Exmouth 2s v Bovey Tracey
The Maer – Saturday 12 September, 1.00pm

Division Three reaches its conclusion on Saturday with champions Bovey Tracey chasing a perfect ten wins from ten, while Exmouth 2s look to round off a much-improved second season in the league with a fourth victory.

Bovey have already secured the title and head to The Maer with nine wins from nine and 163 points, but Exmouth have plenty of reason to want to spoil the party.

This is only their second season in the Devon Women’s Cricket League and the progress from year one has been clear. Their first campaign brought just one victory, while this time they go into the final weekend with three wins from nine.

Whatever happens against the champions, 2026 has already been a far more successful season for Exmouth 2s.

They also arrive on the back of one of their most memorable afternoons of the season, having beaten Holsworthy by 40 runs last weekend.

Sarah Antonio (pictured) produced a remarkable spell in that game, taking the first hat-trick of her career on the way to career-best figures of 7-14. It was an extraordinary match which featured two maiden hat-tricks, with Freya Godfrey having earlier achieved the feat for Holsworthy.

Exmouth will also know they can compete with Bovey, having pushed them hard when the sides met earlier in the season.

Bovey won that game by 22 runs after making 186-4 from their 30 overs, with Olive McCauley unbeaten on 73. Emily Martin added 37 and Isabelle Bradley 22, while Sharon Dawkins was the pick of the Exmouth attack with 2-30.

Exmouth replied with 164-5 from their 30 overs. Sarah Strode top-scored with 41, Anna Higgins made 31 and Louise Timlin 27 as they stayed in the contest for much of the chase before Bovey eventually closed the game out.

That performance should give Exmouth confidence that they can make life difficult for the champions again.

For Bovey, there is still plenty to play for despite the title already being secured.

McCauley (pictured right). has wrapped up the Division Three batting award after scoring 432 league runs at an average of 86.40, with three fifties and a century. She needs another 68 on Saturday to reach 500 for the season.

Amelie Webber also has a milestone within reach, needing 55 to finish the league campaign with 300 runs.

The bigger target for Bovey, though, is completing an unbeaten season. One more victory would make it ten wins from ten and put the finishing touch to a dominant campaign.

For Exmouth, a fourth win would underline just how much progress their second team has made in the space of 12 months and give them the perfect way to finish the season.

Whatever happens, Saturday will bring the curtain down on Division Three for 2026 – with Bovey chasing a perfect season and Exmouth looking to sign off an encouraging campaign with one more win.
 

By Chris Sleep