Aegon Summer County Cup 2009 Group 5 Beckenham , Kent.
Cornwall, Leicesteshire, Northumberland, Durham and Cleveland, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire
Cornwall's travelling squad were Andy Hill (captain), Ryan Fern, Tim Webster, Adrian Williams, John Richards, Adam Hayward, Roy Knight and Dan Elston. Cornwall faced teams from Leicestershire, Northumberland, Durham & Cleveland, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
Having been relegated three years in a row, we were determined to stop the freefall through the divisions this time. Bolstered by the return to action of Ryan Fern and a fit Adrian Williams, we went in to the week confident that we could hold our own. The last three years have been character forming for the men’s team, to say the least, a team who were close to gaining promotion to Division 1 back in 2004. With the omission of certain senior players, Cornwall have now rebuilt a team with youth and experience and with a strong team spirit. This year’s young guns consisted of John Richards (Sutton), Roy Knight (Dragon Performance Centre) and Dan Elston (Bath Academy)
In what was a key match on Day 1 against Cambridgeshire, Hill and Richards won all three matches in three sets and the former Truro team-mates - Hayward and Fern - stepped up to win two matches. Roy Knight made his first live County Week debut but was edged out of some close matches playing with his coach Adrian Williams.
Day 2 saw the return of Tim Webster, after some last minute persuasion, who had rested his sore neck the previous day. This forced a team change, leaving Roy out and keeping the other successful pairs from Monday the same. Adrian and Tim now teamed up together at third pair. The team performed well, establishing a 4-2 lead overnight as play was suspended by rain late in the afternoon. This meant we had to come back on the Wednesday to finish the match but we did it in style, completing a 6-3 victory.
Wednesday was an abbreviated scoring day due to the morning finish of the Northumberland fixture, meaning we played two sets with a shoot-out tie break against Durham and Cleveland. We came through this relatively easily, winning 8-1. Ryan Fern had an Andy Roddick backhand volley moment at match point against the first pair and unfortunately they missed out on what could have been the perfect score.
So we were at last were back in the driving seat for Day 4, leading the division with Leicestershire and knowing that a victory against Suffolk would guarantee promotion. However, this was not to be and we lost 6-3. We had kept the same team for three successive days and I think the effect of playing four matches on the Wednesday caught up with some of the senior players. Suffolk's first and second pair were too strong and between them notched up six wins. Everyone beat what was a weak third pair, making the score a 6-3 loss.
Now we were sitting third behind Leicestershire and Suffolk and unfortunately persistent rain on Friday wrecked the final day of play, leaving Cornwall stranded outside the promotion zone. Play did commence on the Friday briefly with Dan Elston making his county debut in partnership with Andy Hill. Roy Knight also came back in to the team with Adam Hayward while Tim Webster played with his protégé, John Richards.
There were a lot of positives to take from the week. The senior players of Fern, Hill, Williams and Webster made solid contributions and the improved Adam Hayward also won some key matches for the county. A lot of the future now depends on the doubles progress of Elston, Knight and Richards in terms of moving back up the divisions. There may also be a strong argument for taking a bigger squad to this event as the physical nature of the week makes it very hard to keep an unchanged team for the duration.
Day 1, Cornwall V Cambridgeshire
1. A Hill and J Richards
2. R Fern and A Hayward
3. A Williams and R Knight
Cornwall win 5-4
Day 2, Cornwall V Northumberland
1. A Hill and J Richards
2. R Fern and A Hayward
3. A Williams and T Webster
Cornwall win 6-3
Day 3, Cornwall V Durham and Cleveland
1. A Hill and J Richards
2. R Fern and A Hayward
3. A Williams and T Webster
Cornwall win 8-1
Day 4, Cornwall V Suffolk
1. A Hill and J Richards
2. R Fern and A Hayward
3. A Williams and T Webster
Cornwall lost 3- 6
Day 5, Cornwall V Leicestershire
1. A Hill and D Elston
2. J Richards and T Webster
3. A Hayward and R Knight
Score 1 -1 and rain abandoned play