Athletics

CONOR BOUNCES BACK:

Conor Robinson ended a spell in the injury wilderness with a superb victory in the South West Schools' Cross Country Championships, writes Kevin Fahey.

The 18-year-old Truro College student from Lamer, near Redruth, finally showed that he is back to his best after a long foot problem with a surprise victory in the senior boys' race at Exeter.

Fellow Cornwall team-mates Dan Nash (Liskeard School) and Hobie Martin (Newquay Tretherras) were the pre-race favourites on the basis of their excellent form this winter but 'forgotten man' Robinson reminded everyone that when he is fit and healthy he is among the best runners in the west country.

"I did not think I would win that," admitted Robinson. "My aim was to finish in the top five and try and beat Dan, who has been in great form this winter.

"It is only my fourth race since I made my comeback in December and I have been getting closer and closer to Dan every time I raced him."

Sadly for Nash his hopes of winning were ended when he suffered a heavy fall on the hard, frosty surface and had to settle for fifth place.

"It was a weird race because Dan and I went off hard and were soon clear of the field," added Robinson. "We came to a corner and suddenly Dan went down and while I briefly stopped I couldn't wait as I could see the others catching up.

"Then the next time I saw Dan he had slipped to fifth as I think the fall shook him up, which is a shame. But that is definitely my best race so far.

"I had to stop running in May last year after suffering a foot injury and didn't do anything until the end of October and then picked up the training over Christmas and have got better since then with every race."

Martin came through strongly for second place and but for Nash's fall Cornwall may well have clinched a clean sweep of the podium places.

Robinson, who competes for Cornwall AC, was the only county winner on Saturday but there were two silver medals for the squad. Martin won one in the senior boys' race while the other went to Falmouth School's Issy Steel in the inter girls' race.

There were also top ten finishes for Nash (senior boys), Truro School's Bertie Holdsworth (minor boys) and Helston School's Katie Hughes (minor girls).

Tennis

GOOD YEAR FOR COUNTY:

Tennis Cornwall held their annual meeting which was very well attended with representatives from many of Cornwall's tennis clubs.

Chairman Sue Eames reported that 2011 had been a busy and successful year. She congratulated clubs who had achieved Beacon and Clubmark status.

It had also been a very good year for the county teams with the Ladies and Men were both promoted following the July National Grasscourt Championships, and both Ladies' and Men'd over 35 teams also promoted. The Under 18 Girls gained promotion in March.

Cornwall is now also successfully running Veterans' teams for over 45, 55, 60 and 70s.

Alan Pritchard and Jill Tucker were thanked for all their hard work running the Summer and Winter leagues.

Alisa Cole, Kieron Butter and Amy Johns all juniors entered the 'Road to Wimbledon' competition and were good enough to play in the finals in August at the best tennis courts in the world.

Cornwall was fortunate to receive a visit in August from Peter Bretherton, Lawn Tennis Association President.

He visited Bodmin, Wadebridge and presented the prizes at the County Hardcourt Championships in Newquay.

Cornwall has a lot of players ranked in the top 100 nationally in their age group.

Special mention was made of Oshi Leverton, ranked 13 in under 12's, Alisa Cole, ranked 58 in under16's, and Athena Chrysantou ranked 25 in under 18s.

Certificates were awarded to winning teams in all the Divisions of Summer and Winter Leagues as well as the various cups.

Award winners: Spirit of Sport Junior – Conor Polyblank (Penzance); Spirit of Sport Senior – Sammy Bassett (Penzance); Volunteer of the Year Junior – Ryan Jennings (Bodmin); Volunteer of the Year Senior – Harry Livesey (Newquay); Coach of the year – Sally Lobb (Menheinot); Club of the year – St Agnes; Junior player of the year – Ben Kelly ( Leverton Williams); Endeavour Cup – Jill Tucker; James Webster Memorial Cup Junior – Jake Horton (Leverton Williams and Launceston); James Webster Memorial Cup Senior – Clare Hudson (Truro).

Hilary Webster the LTA representative brought the meeting up to date with all the ongoing developments in the game.

The meeting ended with an audio visual presentation from Georgina Loosemore and Debbie Hale the county development officers. It appreciated many of the successes of the last year.

