DEVON have delayed naming their side for the NV-Play Trophy opener against Herefordshire at Bovey Tracey Cricket Club on Sunday, April 26, to allow extra time to resolve selection issues.

Pace bowler Kazi Szymanski, who is suffering a side strain, missed the 70-run warm-up win over Cornwall at Plympton on Sunday.

Another issue is who to leave out from the group of 16 players who performed in practice matches against Exeter University and Cornwall.

Tim Western, Devon CCC’s performance director, said some difficult decisions lie ahead.

“The batting line up will be fairly settled in this format, although it was sad to lose Lawrence Walker (broken thumb),” said Western. Hopefully, he will be back to lead the Twenty20 side next month.

“It is the bowling unit that we are just having our final thoughts about and awaiting updates on some injuries.

“It’s never easy leaving out quality cricketers who have contributed. For Herefordshire, we will select the best eleven who gel tactically and, we believe are best suited to the conditions and the shape of the ground at Bovey.”

Devon are five-times winners of the National Counties one-day competition – four of them at Lord’s and appeared in nine finals between 1992-2018.

Progress has been limited in recent seasons with just three appearances in the last eight since 2019, all of which ended in defeat.

Having crushed Cornwall by 70 runs last Sunday, and lost narrowly to the University chasing an improbable 382 to win, Western has high hopes for the campaign ahead.

“We have prepared well this winter, we have learned a lot from our early‑season fixtures, and the players are hungry to set the tone for the summer,” said Western.

“Herefordshire are always competitive, so we will need role clarity, concentration and a strong performance.”

Western hopes a change of mindset will give Devon’s cricket a harder edge in limited-overs format.

“We have set out our stall to be more ruthless and more organised in white‑ball cricket.

In this competition,” said Western. “We play three out of our four group games in just eight days so we need put that intent into action from ball one on Sunday.”

Bovey Tracey is back on Devon’s 50-over fixture list this season for the first time since 2013. The last match played there was against Oxfordshire, who won a low-scoring game by one wicket.