (devon.dumplingcc): Details of the game will also be posted with photographs of teams on Instagram after the game.
Information will also go out on Facebook and email. Please check that we have your current email address.
The Annual Dinner and Awards for 2024
Following the Annual Dinner, the following awards were presented. It was announced that the Bowling Trophy will now be the Jeffrey Stanyer Bowling Trophy following his huge achievements and contributions.
Silver Dumpling: James Horler
Batting Trophy: James Horler
The Jeffrey Stanyer Bowling Trophy:
Aashay Dube
Fielding Trophy: Billy Buckingham
The Peter Spencer Wicketkeeping Trophy: Jeremy Tojy
Mini Dumpling Outstanding Cricketer of the Year: Joe Poustie

Committee Role Updates
Harry Kandampully is the new President from this season.
  Dominic Tuohey has taken on the safeguarding role from Richard Pyle. Richard has given a huge amount to the Dumplings in various roles over the last three decades. He is now stepping down from the committee with the Club’s grateful thanks for all he has done.
We are still looking for an additional member of the committee to take on the role of Hon. Secretary.
If any members would be willing to give some time to help with a role or have a stint helping on the committee please contact Harry. It would be good to have all ages represented.
2025 AGM and Annual Dinner
Our AGM & Dinner will again be at the Exeter Court Hotel on Friday 24th October. The AGM will
commence at 6.30pm in the Kennford suite. Please regard this as a Formal Notice of the AGM (to reduce costs) and let Harry Kandampully know if you have an item for the Agenda.
The Dinner will immediately follow the AGM and will be held in the adjoining Exminster Suite 7.30 for 7.45pm.
Sign-up information will be emailed towards the end of the season. And don’t forget that guests are very welcome.
If anyone would be willing to help with organising this year’s dinner, please contact Harry Kandampully.
Club Policies, Safeguarding and Insurance
Policies can be found on the website and Play-Cricket site. We want all members and guests to feel welcome and safe when involved in Dumplings events. If you have any safeguarding concerns please contact Dominic, Harry or any other member of the committee.
A note that the Club’s insurance, similar to league clubs, does not provide personal accident insurance.
Club Clothing
Promote the Club by wearing our colours. Club Clothing such as playing, training and leisure wear is available from Devon County Sports via their website at https://www.devoncountysports.com/Club-Shop. Club ties and our “three shades of green” striped blazer material are still available direct from the Club. These can be obtained from Wendy - ajw781@outlook.com.
The Club will continue to fund caps and shirts for young players and students in their first game, and overseas players in their third game. This was originally possible thanks to Peter Spencer’s bequest.
Club Patrons
The Club would again like to record its gratitude to all those members who are Patrons. They enable us to continue with our policy of providing an element of subsidy to the match day costs of school and university students and other young players. It is encouraging to watch the younger players and to see them enjoy our format of cricket, especially the all-day declaration games. Anyone is eligible to be a Patron and if you are interested do get in touch with Wendy or any other committee member.

Best wishes to all members for an enjoyable and a successful season of cricket in 2025!

At our recent Annual Dinner the 2024 trophy winners were announced. Unfortunately not everyone who was awarded a trophy could attend.

The Batting Trophy went to James Horler, his father accepting the trophy on James’s behalf. James was also awarded the Silver Dumpling, again for his batting. James had scored two centuries out of just 3 innings for the Dumplings this season.

The Jeffrey Stanyer Bowling Trophy was awarded to Aashay Dube who has bowled  so well for   several seasons now.

The Fielding Trophy went to Billy Buckingham. He had a very sharp runout at Budleigh when at Point and took some great catches during the season. Bruce Coleman accepted it on Billy’s behalf.

The Peter Spencer Wicket-keeping Trophy went to Jeremy Tojy, who had claimed 4 victims behind the stumps.

The Junior Dumpling was presented to Joe Poustie. He was part of two crucial partnerships and took 7 wickets.

 Congratulations to all our winners.

At the AGM in October, Dominic Tuohey handed over the Presidency to Harry Kandampully, presenting him with the President’s Salver. Good luck to Harry in his new role and many thanks to Dominic for having filled the role for three years.

There is one new committee member, Lynne Whitfield, who is taking over as Keeper of The Records. Her contribution will be much appreciated and welcome.