Bowls

BODMIN BOWLS CLUB:

Bodmin ladies struggled against a strong Caradon side in the Caradon Cup, salvaging a rink point but going down overall by nine shots. Rink scores: J Gould 18 M Mallett 14; E Ward 14 W Pickles 27.

A mixed friendly against Cornwall Masonic saw Bodmin winning and losing two rinks but achieving an overall victory by nine shots.

Domestic leagues: Roy Lambden is back in front in the Morning Triples div 1 and leads Geoff Mugford by three points.

Dave Rowe maintains his position at the top of div 2 but second place Mike Tregaskes has played two games fewer.

Roy Lamden is still nine points ahead of Geoff Bunt in the Evening Triples div 1. Dave Cawrse is six points ahead of Peter Talling in div 2. Dave is also in second spot in the Rinks but trails Paul Bennett by nine points.

Dot Dearsley has pulled ahead in the Ladies Triples and is four points clear of (but has played two games more than) Berenice Mugford. Berenice shares the Ladies' Rinks with Barbara Jones and Eileen Rowe. Barry Crowle heads up the Curtis Cup, separated from Mike Tregaskes by a single point.

Cricket

OFFICERS HONOURED:

Two retiring officials of the Cornwall Schools' Cricket Association were made Senior Vice-Presidents at last week's Annual Meeting.

John Platts has completed 50 years as a player and manager and in recent years has looked after the U17 side.

Terry Barker began managing sides in 1973 and has also been the Association's treasurer for the last 17 years.

Rob Thomas of Grampound Road CC was appointed as the new treasurer with all the other officers re-elected.

Trevor Angove has replaced Terry Barker as the CSCA Cornwall Cricket Board representative.

Association secretary Malcolm Broad reported 114 fixtures had been undertaken in 2011with the weather allowing more to be played than in recent years.

The U17 and U15 teams had particularly good seasons.

In a first, the Association were about to embark on three overseas tours.

The U13s are making their annual trip to South Africa with the U15s due to go to the West Indies and the U17s to Sri Lanka.

The 2012 season will see the largest ever fixture list which is now available online at www.cornwall-cricket.org.uk

Officers elected: President – Trevor Doughty (Corporate Director for Children Schools & Families); Chairman- Nigel Sanders; Vice-Chairman: Tim Marrion; Secretary – Malcolm Broad MBE; Treasurer – Rob Thomas; Asst Secretary Coaching – Craig Richards; Asst Secretary Records – Michael Weeks. Team Managers: Under 17 / 16 – Joe Skinner; Under 15 – Trevor Angove; Under 14 – Nigel Sanders; Under 13 -Tim Marrion; Under 12 – Mark Richards; Under 11 – Robin Trethowan; Under 10 – Richard Shrewsbury. Under 17 Girls – Mrs Marilyn Richards; Under 15 Girls – Miss Hannah Grice; Under 13 Girls – Alan Hoskings.

FRIGHT FOR FAVOURITES:

There was a fascinating start to the second stage of the CCB Indoor Sixes on Sunday as, in the first game of the 'Premier' Division, hot favourites St Austell were given a massive fright before closing out a ten-run win over neighbours St Blazey, whose summer 1st XI play in Division 2 East.

The underdogs got off to a great start, taking wickets regularly as the usually dominant St Austell batting line-up had a shaky return to competition.

They will hope to be in better form next week, when they take on the Devon champions in the first round of the ECB national competition.

Saviour on the day was Scott Barrott, primarily a bowler, who held the innings together with 38 not out, taking the score to 86 for 5. Mike Bone then took four wickets, to restrict St Blazey to 76 all out, but with another full over remaining in which the winning runs might have been found.

The final match of the evening, this time in the County' Division, was even closer, with near neighbours and close rivals in the outdoor game St Stephen and St Erme providing some great value entertainment.

St Erme made 116 all out in their 12overs, Tom Bunt and Liam Lombard each contributing 36 to the total.

The St Stephen innings started steadily enough, but overs five to seven were rather unproductive, leaving them needing 55 from the final five overs.

Gates, Newland and Chris Harris all made decent contributions, but the latter was run out with four deliveries remaining and seven to win. Then, two balls to go and three needed, youngster Tom Harris put the ball over the bowler's head for six runs and a very exciting game was won with a ball to spare.

In another eye-catching Premier Division result, Truro were defeated by a stronger than usual Allstars six, who bowled their city opponents out for just 62, then comfortably passed the score with three overs to spare. Chris Hunkin scored an unbeaten 27 for the winners. Falmouth II hammered the weak Hayle outfit by 80 runs in the other County Division fixture.

