Devon play Lincolnshire in Minor Counties playoff

Devon will make the long journey north to challenge Lincolnshire for the 2003 Minor County Championship.

Victory over Berkshire last weekend saw the team from the south west carry off the Minor Counties Western Division title, relegating their opponents to second place and earning them a play-off against the Eastern Division winners.

The three-day game takes place at Cleethorpes CC, beginning on September 7 at 11am and should Lincolnshire come out on top, it will be the first time the county has won the championship outright since 1966. Two seasons ago, Lincs shared the title with Cheshire after the play-off was drawn.

Jonathan Davies is expected to prove that he is back to full fitness on Thursday (28th) when the Lincs kick off their 2004 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy challenge against Norfolk at Manor Park.

And with Simon Oakes taking eight wickets in last weekend's win over Cambridgeshire and Elliott Wilson and Stuart Airey bowling well, the selectors are in the happy position of having tough decisions to make.

On the batting front, James Clarke, Paul Pollard, Martyn Dobson, Simon Webb and Mat Dowman have put in solid top order performances this season while wicketkeeper Oliver Burford's century at Grantham last Monday confirmed his status as a batsman.

The umpires for the play-off will be John Tythcott and Keith Coburn.