Devon Cricket Board - Sidmouth players top picks in fantasy league teams!

Sidmouth players top picks in fantasy league teams!

SIDMOUTH duo Josh Bess and Scott Barlow (below) are among the top picks in a new fantasy cricket league running in Devon this season.
Ex-Bradninch captain Gary Chappell – he’s with Exmouth this season – and former club-mate Tim Piper are the men behind DCL Fantasy Cricket 2013.
A scaled down version has been tried out at Bradninch and the format transferred to a wider audience.
Players come in four categories – batters, bowlers, all-rounders, wicketkeepers – and a head for figures will come in handy for anyone entering a side.
Each team must contain five batsmen, four bowlers, a keeper and an all-rounder. That’s the simple bit.
Players can be drawn from lists submitted by the 10 Premier Division captains.
Every player on each list has a star rating, ranging from five at the top of the scale to one at the bottom.
Typical five star players are North Devon’s Glenn Querl, - the only one in the all-rounder category – Exmouth batter David Lye and bowlers Barlow, Chris Bradley (Bovey) and the Sidmouth captain Will Murray.
The leading picks so far are batters Peter Bradley (Bovey) and Rob Gear (North Devon), bowlers Chappell, Barlow and Harry Booker (Exeter) and all-rounders Neil Hancock (Bovey), Bess and Jackson Thompson (Bradninch).
Awarding gradings has been quite scientific, as Chappell explained.
“We have rated players on where they play, previous seasons’ performances and stats and how likely they are to get a good chance with bat or ball,” said Chappell.
“It is a big of guess work, but we think they are pretty accurate.
“I am sure there will be players who think they should have been rated higher. They can pick themselves at a bargain rate and try to prove us wrong!
“The only exceptions are for overseas players, who are all rated as five-star players.”
Where the maths comes in is calculating the star value of the team, which must come in at 40 or below.
It is early days yet for team lists to be submitted, but don’t wait too long as the first round of Premier games is on May 4.
One team already in is ‘The Muff’, put together by Exmouth’s real 1st XI captain Richard Baggs.
His team is Sandy Allen, David Lye, Chappell (all Exmouth), Barney Huxtable, Rob Gear (both North Devon), Neil Hancock, Ryan Bougourd (Bovey), Bob Dawson (Budleigh), Dave Burke, Matt Hopper (both Plymouth) and Jackson Thompson (Bradninch).
Baggs didn’t pick himself, just in case fact and fantasy get mixed up.
“I think it will be a bit of fun and there will be even more banter than usual flying around on a Saturday night when the results start coming out,” said Baggs.
“I didn’t pick myself just in case I brought myself on to bowl in a real match at the wrong time because I was looking to pick up some points.”
Another are Hungry Hippos, assembled by Torquay’s Matt Thompson.
Keeper-batter Thompson – a five-star rated player – has picked himself and Torquay team-mates Nick Watkin and Ben Passenger.
The full team is Tim Piper (Bradninch), Jason Hall (Cornwood), David Lye (Exmouth), Dan Bowser (North Devon), Liam Lewis (Sidmouth), Neil Hancock (Bovey Tracey), Nick Watkin, Ben Passenger (both Torquay), Andy Bees (Cornwood), Joel Murphy (Budleigh), Thompson (Torquay).
“I think there are a couple of bargains in there,” said Thompson.
“Down at Torquay we think it is a great idea and have started a couple of leagues of our own.”
DCL Fantasy Cricket 2013 is being hosted by www.fantastar.com and team managers need to log in there and look for the link to the Devon competition. To register a passcode – 001958DCLFanbffe33 - is required.
Entry costs £5 per team and money paid in will go out again in prizes.
“There are prizes for first, second and third as well as monthly awards as well.”

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