Richard Pyle has stood down as the Safeguarding Officer. His contribution in carrying out this demanding role has been a vital contribution to the running of the Club. Dominic has taken on that role.

There remains a need for Committee members most particularly someone to take over as Honorary Secretary. Wendy Hardy has done it for many years but now has other greater calls on her time. The job primarily involves organising the committee meetings and the AGM, producing the minutes, writing any letters as required, and running the Patron’s Appeal, which constitutionally should be done by the Hon. Secretary. It is not particularly onerous  and she would ensure a smooth transition for whoever takes it on. Please contact her if you are interested or if you can suggest someone else who might be.

Good to see the one-time junior Dumpling Marnus Labuschagne play a significant role in the Final game of the competition. A remarkable end to what has been an entertaining though variable series of games.
Any Englishman's naturally ingrained aversion to celebrating an Aussie success will have been neutralised by the sight of Narendra Modi sitting in the enormous Narendra Modi stadium having to watch as India lost the one game that they really had to win.
At least the national cricket team is one place where there is amity between Hindu and Muslim.

The scheme introduced in 2022 via Peter Spencer's bequest for capping new young players has continued in the most promising way this year.
There were three at the Exeter School gane and another three at the Wye Rustics game
Katie Donovan received her's at Exeter and Josh Paget, Alex Jarman and Alex Tipper ( grandson of the late veteran tea-lady Pearl) played in the Wye Rustics game.
The Club wishes them all a long and enjoyable career wearing them.

 
Next week sees a return to Queen's College for three days of exciting cricket.
We play Nomads Cricket Club on Tuesday 1st, The Frogs CC  on Wednesday 2nd and South Oxfordshire Amateurs CC  on Thursday 3rd.
In all there are 16  playing Tourists and there are a few more folk that may come along
The management will try to keep you all entertained and informed.
There is a full set of  Officials to support the matches and we will have Wendy Hardy, Derek Hardy, Tim Chapman and Lynne Whitfield with us plus a few regular supporters.
 Camping is available as usual and, a first for this year, those wishing to camp on the Monday or Thursday nights will be very welcome to do so at the usual rate of £5 per person per night!
Peter and Judy Jolliffe  will be there from Monday afternoon as usual.

TRANSPORT - if you have spare space in your car/van please contact Peter as we have but  a week to sort it out and some of our overseas tourists rely on lifts! Also campers, if you have space in your tent the same applies.
Much fun in prospect and three wins a bonus!
Peter Jolliffe:    01626 330216 or 07928 294293

 It is with great sadness that Devon Dumplings have lost the Club’s most remarkable post-war cricketer.

As a bowler he was both idiosyncratic and deadly. With one exception he took more wickets than any other Dumpling in the course of a long spell that started in 1961 and continued into this century. Peter Spencer recalls that by 2001 he had 1012 wickets at an average of 20.37.

In addition he is the only member who has been awarded the Silver Dumpling three times.

 Along with his deft skills on the pitch, he will also be remembered for his huge contribution in organising cricket for the Dumplings and Exeter CC. In addition to his Committee roles he was a regular match manager and transporter of players around the County.

As so many cricketers will know, his culinary expertise would result in a range of unusual and enticing lunches and teas for games at Exeter CC.

For many years he undertook the demanding role of Fixture Secretary, maintaining links via the telephone and Royal Mail with all those far-flung clubs who had ever visited Devon over the years. This was combined with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Devon’s cricket history.

He can properly be described as unique, and he has left a cricketing legacy that will survive in the memories of all those who have ever played with him.

Our deepest sympathy goes to his family.

Details of his funeral will be made available here as soon as they are known.

Despite the notable absence of our medically-challenged Tour Manager, the week was a great success in both cricketing and social terms. All three games were played to a conclusion, which is a novelty after previous rain-sodden years. Although attendee numbers were down the ranks were swelled by a few nomadic Londoners.
It was good to see that the Fines Manager was not afraid to place himself at the head of the queue.
Fuller details can be found in the Fixtures and reports section.

Congratulations to Mark on being selected for the England over-50s squad to play India at Loughborough on Tuesday 5th July.
Mark and his offspring have been enthusiastic contributors to Dumplings teams for some time now and it is heartening to think that his success as Captain of the Devon 50s has brought him to the attention of the England selectors. 
Devon was the only Minor County to progess to the semi-finals in last year's National competition.
All fellow Dumplings wish him well for next week's game.