NEW KIT CHANCE:

Cricket teams in Cornwall are being given the chance to win an Ultimate Kit and Laundry Package, as well as a chance to attend a training day with the England cricket team or have England legends visit their club, as part of an AEG campaign backed by former England captain Michael Vaughan.

The campaign has been launched by AEG, the premium home appliance brand, and will see 40 grassroots cricket teams selected to receive the kit and laundry packages.

Each of the prize packages includes 12 bespoke Canterbury Sportswear cricket kits, as well as a top-of-the-range AEG washing machine in time for the start of the 2012 cricket season.

But teams will have to be quick as the deadline is Friday.

Simply visit www.aeg.co.uk/grassroots to view the launch video with Michael Vaughan and Paul Nixon, get full details of the competition and to submit an application before the new extended deadline.

HALF-TERM COURSES:

There are still places available on the February half-term children's cricket course, Fun Cricket Skills and Games, at the Cornwall Cricket Centre, Truro.

A selection of skills, fun drills and small-sided games, the course is aimed at all children who want to have fun playing cricket (approximate ages: 7-11), especially beginners.

Application forms and further details can be accessed on the Cornwall Cricket website (www.cornwall-cricket.org.uk) or by contacting Mark Mitchell (07805 787858 / mitch@cornwallcricketboard.com

Fun Skills & Games (Age 7-11): Monday 13th to Thursday 16th February, 9.00am-1.00pm.

Cost: £12 per day or all 4 days for £40 (siblings £30).

Squash

VETERANS RELEGATED:

The Cornwall Over 45s Squash Team travelled to Wellington College, Berkshire to play in the All England Division One Relegation Group B at the weekend.

After earning promotion last season this was quite a disappointment but to avoid the drop back into Division Two Cornwall needed to beat hosts Berkshire, Kent and old foes Devon.

The afternoon started well against Berkshire with a good win for Penzance's Peter Eddy playing at three but Tony Bowyer, Truro at four, was unable to build on this early advantage and lost quite badly. Newcomer to Over 45 squash and experienced county squash stalwart Neil Counter, also Truro and at one, likewise disappointed missing far too many good opportunities to win points eventually going down to the same 3-0 scoreline.

Torpoint's Mike Morgan and Nigel Watson, at two and five respectively, both failed to impress resulting in a 4-1 overall defeat for Cornwall.

Against Kent in the evening match Cornwall faired much better, only narrowly losing 3-2 in the final game of the tie.

Eddy showed again what an excellent squash player he is with another convincing win and Bowyer, playing more intelligently, was well worth his 3-1 win to set up the possibility of winning the match.

With just one more win needed Watson almost succeeded but lost 9-7 in the fifth which meant Morgan still needed to win. This looked on the cards as he stormed to a commanding 2-0 lead but his opponent fought back steadily to eventually eclipse the Cornishman 9-7 in a very gruelling fifth.

On the Sunday morning and with little to play for except pride Cornwall went down rather tamely 5-0 against a Devon side motivated strongly by needing maximum points to avoid relegation.

Final positions: 1 Kent, 2 Devon, 3 Berkshire and 4 Cornwall. Thanks are expressed by the players for the support

given by Cornwall SRA.

Short mat

WINNING START FOR DUCHY:

On Saturday, Cornwall's A Team travelled to Bristol to start their defence of the ESMBA Inter County Championship Consolation competition title against Warwickshire.

The points were shared in the first session with Warwickshire claiming both singles games and Cornwall, through Sheila & Bob Flower (25-11) and Keith Williams & Betty Temple Smith (25-3), both Pairs games. The second session saw Cornwall claim maximum points with wins in the Triples for Marion & John Keers & Pam Williams (23-7) and Kath Goodman, Tony Jago & Henry Kendall (17-4).

Bill Sharp, Jimmy Rule, Terry Bray & Peter Hamley (13-6) and Meg Horrell, Joe Dixon, Miriam Barbery & Derek Newton (18-6) claimed wins in the Fours.

The third session again saw Cornwall dominant with wins for Luke Jolly (13-9) and Martin Boraston (21-6) in the Singles and Keith Williams & Betty Temple-Smith (13-8) in the Pairs.