DEVON'S top players are in action at this weekend's LTA Winter Indoor County event with the men facing an exciting challenge at the Tarka Centre, Barnstaple, writes Tony Atkins.

Torquay's Kendal Brown and the ladies head north to Sunderland while the men will enjoy some home comforts in Group 4b.

It promises to be a cracking three days with the men taking on Cambridgeshire and great rivals Cornwall and Somerset.

Team manager Dan Jones (Plymouth) looks set to give a deserved senior debut to exciting prospect Jack Findel-Hawkins (Exmouth) with the 10-player squad boasting Torquay's Josh Rees and David Palmer and Steven Wood (Teignmouth).

Former national deaf champion Peter Willcox (Rackenford) and Torbay Open finalist Stephen Knowles both play.

Gary Drake (Plymouth), with more than 100 appearances for Devon, will lead the team in the six-singles and three-doubles format but there is no Daniel Ahl as the newly-crowned Asian Seniors O35 and O40 singles champion is in Thailand.

Devon will be favourites to win promotion with Cornwall missing three of their top players in Matthew Trudgeon, Ryan Fern and 16-year-old Daniel Elston, who is competing in India.

Somerset are missing all their top players with Richard Gabb, James Marsalek, Alistair Felton, Dan Manlow and the Bettles brothers all unavailable. Matt Bernard is injured.

Ilsington's Rachel Williams joins former Trinity School student Nicola Broadbent in a squad that boasts a number of former Devon senior champions like Amanda Cox, Lois Fletcher and Paignton Community College schoolteacher Kate Brown.

Current county champion Kendal Brown and Belgrave Road, Torquay clubmate Karen Clarke are both available for the ladies who play in Group 4a with Devon facing Northumberland, Lincolnshire and East of Scotland.

SQUADS

Ladies (Sunderland): Lois Fletcher (Plymouth), Amanda Cox (Exeter), Kendal Brown (Paignton), Kate Brown (Exeter), Nicola Broadbent (Ottery St Mary), Karen Clarke (Torquay), Lara Graney (Exeter), Rachel Williams (Ilsington).

Men (Barnstaple): Gary Drake (Plymouth), Jack Findel-Hawkins (Exmouth), Stephen Knowles (Exeter), Dave Palmer, Josh Rees (Torquay), Glen Richards, Dominic Stones (Plymouth), Bruce Wheatley (Exmouth), Peter Willcox (Rackenford), Steven Wood (Teignmouth).

TORQUAY'S Becky Ley has qualified for this weekend's Winter Indoor Series Grade 3 Finals at Corby (Northants) after winning through the qualifying event held at Tipton (West Midlands).

Becky beat Lucy Harper (Lancs) 6-2, 6-0 and Darinka Tiboldi (Surrey) 6-4, 6-3 to qualify for Corby when she will meet Jodie Burrage (Surrey), daughter Devon player Yvonne Burrage.

Victory for the Churston Grammar school pupil would almost certainly give her a second-round match with top seed and British number one Maia Lumsden (Scotland).