Devon Cricket Board - Trego benefit game will bring back memories for Hanks

Trego benefit game will bring back memories for Hanks

SOUTH Devon’s T20 game against Somerset will bring back some happy memories for Neil Hancock.
Somerset visit Marsh Road next Tuesday night to play South Devon in a benefit game for long-serving all-rounder Peter Trego.
Twenty20 cricket is all the rage now, but back in 2004 it was something of a novelty outside the First Class game.
Youngsters played it, club sides played it but First Class cricket had never known anything like it.
When the ECB launched the Twenty 20 Cup in 2003, very few First Class players had appeared in games that short since their schoolboy days.
Team managers were looking for players who could bowl straight and hit the ball hard - something Australian Hancock had been doing since 1997 in the Devon League.
Hancock’s reputation had spread beyond Devon and for the 2004 season Somerset registered the 28-year-old all-rounder.
He played in Somerset’s first two T20 games that season – making his debut under lights at Edgbaston against Warwickshire – and was also selected for a Pro-40 match against Worcestershire.
That was where Hancock’s involvement in professional cricket ended, although he did play against the First Class counties for a season with the ECB Unicorns in the Clydesdale Pro-40 in 2010.
“It was a great experience and I would have loved to play a lot more,” said Hancock.
“I was fortunate to get a taste of that level again with the Unicorns in the Pro-40 league, and enjoyed that just as much, as I was able to play a full season and compete with the full counties.”
Hancock’s fans in Devon – and he has hundreds of them having played successfully for Torquay, Buckfastleigh, Sidmouth, Paignton and Bovey Tracey before ending up at South Devon – will tell you he could have made it as pro had he been picked up sooner.
Hancock said he never saw it that way.
“Age and fitness were the main two reasons why I didn't get more opportunity, but I am grateful for the games I did get,” said Hancock.
“It was probably a bit late in my career to start, as I had to wait until I was English qualified before they looked at me.
“Being up for selection as an overseas player, I don't think I would have got much of a look in ahead of players like Ricky Ponting, who was at Somerset around that time.”
Hancock’s robust approach to batting works well in the T20 format and has brought him some big scores in domestic competitions – including a double hundred against Axminster for Sidmouth that made national headlines.
There was a T20 hundred on Devon finals day for Sidmouth against Exmouth, a ton off 41 balls for Devon against Gloucestershire in benefit game for Matt Windows and a one-man show for Paignton against Torquay.
“I finished on 85 not out chasing a hundred to win,” said Hancock.
“Simon Edwards was out for two and Alston Bobb got one not out.”
Torquay left-armer Jon Baglow – now with Braunton - was left scarred by the experience – he bowled nine balls at Hancock and was smashed for 34 runs.
Somerset visit South Devon next Tuesday – June 2 – and play is due to start at 5.30pm.
Gates and bars at the Recreation Ground in Marsh Road will be open from early afternoon.
Admission is by programmes costing £3, available in advance from the club office or at offices of match sponsors Wollen Michelmore in Newton Abbot, Dartmouth, Torquay.
Spectators can buy programmes at the gate on the day of the match.

DCB Ltd, University of Exeter Sports Hall, Stocker Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QN Company Registration Number: 7024773