- South Dartmoor back to winning ways in cups
- Tom Allin tournament raised more than £5,000 for air ambulance
- Taverners kit bag delivered to Sri Lankan youngsters
- Devon trying to contact the class of 56
- Paceman Tshepo running in Virgin London Marathon
- Five Devon women in Western Storm squad for Kia Super League
- Registration night for all ages at Topsham on Monday
- Lots pouring in for auction at Allin Memorial tournament
- Thames Valley Gentlemen Cricket Club
- Bradninch add Argentinian flavour to Devon League
- Ipplepen youth registration night on Friday
- Final call for Groundsmans first seminar this year
- Devon League official tackling London Marathon for charity
- Bovey on familiar territory in Aaron Printers Cup
- Brockman Cup - Cup Kings lie in wait for holders
- Shepherd Trust helps Kingsbridge build for sustainable future
- DCL - Umpire Appointments 2016 (May 7th - July 2nd)
- Long standing records beaten
- North Devon see off Paignton chase
COCKINGTON Cricket Club hope to carry on playing friendly matches despite pulling out of the Francis Clark Devon League after a nightmare run of results.
Cockington finished bottom of the D Division last season and would have been relegated for the third time in as many years. They joined the league in 1978.
The playing strength of the club has been in decline for a while and two years ago the 2nd XI was disbanded.
Last season Cockington had trouble getting 11 men on the field for all their games so there was something inevitable about pulling out of the league.
Mike Janes, the club secretary who has been associated with the club for more than 60 years man and boy, blamed the rise of 3rd and 4th XIs at other clubs and the problem of recruiting young players as the main reasons for pulling the plug on league cricket.
“There are players in those third and fourth teams who could easily be playing for the first of second teams of clubs like ourselves, Chelston or Babbacombe,” said Janes.
“A whole new generation of youngsters are growing up who are happy to take out of clubs but don’t like to put in.
“At clubs like ours everyone has to pitch in and take responsibility. At the bigger clubs there is invariably someone running around picking up after them.
“Inevitably it is the better players who behave that way.
“The future for small clubs is bleak because there is no way a club like ours can run all the colts teams needed to compete with the bigger clubs.
“Go back 40 years there was one colts team at a club. Anyone under 18 could play in it and all the clubs round here had one – us, Chelston, Babbacombe, Galmpton as well as the Torquays and Paigntons.
“Now you have to have 100 odd players to run all the teams from 11 upwards. Where is a club like ours going to find that number of players?
“Financially it is a struggle for clubs like ours to find £500 a year in affiliation fees and money for the right match balls. Last year we were £500 better of by not having to pay for umpires as we had gone down from the C Division where the league appoint them.
“Coming out of the league leaves us with a happy band willing to continue – and we already have a full Sunday fixture list for next season. We may even look for some Saturday games.
“And at least we are still going, unlike some clubs like Buckfastleigh and Exeter St Thomas, who were in the league when we joined it and have long ago folded.”