SATURDAY, APRIL 11
DEVON have drafted in Blundell's School1st XI skipper Sam Smith at short notice for tomorrow's intriguing friendly with Streets2Arena CC at Exeter (11.30am).
Smith, who averaged more than 70 with the bat for Tiverton side Heathcoat in the Devon League last season, is one of the rising stars in the youth ranks.
A slot became available in the side at short notice when work commitments ruled out Richard Foan – leaving Devon to find an early order batsman.
Smith, 17, has been a feature in Heathcoat's 1st XI since he was 14 so Devon team manager George Gribble has no hesitation calling him in.
“He clearly has something about him if he is captaining Blundell's and all the reports I have received from those in the know say he is worth having a look at,” said Gribble.
Tomorrow's game is the second of three warm-up matches before the proper stuff starts on April 26 when Cornwall visit Exmouth for the first pool game in the Minor Counties KO Cup.
Devon lost by 99 runs to Cardiff UCCE in their opener at Exeter last Sunday and skipper Bob Dawson will be looking for a few more runs from his batters against a side with interesting credentials.
Streets2Arena draws its players largely, though not exclusively, from the Asian community in the inner-city areas of the West Midlands. One of its founders was cricket coach Munir Ali, whose sons Kadeer (Gloucestershire), Moeen (Worcestershire) and Omar (Herefordshire) have all made their way in the game to different levels. Kabir Ali (Worcestershire and England) is their first cousin.
The captain is Mo Sheikh, who was a pro from 1997-2006 with Warwickshire and latterly Derbyshire. Nowadays he plays in the Minor Counties for Staffordshire.
The game has been set up by Devon official Roger Newman, who helped S2A get off the ground when he was running the Warwickshire Academy in Birmingham.
Devon: R I Dawson (Budleigh), A P W Allen (Budleigh), N D Hancock (Sidmouth), J J Bess (Sidmouth), L Gregory (Plympton), G Chappell (Bradninch), J E Burke (Exmouth), T S Anning (Exmouth), I E Bishop (Budleigh), S Barlow (Sidmouth), S Smith (Heathcoat).
Streets2Arena XI: Omar Ali, Valeed Butt, Rawait Khan, Mo Sheikh, Fasail Sahid, Behran Ali, Danny Cox, Sheraz Amin, Paul O'Leary, Atis Ali, Hassan Khan, Hassan Quami.
Umpires: J Anning & R W Tolchard.