Cornwall Cricket League Division Two East preview – Saturday, July 27

TOP of the table clashes are why sportsmen and women play, and leaders Werrington Seconds will hope to tighten their grip on the title race when they head to their St Austell counterparts tomorrow (1pm).

The North Cornwall side travel down the A30 and A391 with a 29-point gap over the Saints who have two games in-hand.

If St Austell win, then the momentum is with them, but a Werrington victory will mean the Saints would need to secure victory in the other games to keep pace before it comes to down to bonus points and the like.

With two missing from the first team, Werrington aren’t quite at full strength, but still name a side the rest of the division would envy.

With wicket-keeper Simon Bishop also missing, Rob Dymond takes the gloves after an important 39 not out at Tintagel, while batsman Hugh Tomkinson and all-rounder Mark Hodgson are also back and named in the side.

WERRINGTON SECONDS at St Austell Seconds: Marley May, Dan Howgill, Hugh Tomkinson, Tom Lyle, Rob May, Billy Uglow, Rob Dymond (wkt), Jason Seldon (capt), Mark Hodgson, Ian Searle, Nick Oldaker.

CALLINGTON Seconds are 32 points adrift of Werrington having both played 15 games, ahead of their trip to struggling Ladock.

Skipper Rich Brown has to do without key all-rounder Alex Robinson, but batsman Nick Parker returns having recently got married.

With Ladock’s small ground and Robinson missing, they have gone for an extra bowling option as young seamers Ben Alford, Ryan Hodge and Spencer Whatley compliment veteran Jim Shorten and the off-spin of Rhys Hodge. Brown will also likely bowl his darts.

CALLINGTON SECONDS at Ladock: Rich Brown (capt), Ben Allsop, Nick Parker, James Brenton, Blake Tancock, James Moon (wkt), Jim Shorten, Ben Alford, Rhys Hodge, Ryan Hodge, Spencer Whatley.

THE derby between Holsworthy and Bude always gains plenty of interest, and the two meet at Stanhope Park.

Holsworthy also play one of their games in-hand at Menheniot-Looe on Sunday, so win both and the Trees can look forward to pushing on for another top four finish having ended third last year.

Bude make the short trip across the A3072 in fourth themselves, a huge improvement on the last couple of years where they had to be alert to avoid the drop.

Bude will hope that Aussie paceman Brett Hunter can get stuck into the Holsworthy order, while the hosts know that if they can get through that, then they should score big.

Holsworthy’s bowling is their strength, so if they can get runs on the board they will fancy themselves.

Both teams are not at full strength.

The Seasiders are missing batsmen Lee Houghton and Matt Whitefield and Harry Dymond, while Holsworthy are without batsman Brendan Harris.

HOLSWORTHY v Bude: Chris Pomeroy (wkt), Jack Greening, Herschelle Poggenpoel, Ryan Walter (capt), Aiden Gerry, Sam Stacey, Dan Smith, Rob Mitchell, Nick Ward, Dan Lucas, Graham Wild.

BUDE at Holsworthy: James Sharman, Matt Williams, Warren Rumble (capt, wkt), Wayne Adams, Andrew De Rosa, James Turner, Matt Mansbridge, Brett Hunter, Mark Whitefield, Chris Carter, Troy Buckingham.

WITH four teams set to be relegated due to divisions in Cornwall going down to ten teams in 2025, South Petherwin are the team just above that threshold ahead of their trip to St Minver.

Availability has been a real problem for skipper Jacob Masters in recent weeks, and they are again missing up to half a dozen key players.

St Minver on the other hand are cruising along nicely in fifth, and are on course for a second successive top half finish.

At the time of going to press, neither side had confirmed their teams.

Bottom side Tintagel visit Menheniot-Looe in a clash of the strugglers.

While Tintagel are well adrift of the all-important eighth position, Menheniot are right in the mix for survival and know that two home victories this weekend will put them above the red line.

Tintagel are missing several regulars including Tom Parsons, Jordan Burnard and Gyles Reynolds, but will hope for some magic from skipper Matt Jolliffe or West Indian all-rounder Akobe Earle.

TINTAGEL at Menheniot-Looe: Jordan Blanchard, Akobe Earle, Ben Jarram, Matt Jolliffe (capt), Sam Abbott (wkt), Callum Flew, Rocco Reynolds, Vedavyas Chowdare, Simon Fry, James Ellis, Harry Daly.

The other clash in the division sees St Blazey make the very short trip up to Lanhydrock.