Sidmouth are to stage their very own version of the 2013 Ashes when the club field an Under-18 side to take on touring side Newcastle Cavaliers from New South Wales in Australia, writes Stephen Birley.

The Aussies are in the country for a five-week, 19-match visit to the UK.

The cavaliers were founded in 1985 and were last in the UK in 1991.

In the meantime English and Welsh sides have made tours to Australia to meet the Cavaliers and other teams.

The original Cavaliers were senior teams featuring a who’s who of the best players in and around the district of New South Wales.

The concept was then tweaked to make it a team of the pick of the areas 16 to 18-year-olds.

Organiser Rodney Mace says: “We’ll be playing in the UK on some really nice grounds and it certainly sounds as if the opposition we will face across the UK will b of really good quality. So we are taking this tour pretty seriously and have been in training through the off-season facing a bowling machine at the nets at Kahibah. We have a great bunch of kids on this tour - no attitudes – and am sure they are going to have a ball in the UK.”

Mace, who toured with Cavaliers in both 1989 and 1991 continued: “If you love cricket you never forget touring England. I still have fantastic memories of the visit 20-years back. Then people you mete and the friends you make, it’s pretty special. The touring party will take a break for their matches to see the opening day of the Lords Test match between England and the Australians. Mace says: “Hopefully it’s a good day for the Aussies or we could cop a bit of stick.”

Thursday’s game at Fortfield starts at noon and will be played as per 1st XI cricket with 50-over per side, ten overs maximum per bowler and the 30-yard fielding circles being deployed.