Devon Cricket Board - Devon have right formula to win final

Devon have right formula to win final

DEVON have to put the disruptions of the past few days behind them when the Minor Counties final gets under way against Cambridgeshire at March Town tomorrow.

Western Division winners Devon play their Eastern Division counterparts over four days in Fen country for the outright title.

Devon’s preparations started badly when skipper Neil Hancock was left out of the side having found it impossible to get enough time off work to cover all four days.

The Devon management felt they couldn’t have their skipper leave at lunch on the last day to get to a work appointment in London, so left him out of the side altogether and asked Chris Bradley to lead the team.

North Devon all-rounder and Somerset Academy scholar Craig Overton was given permission by England U19 boss John Abrahams to play as Hancock’s replacment.

A second complication came when Devon were offered Craig’s England U19 all-rounder twin Jamie after the 12-man squad had been picked.

“It was a moral issue really,” said Devon’s director of cricket Roger Newman. “How do you tell someone who has played all season to reach the final they won’t be in for the big one?”

Devon’s path to the final has been on the back of five straight wins –the last by 10 wickets over long-time leaders Berkshire – after the May Bank Holiday opener against Dorset at Bournemouth was drawn.

The team seems to have developed a winning rhythm – James Burke, Rob Holman and David Lye have been stacking up the runs, Bradley and Trevor Anning have been knocking over the wickets – and Newman doesn’t see any reason to change the orchestration now.

“Winning is a habit and we seem to have found a way of doing it,” said Newman.

“We have shown in games that we are well on top in that we won’t ease up, and in games like Wiltshire we have fought back after bad sessions to win the match.

“One of our strengths is we have bowlers who build scoreboard pressure, which forces batsmen into mistakes which get them out.

“If we keep doing what we have been doing, we can win the game.”

Devon last won the title in 2006 when they defeated Buckinghamshire at Exmouth in the final and are bidding for an eighth title since 1978,

One of those wins was in 2004 at Worcestershire over Cambridgeshire in a rain-ruined two-day game.

Cambridgeshire’s only win was way back in 1963 when they topped what was then a one-division competition.

Players to watch out for in the Cambridgeshire side are opening bat Peter Richer, all-rounder Lewis Bruce and off-spinner and captain Paul McMahon.

Richer is a steady pair of hands at the top of the order with 365 runs on the way to the final at an average of 30.41.

Bruce (374 runs) is top of the batting averages on 53 and has 30 wickets at around 17 runs each.

McMahon, who had four seasons with Nottinghamshire, made is the leading bowler in the team with 38 scalps at 14.71 runs each.

Cambridgeshire:A G Burton, P G Richer, J H Jatkinson, N J Ferraby, G C Goosen, M J Pateman, L R Bruce, P Sumerkill, J McMahon, J M E Barrs. T Mees

Devon: J E Burke (Budleigh), R J Holman (Exeter), R J Woodman (Taunton), R I Dawson (Budleigh), J J Bess (Sidmouth), C Overton (North Devon), M W Thompson (Torquay), T S Anning, D F Lye (both Exmouth), S Barlow (Budleigh), C Bradley (Bovey). 12th C A J Morris (Budleigh).

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