Ashburton v Bovey Tracey
Ashburton (Lloyd White): Club debuts for Jack Furness-Brown and Chris McKee (ex-Cullompton). No overseas due to visa being declined so had a bit of bad luck there. Matt and Will Coon miss out so we have good depth and numbers. Looking forward to hosting Bovey, which is always a good game between our two sides.
Bovey Tracey II (Dan Green): Very much looking forward to getting the season going, especially with the local derby. We are not under estimating Ashburton as we know they have some good players. Team looks good even with some university lads still missing. Batter Sam Taylor is available this week between England hockey duties and overseas Sam Veal is already here so things look great. Ready to get to business.
Stoke Gabriel v Braunton
Stoke Gabriel: (Jack Tolley): We go into game one raring to go. We have added Tyler Hunter (Melbourne) to our squad, from last year who will bat in the top five and hopefully bowl more throughout the season. We have a long batting line up and plenty of bowling options. If we play like we know we can, we will be pushing the right end of the division. We know very well that there are no easy games in this division so will not take any opponents lightly and look forward to another good battle with Braunton! Hoping to the best chasing 330-plus, like we did against them last May!
Braunton (Sam Reddick): We are going to look to make a strong account of ourselves this season, starting with a good performance at Stoke Gabriel this Saturday. Kyle Faber is back with us for 2026, and Andrew Norman has returned from his placement year in New Zealand. No Theo Valeri for the first few weeks as he’s over in Australia. We’ve worked hard and spoken at length about our discipline with both bat and ball. Everyone knows their role and lots was taken from 2025. Stoke Gabriel got the better of us twice last year and we will have to be at our best to beat them. Can’t wait to get started.
Clyst St George v Seaton
Clyst (Par Singh): Looking forward to facing Seaton and welcoming them to Bohea Field. Availability this week has been frustrating to say the least. But we have a strong XI. Charlie Taylor (our overseas) is relishing his first league match and getting stuck in. Inder Singh is away in Japan but should be back for week two. Andrew Donovan is in Australia, but should be back by the end of May. Tiaan who was a standout in our 2s is unavailable for personal reasons. Also, no Ewan Cragg as he will be in Oxford. And no, he’s not a student at Oxford!
Seaton (click here for pre-season prospects).
Plymstock v Bideford
Plymstock (Tom Mitch): Team is strong for week one. Five league debutants, including Chester Oldfield, our overseas from New Zealand. We’ve had a very good pre-season and the boys are raring to go. It is always a competitive game against Bideford and I expect no different this year
Bideford (Jack Ford): Looking forward to the start of another new season - and a tough away journey to start with away at Plymstock. Looks like they’ve recruited well but so we have we, so hoping for a competitive game of cricket if the weather stays away!
Barton v Plympton
Barton (Steve Lewis): Selection has a couple of unanswered questions, but we will have a mixture of young and experienced Barton players which I am very excited to lead out. Just want us to play fearlessly with a smile and embrace the challenge. Tough opening week against Plympton, always a tough side to beat but we need to make this the start to making Cricketfield road a fortress and stick to plans.
Plympton (Harry Kandampully): The boys head into the first game of the season full of energy after a strong pre-season, and there’s a real sense of excitement around the group. Barton is always a tough place to go, with plenty of talented players who are consistently up for the contest. We know it’ll be a proper test. We’re pleased to be putting out an almost full-strength side. It’s also great to welcome both Rahul Randev and Ben Banks into the side, who come in for their debuts.
