Highfield skipper Mike Farrell reckons his team for 2022 is one of the strongest in Division One, as he eyes another promotion push.
The Billinge Road side started 2021 strongly, winning six of their first seven playable games and topping the table in mid-June.
But mid-season injuries struck hard, and they didn’t win again until the end of August, leaving them too far behind the front-runners.
Now Farrell says he’s 100% sure his men can improve on their sixth-place finish and challenge for the top two again.
He said: “With the team we’ve got on paper, if we all stay fit and commit to our roles then I can’t see us not going up.
“We had some big injuries last year - Chris Liptrot and Ryan Parry, our two main seamers, were both out at the same time for about six or seven weeks.
“On paper it wasn’t our bowling that struggled, it was our batting.
“But our bowlers are key - we should be bowling sides out for less, which puts less pressure on the batters.”
Sri Lankan Madduma Lakmal took a lot of Highfield’s overs last year, claiming 38 wickets to go with his 469 runs. This year, Farrell is keen to give off-spinner Jamie Darbyshire more of a go, while top-order runs will also be the responsibility of Ranji Trophy opener Vishal Jadeja.
“Jamie’s been bowling really well in indoor nets, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of him,” Farrell added.
“Hopefully we can get a dry summer!”
