Devon Cricket Board - Premier round-up - Sandford do the right thing

Premier round-up - Sandford do the right thing

SANDFORD – away to Heathcoat – are trying to do the right thing to the end.
“The 2nd XI have a very important game against Heathcoat 2nd XI, but we felt it would be against the spirit of cricket to strengthen from the firsts,” said Sandford skipper Jamie Palmer, who has an unchanged team.
“I am looking forward to the game and we'll be doing our utmost to make it two wins on the bounce - and finish a tough season on a high.
One player with a personal target to meet is Sandford batsman Adrian Small, who is five runs away from reaching 9,000 in Devon League 1st XI games.
Small’s career started in 1993 with Exmouth and included a brief stint with Exeter before he arrived at Sandford in 2006.
TORQUAY are safe from the threat of relegation going into their game against Bovey Tracey after beating Cornwood last time out.
Cornwood will be going down with Sandford irrespective of how their game goes against Exeter.
Skipper Justin Yau was never too concerned about beating Cornwood as he felt the hard work had already been done.
“We knew even if we lost we still had a very good chance of being safe,” he said.
“We have played excellent cricket at times, having won three of our last four games.
“Cornwood had produced some big results to keep the pressure on us but I was always confident that we had enough in the tank to preserve our status in the top tier.
“Hopefully we can use this as a stepping stone now to build for next year.”
BOVEY Tracey hope to have Sam Wyatt-Haines back at the top of their order after injury ruled him out against Sandford last Saturday.
Sandford upset the formbook by beating Bovey, who need a win over Torquay to have any chance of pipping Plymouth for second place.
An Exmouth win over Plymouth would help, otherwise it is third in the table for Bovey for the fourth year in a row.
“We let ourselves down with our bowling performance, which is a rarity for us this year,’ said captain Andy Fairbairn.
Our bowling has been the best in the division, based on bowling points gained, this year so I'm not going to dwell on one performance too much. Everyone is allowed an off day.
“We have lost both games this year where we haven't had a proper wicketkeeper, which isn't a coincidence.
“The guys who have stepped in have done a great job but you really need a quality keeper to win games at this level.
“One game left and we will be looking to finish a decent season on a high.”
ELSEWHERE, Sidmouth are at home to North Devon and Exmouth face Plymouth

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