The draw for this year’s Aaron Printers Cup has been made and is as detailed at the foot of the page. The side drawn out first will be the home team and responsible for providing one match ball that is given to the umpires before the toss is made. The rules of this competition are that only ONE ball is provided for each match and it does not have to be a new one, although that is preferred. Both club have to provide a spare ball.

One new ball will be provided for both semi-finals and final by the competition organisers.

For this season ONLY I have decided not to seek neutral venues for the semi-final round owing to the potential organisational difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Owing to the compressed nature of this competition this season the aim is to play the majority of games on Sunday afternoons with a 1.30pm start. However, exceptions have to be made for the first-round ties if clubs cannot organise teams by the planned date of this Sunday.

In my original note to clubs I said any first-round ties can be played as evening matches up to and including Friday, August 7. It is vital that the captains or representatives of Abbotskerswell, Bovey Tracey II, Shaldon and Babbacombe make contact as soon as possible to agree when they can play by August 8. Sunday, August 9 is out as it is later than August 8 and also clashes with the first round of our sister competition the Brockman Cup.

The final will be played at South Devon CC on Sunday, September 6 with a 1pm start.

With the exceptions of Bovey Tracey CC and Paignton, for whom this is a 2ndXI competition, the Aaron Printers Cup is a 1stXI tournament for teams operating from the A Division downwards of the Tolchards Devon League. 

Bovey Tracey and Paignton cannot field players who tick any of the following boxes.

1 – Played for a First Class county’s 2ndXI side in 2019

2 – Represented any county in a Minor Counties competition

3 – Played in more than 10 Premier Division fixtures for their current club or a club playing at a similar level either in or outside Devon.

Clarification: Players aged under 21 at midnight on August 31, 2019 are exempt from note three above, but notnotes one and two.

The full registration rules can be found under section eight of the competition rules and regulations on the DCB website.

I will be in contact shortly concerning umpire appointments., However, it is likely clubs will have to make their own arrangements for first-round ties.

For this season only there will be a £100 prize paid over to the winning finalists. The runners-up will receive £50. Clubs need some good news at the moment.

Clubs are reminded scoresheets have to be entered on Play-Cricket by the home team within 24 hours of a match. The winning team is responsible for uploading the final scorecard.

Owing to an administrative oversight no entry invoices were sent to any competing clubs in 2019. This year clubs will all receive invoices covering 2019 and 2020.

Conrad Sutcliffe

07767 622530

THE DRAW

First round – Sunday, August 2, 1.30pm, or by agreement by August 7: Shaldon w/o v Babbacombe | Bovey Tracey II v Abbotskerswell 

Byes: Ashburton, Barton, Paignton, South Devon, Stoke Gabriel, Torquay.

Second round - Sunday, August 16 | S Devon v Ashburton w/o | Shaldon v Paignton | Barton v Torquay | Stoke Gabriel v Abbotskerswell Play-Cricket cards

Semi-finals – Bank Holiday Sunday (August 30) | Ashburton v Paignton (11am) | Torquay v Stoke Gabriel (1.30pm)

Final – at South Devon CC. Sunday, September 6, 1.00pm)

Click here for competition home page

All the cards on Play-Cricket