Berkshire 'favourites' to win Lord's final

Berkshire CCC manager David Morris is confident his team has the ability and form to lift the Minor Counties Knockout Trophy at Lord’s on Wednesday.

The team has enjoyed a successful season to date, in both the three-day and one-day format, and Morris is expecting this to continue although he is hedging his bets.

He told the Advertiser: “It’s a bit like the old football cliché at this stage, we are taking it one day at a time.

“We are still in the hunt for the Minor Counties Championship and we play on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday against Oxfordshire at Banbury.

“We are just five points behind Cheshire in the Western Division and so need to focus on the three-day game first and not get distracted.

“We have picked our best team for this match, with only Steve Naylor unavailable; Jon Trower replaces him.”

Then the players face their fourth consecutive day of cricket when they travel to Lord’s to face Devon in the cup final - starting at 11am - a trophy Berkshire last won in 2004. Morris said of the match: “I know the players feel that the three-dayer is good preparation for the final.

“I would say we start as marginal favourites because we have already beaten and drawn with Devon this season and geographically we don’t have so far to travel to the match.

“Devon play Wiltshire in a three-dayer and then stay overnight en route to Lord’s.

“We will have our strongest team out - Steve Naylor will be back - and all but four have played at Lord’s before - our pro Richard Johnson played for Middlesex so knows Lord’s well.

“I’m not sure any of the Devon players have played there.”

Morris added: “I expect a close game, and quite a high scoring match as we are likely to be on an end track with a short boundary one side.

“I am expecting  more than 200 Berkshire fans to be there on the day, which will be great.

“We have steadily picked up support as the season has gone on and as we have been more successful.

“It should be a great day out for everyone at Berkshire. We will not underestimate Devon especially as they tend to have a few more players available for their one day team - like Australian Neil Hancock.

“It’ll be close and like all finals, it depends who turns up on the day.”

Berkshire squad (v Devon): David Barnes, Mitchell Stokes, Jono Mclean, Bjorn Mordt (capt), Steve Naylor, James Morris, Paul Carter, Craig Crowe, Richard Johnson, Carl Crowe, Tom Lambert. 12th man: Jon Trower.