Devon to have twenty20 champions for first time

January 3, 2008, 4:24 pm

Devon will have a Twenty20 champion for the first time this year when crash-bang-wallop cricket goes county wide.Torbay set the trend in 2005 by starting a Twenty20 tournament identical to the ones that have been packing county grounds throughout the country for the past few years.

Teignbridge, Plymouth and East Devon were quick to follow suit - and there are Twenty20 type competitions running in the west and north Devon area as well.

Exeter will have a Twenty20 tournament for the first time this summer. It is expected to include Seaton, Sidmouth, Exmouth and Axminster, whose own competition is being wound-up.

Devon Cricket League officials realised last year there was demand for a competition to find a county champion, but didn’t have a sponsor or the time to get one off the ground.

Princetown Brewery - who produce the well-known Jail Ale among others beers - have come forward for 2008 to sponsor a county play-off.

Geoff Coish, the Devon Cricket League secretary, said some fine tuning concerning dates and venues still has to be done.

But he is confident the regional winners will play off among themselves this year to find a county champion.

“We haven’t worked out yet how we will establish who the two finalists will be, but that is being worked on,” explained Coish.

“There should be six regional winners, from which we need to find a way of getting semi-finalists and finalists.

“Likewise, we haven’t sorted out any venues yet, although I don’t suppose we will be short of offers.”

Exeter captain Jon Tipper was among the first to welcome the announcement of a Devon Twenty20 tournament.

“It’s a form of cricket we all enjoy at the club - especially the sloggers among us,” said Tipper.

“Seriously, most of us play or have played in the evening league, which is very similar, and enjoy that.

“Most people can find a couple of hours after work for a quick game as it breaks up the week nicely.

“It will be a new experience playing some of the other teams in different parts of the county that we usually would not see.”

This article was taken from thisisexeter.co.uk