  We report on the search for new eclipsing white dwarf plus main-sequence
(WDMS) binaries in the light curves of the Catalina surveys. We use a colour
selected list of almost 2000 candidate WDMS systems from the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey, specifically designed to identify WDMS systems with cool white dwarfs
and/or early M type main-sequence stars. We identify a total of 17 eclipsing
systems, 14 of which are new discoveries. We also find 3 candidate eclipsing
systems, 2 main-sequence eclipsing binaries and 22 non-eclipsing close
binaries. Our newly discovered systems generally have optical fluxes dominated
by the main-sequence components, which have earlier spectral types than the
majority of previously discovered eclipsing systems. We find a large number of
ellipsoidally variable binaries with similar periods, near 4 hours, and
spectral types M2--3, which are very close to Roche-lobe filling. We also find
that the fraction of eclipsing systems is lower than found in previous studies
and likely reflects a lower close binary fraction among WDMS binaries with
early M-type main-sequence stars due to their enhanced angular momentum loss
compared to fully convective late M type stars, hence causing them to become
cataclysmic variables quicker and disappear from the WDMS sample. Our systems
bring the total number of known detached, eclipsing WDMS binaries to 71.
