BRIXHAM, off the mark and off the bottom after beating Plymstock last Saturday, are away to Cornwood.
A Jason Oakes ton, runs and wickets for Somerset’s Jim Allenby and a Matt Parasons hat-trick earned Brixham their first league win.
“Hopefully we will continue with another win some great performances from Jason Tim and Matt,” said director of cricket Andy Pugh.
“We've got Mark Orchard back and Jim playing is always a massive bonus as not just a great cricketer but fits in the club really well.”
Cornwood slipped up at Budleigh last Saturday – they were skittled for 93 - and a patchy run has dropped them down to fourth, where they are 29 points behind Sandford in the second promotion spot.
“Following last week’s bad day at the office, we need to get back on track as promotion is definitely still on the cards,” said director of coaching Duncan Boase, a former Devon team-mate of Pugh’s.
“Our batting is usually so strong that we can just put last week down as a blip and hopefully move on.
“Although we need someone to dig in, we also need our attacking batters to play their own game.
“After all if you can’t enjoy it no point being there, we are mainly amateurs spending a Saturday afternoon with mates.”
Owen Gannon comes in for Ryan Rickard who is unavailable. Lee Baker is injured so won’t play.
There is no sign yet of a visa for ex-Pakistan keeper batter Mo Salman, who is stuck in Karachi until it comes through.
“We remain hopeful,” said Boase.
PLYMPTON, away to Lewdown, are without Chris Bunney due to work commitments, so in comes Alex Carr in his place.
Also unavailable is James Degg because of a school game so Freddie Eyeston takes his spot.
“Freddie is a batter with lots of potential, he gets his opportunity and I have no concerns chucking him in,” said skipper Craig Donohue.
“Availability starts to improve in the coming weeks so everyone is fighting for their shirt.
“That is a great problem to have as it shows within the club we have a number of guys able to do a job.”
Plympton (joint 4th) are buoyant after winning at Sandford and looking to keep the pressure on the top three with another win over tricky customers.
“Lewdown are in a similar position to us in the league so we will have to be on our game to come away with a result,” said Donohue.
“They have had some good overseas players in the past few years and the games have always been tight. I expect nothing to change this weekend.”
The top half of the table is elongated with Hatherleigh (137pts) almost over the horizon already. Sandford (104) are next, then Budleigh (84) followed by Plympton and Cornwood (75) then Lewdown (74).
Plympton are unlikely to catch Hatherleigh, but the second slot is wide open according to Donohue.
“Looking at the results from the previous few weeks, everyone is beating everyone bar Hatherleigh,” he said.
“It makes it for a really exciting second half of the season as one good win can jump you up a few positions and likewise for a loss you could drop down.
“If we can fight like we did last week and tighten up one or two areas there is no reason why we can't get a good result this week.”
HATHERLEIGH skipper Mark Lake is riding the crest of the wave as his side charge on at the top of the A Division.
Lake takes his table-toppers to lowly Plymstock this Saturday looking to maintain the winning start to the season.
Last Saturday’s 192-run win over Chudleigh made it seven from seven for Hatherleigh – and only three points dropped so far.
With second-placed Sandford losing again – Plympton turned them over in a last-over finish – Hatherleigh are now 33 points clear at the top.
Said Lake: “We must be looking for another positive result and I see no reason why we won't get it if we continue to play positive, winning cricket and put teams under big pressure.”
Jabez Weale and Justin Gilliland are both missing at Plymstock because they have to attend school matches. Seamer Sean Letheren is back after an injury.
Hatherleigh will be overwhelming favourites to win the game – which doesn’t worry Plymstock captain Scott Mansfield.
“We go into the game as underdogs and I'm hoping that allows us to play with a bit more freedom, mainly whilst batting,” said Mansfield.
“Our bowling has been fantastic this year so it's time for the batsman to stand up and support the bowling unit as we know we can.”
The batting looks stronger for the returns of James Nicholls and Dan Robotham, who is back at Plymstock via Plympton and (briefly) Tideford.
Dropping down into the second team batsmen Josh Hocken and Mike Blackmore.
MUCH-travelled batsman Chris Jelley has re-signed for Sandford and goes straight into the side playing Ivybridge on Saturday.
Jelley was last with Sandford in the 2013 season, since when he has been with Hatherleigh and, briefly, Plympton.
Previously, he has played for Exmouth and Clyst Hydon as well as Sandford.
“Chris is living in Cullompton now so it makes sense for him to play closer to home,” said Sandford skipper Richard Foan.
Ben Clement and Charlie Fitzroy are also back in the team for a game Sandford can’t really afford to lose.
Having gone five games unbeaten and been right behind table-topping Hatherleigh, Foan’s men have lost to the leaders and Plympton one after the other.
Sandford remain second as the teams below them have been losing too,
A losing habit isn’t one Foan will want to take into the second half of the season as he aims to take Sandford back to the Premier Division for the first time since 2015.
“We have another tough away game this week and I am looking for a response from the team after a disappointing couple of weeks,” said Foan
Ivybridge, eight-wicket losers at Lewdown, have dropped to fourth from bottom and need a win to avoid falling any further.
Kelvin Trent, the captain, said: “We need to improve from last week - we were very poor in all aspects of our game as a team, batting, bowling and fielding.
“We need to improve and get back to standards we have shown at start of the season.
“Sandford are beatable - we just need to put in a good performance.”
Sam Northmore in for batsman Andy Johnson, who is injured.
CHUDLEIGH skipper Ed Foreman can see the bottom of the table looming large after the 192-run hammering by Hatherleigh.
Three straight defeats and a rain-off have put Chudleigh in danger of being sucked into the relegation zone.
Ending the losing sequence at Budleigh Salterton is more than desirable – it is a must!
“Senior players need to stand up with the bat,” said Foreman.
“Will Heather is back, which is a bonus, but availability is very poor at the moment.
“The young lads did great last week, but at this stage in their development this is not the standard they need to be playing.”
Former captain Joel Murphy had a run in the 2nd XI last Saturday to test a back injury and may be recalled to the 1st XI.
