Devon Cricket Board - South Devon no one-man side says skipper

South Devon no one-man side says skipper

NEW South Devon captain Jon Martin is setting no goals for the club’s first season back in the B Division.
Martin returns to former club Chudleigh tomorrow with almost exactly the same set of players who won promotion last season.
University students Jonty Parsons and James Hart will be missing for a week or two yet, but otherwise it’s as you were at Marsh Road.
“We have got improved availability from players like Neil Maud and Simon Rooke, which should give us an extra batter and bowler most weeks,” said Martin.
“The side that got us up is still here and looking at what we have I am pretty confident for the season ahead.
“Our strength last season was we didn’t rely on one player every week, contrary to what some people were saying about us.
“We have four or five batters capable of making 300-400 runs a season – and a couple of them could make more.
“What we lack is someone to play the anchorman role, but I am hoping Ali Wright might fill that job.
“Freed from the double burden of captaining the side and keeping wicket, I would like to see him bat early and bat long.”
Bowling shouldn’t be a problem for Martin as South Devon had the best attack in the C Division last season. No one else earned as many bowling bonus points – not even league champions Ipplepen.
South Devon caused a bit of a stir last season by signing former Devon captain Neil Hancock from Premier side Bovey Tracey to give then a lift after two successive relegations.
Inevitably, there were whispers that South Devon would be a one-man team and despite evidence to the contrary Martin is fed p hearing them.
‘Hanks is a good player and we are fortunate to have him, but I found the whispering offensive to our other players,” said Martin.
“Hanks scored nearly 500 runs and took 25 wickets, but he didn’t do it all – far from it.
“I had 31 wickets, Dave Knowles and Sean Day were both well into the 20 and Mike Smith had 17.
“Smithy and Sean Day both topped 300 runs, so to say we are a one-man team is way off the mark.
“I look around our dressing room and see plenty of players who are going to score runs and take wickets.”
As for the ‘no-goals’ target, Martin is adamant about that.
“It is a new division with plenty of teams we don’t know,” said Martin. “Let’s see where we are around halfway before setting any targets.”

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