CONRAD SUTCLIFFE REPORTING

BEN Privett, Seb Linnitt, Matt Jeacock and Harry Passenger have all been called-up by Devon for the Western Division One title decider against Oxfordshire at Sidmouth.

Any sort of win – even without maximum bonus points – will guarantee a Devon title.

Devon have named unchanged teams the past two games – a win over Cornwall and a draw with Herefordshire – but have had to deal with disruptions for the Oxfordshire fixture.

“Work commitments have made things difficult and led to a few enforced changes,” said Devon captain Horler.

“Ben Privett comes back in after injury, which adds another all-rounder role to bolster both seam and the batting order.

“Seb Linnitt, who has been in hot form scoring heaps of runs for Exeter, come in for Luke Medlock.

“With Jamie Stephens tied up at work, Harry Passenger is our third spinning option.”

Privett, a red and white-ball regular for the past couple of seasons, has not featured in three-day action so far due to a shoulder injury. As a genuine all-rounder, who can influence games with bat and ball, he is the ideal replacement for work-tied Cornwood clubmate Matt Skeemer.

Linnitt, who is leaving the Somerset Academy programme at the end of the season, has appeared in white-ball cricket for Devon, but not the three-day format.

Passenger’s only prior three-day game was in the corresponding fixture at Banbury last year. He was a regular in the 20 and 50-over sides in the first half of the season. 

Sandford seamer Matt Jeacock has been added to the initial XI named as an extra seam bowling option,

Jeacock has not featured in the red-ball side since the opening game of the Western Division One season, a draw with Berkshire at Wargrave. Injury ruled him out.

Tim Western, Devon CCC's performance director, said a final decision on the starting XI will be made after a look at the Fortfield pitch before the toss.

If Devon (45pts) beat Oxfordshire (34) in the three-day game, they will face whoever wins the Eastern Division in the Cluberly National Counties play-off final.

A Devon defeat will mean Oxfordshire will be favourites for the Western Division crown, although Herefordshire (33pts) could snatch it on bonus points if they beat Cornwall and Devon draw with Oxfordshire.

James Horler, the Devon captain, is not interested in what Herefordshire do or don’t do down at Redruth.

“We have worked hard throughout the season to put ourselves in a position to win titles and are top of our division,” said Horler.

“I won’t be watching any other games: just focusing on winning ours.”

Tim Western, Devon CCC’s performance director, feels the focus should be on what Devon have achieved, not what may or may happen elsewhere.

“We are in a strong position going into this final fixture of the three-day National Counties Championship and want to finish strongly with a win,” said Western.

“Our stated aim in the close season was to maintain our position in this division, and we wanted to play with intent and ambition. 

“As this season has played out, there has been a nice mix of seasoned leadership and emerging talent. This has been achieved without a professional and players have taken responsibility and stepped up.”

Looking ahead to three days at Sidmouth, Western said: “We will take one session at a time but the rhythm and momentum of this squad are building.”

Devon: E H Hamilton, J D Horler, M W Thompson, L S Walker, B H Privett, C F Harvey, C D Penberthy, G E Greenway, S O Read, M R Jeacock, H J Passenger, S J Linnitt.

Oxfordshire: G G Tait, F E H Smith, T E Davis, F G Fowler, L B Hayes, A Hanson, A S Karpe, Ahmed Khan, B Lucking, L T Maslen, Ayush Patel, Arjun Ramkumar.

Umpires: D J Daniels, A Hicks.