Exeter victims of own success says skipper

EXETER skipper Miles Lenygon has a plan to get the city side away from the wrong end of the Premier table before it is too late.

The season reaches the halfway stage on Saturday with a home game against defending champions Sidmouth.

Exeter are two off the bottom of the table after they were beaten by Heathcoat last time out, just three points clear of Plymouth in the second drop spot.

Lenygon, who is back from a two-week holiday to lead the side, said Exeter were partly victims of their own success.

He sees consistency of selection as the key to getting out of trouble and revealed there is help on the way from Somerset’s Alex Barrow.

Keeper-batter Barrow made a low-key debut in the defeat at Heathcoat. He and Lenygon are old friends from their school days in Taunton.

Barrow is currently out of the 1st XI at Somerset and happy to play for Exeter when he can.

“Alex is moving house this weekend so can’t play, but has said he expects to be around for most of the rest of the season,” said Lenygon.

“Obviously that is good news for us and fits in with what I feel we have to do.

“Every week we are chopping and changing the side because players are not available for one reason or another.

“One of the reasons for that is our young players – Ben Green, Ollie Sale, the two Bess boys - are always being called away for other games.

“We don’t have consistency of selection, which means players don’t always know their jobs.

“The plan for the rest of the season is to have a hub of eight or nine players who play every week. We may even get the same side out two weeks running then.”

Exeter’s position isn’t great, although Lenygon thinks it isn’t accurate either.

“I am not worried as I don’t think it is a fair reflection on the ability of the team – and I think we will see that in the second half of the season,” said Lenygon.

“If we are still third from bottom with two weeks to go, then I might start to get worried.”

Sidmouth are likely to show at least one change to their side as Kiwi paceman Andy Mathieson is back from international duty.

Mathieson was drafted away from Sidmouth for two weeks to play for the Black Cap in the one-day series against England.

Otherwise, skipper Will Murray is likely to name an unchanged team, which will again include Josh Bess, who doesn’t return to Australia until next week.


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