Dan Goodey - a welcome return after injury for the Devon paceman<br>credit: www.ppauk.com

DEVON have made a raft of changes to their side for the crunch game against Oxfordshire starting at Sidmouth on Sunday (11am).

Gone from the XI beaten by Cheshire last time out are holidaying pro Wayne White, Matt Skeemer, Ed Middleton (injured) and Jamie Stephens (work).

Devon’s batting looks stronger for this game as skipper Alex Barrow is back to open the innings and Somerset’s Peter Trego is available again after missing the last three games.

Dan Goodey, an opening bowler who can bat, returns after a side strain ruled him out against Cheshire. Max Hancock is brought in as a left-arm option,

Skeemer, picked as a bowler for the last three games but used mainly in a batting role to good effect, has been left out.

Alex Barrow - back to skipper the sideTorquay pair George Allen and Mitch Pugh are retained in the top half of the batting and Bovey duo Toby Codd and Hugo Whitlock remain among the bowling options.

Having lost by an innings inside with a day to spare against Cheshire last time out, Devon are in danger of finishing below fifth in this season’s Western Division table.

The top five in the table of ten will form a new Western First Division next season. The bottom half will be founder members of the Second Division.

Devon have two games – Oxfordshire and Cornwall at Exeter – in which to clamber into the top five. The distance is only eight points at the moment, which is do-able with 24 points available for a win.

What Devon have to do is start winning again. Their last victory was in round one against Wales.

“One win and a draw might be enough, but if we don’t win at least one we won’t get where we want to be,” said team chief Dave Tall.

Devon: A W R Barrow (Sidmouth). J W Baird (North Perrott), G B Allen, M Pugh (both Torquay), J E Burke (Plymouth), P D Trego (Weston), Z G G Bess, M W Hancock (both Sidmouth), D J Goodey (Bashley), H M Whitlock, T J R Codd (both Bovey Tracey), B A Beaumont (Cornwood).