Pennine Cricket League - captain's previews

Austerlands 

Professional: Sachin Rana (India)
Overseas: CJ Fereira (SA)
Captain: Chris McDonnell

Hopefully carry on from a great season last year, with a new pro who looks a quality signing will boost the team even further, we are looking forward to the challenge of playing in the premiership against the best of both old leagues.

I'm not making any predications of where we will finish in the league but if we all play to our potential I think we can stay in the premiership and hopefully make a few teams take notice of us.

As for the cup, a few home games would be an advantage as it's all on the day and I don't think many teams will like coming up to our place if we are playing well.

Contenders:

League - Norden, Monton, Littleborough

Cup - Think anyone can win on the day. I think there will be a lot of upsets along the way

20/20 - Norden, Littleborough always good bet plenty other teams in with a shout.

Ins: Craig Joy (Royton), M Saleeq

Outs: None

Ashton

Professional: Chamikara Edirisinghe (Sri Lankan)
Captain: Jack Newman

The 2016 season in the new Pennine League is a very exciting time for Ashton Cricket Club. It's the start of a new era for our club and the timing of the new league fits in perfectly with what we've been working towards over the past four or five years - developing our youth players.

We pride ourselves in being a sustainable club and this year we are hoping to compete for the 1st XI Championship with an entire first team from our academy with the exception of the very exciting Chamikara. We have done well to secure a professional of his pedigree, I'm really looking forward to playing along side him and hope it's the first of a few years with him as our paid man.

Contenders:

Premiership - Norden, Walsden. Having played against these two very good teams for many years in the Central Lancashire League, I know what they're capable of so it's very hard to look past them, I fancy Norden.

Championship - Milnrow, Heyside, Ashton.  Milnrow and Heyside both have some very good players and I think will prove worthy title contenders along with ourselves, I feel we might surprise a few people throughout this season.

Cups: Again it's hard to look past Norden.

Ins: Chamikara Edirisinghe, Richard Taylor, Siraj Kadodia
Outs: Mario Boyce

Crompton

Professional: Sami Aslam (Pakistan)
Captain: Simon Wright

After having a successful year winning the Championship last year we are just looking to establish ourselves in the Premier Division this year but feel we have a strong enough side to compete with all the teams and may cause a few shocks along the way.

We have a new professional this season, who is highly recommended and has already represented the Pakistani national team in both Tests and ODIs. We have a good mixture of youth and experience in the team who are all established at this level.

Contenders:

League – Norden and Walsden

Cup - Walsden and Norden

20/20 – Anybody’s game on the day I feel all could win it .

Ins: Aquib Zulifiquar
Outs: Mel Whittle

Friarmere 
(Captain unavailable)

Glodwick

Professional: Rehan Rafique (Pakistan)
Overseas Amateur: Michael Bing (New Zealand)
Captain: Franco Lenhardt

As a team we are very competitive and always battle to the very end. We strive for victory and have a well-balanced team - finishing third last season and winners of the Saddleworth League the season before we have shown we are a strong team.

I think this season will be very challenging being in a new league but also very exciting to show others what we are capable of.

Contenders: Norden, Littleborough, Walsden

Cup: Norden, Littleborough

20/20: Norden

Outs: Mahmood Hassan (moved club), Imran Ashgar (injured)

Greenfield

Professional: James Muirhead (Aus)
Overseas Amateur: Alex Bychkov (Aus)
Captain: Chris Gill

Still a young side but each season we are finding greater consistency and I'm sure this season will be no different with the introduction of Jimmy and Alex giving us more cutting edge and quality.

With players capable of big scores, a well balanced six man attack and a young athletic side in the field the target will be a top half finish despite the huge unknown the newly formed league will hold.

A long cup run to go with this would make a very successful season. Lets hope everything comes together.

Contenders:

League - Norden, Monton, Royton

Cup/T20 - Anybodys - I think a lot of sides will be able to beat anyone on their day with the quality of professionals and the top players throughout the league.

Ins: None
Outs: Michael Bird (Uppermill) and Peter Gill (retired)

Heyside

Professional: Bilal Khiljee (Pakistan)
Overseas Amateur: Jon-Ross Campbell
Captain: Ryan Barnes

The lads are looking forward to putting a disappointing start to life in the old CLL behind them and we want to hit the ground running this season in the PCL.

As always we'll set our targets high and if we perform anything like on a consistent basis I'd expect us to be in the promotion mix.

On the amateur front its pretty much as we were with the return of Liam Garnett and addition of our overseas to add further depth and competition to our squad.

We expect one or two second team performers to kick on and hopefully convince one or two to turn out a little more regularly this year too.

The decision to let Shadley go was a tough one and we wish him all the best at St Anne's but in Bilal, a seasoned performer in and around this area we have a pro who will add experience, calm and consistency to the top order and control with the ball.

A lot of clubs won't know anything about each other where we will so hopefully that proves an advantage.

Contenders

Championship - Milnrow. Any side with Rudi Second alongside Max and a few more amatuers who performed well last year will be up there. Moorside and Stayley are big spenders with match winners in their ranks and expect one or two surprise packages from Hollinwood and the likes and I'd expect us to be there if a few amateurs, including myself, perform more consistently.

Premiership - Littleborough must improve on last year with their quality and will be up there as will Norden and Walsden, the two most consistent performing sides for the past few years and have quality throughout. Monton are the tip for me though. A very good young side with a quality pro. Expect Royton to improve as they've recruited well and Greenfield to fly the Saddleworth league flag.

Wood Cup - All of the above in with a shout. Good balanced sides with good professionals. Saddleworth and Glodwick have good pedigree in cup competitions too.

Tom Hardman T20 - Whoever gets out of our group, Group A, will have a big chance. CLL sides seem to have embraced this less than Saddleworth League but those smaller grounds might encourage aggressive cricket. Rochdale seem to like this format in recent years so they will be strong. Some IPL players in the competition too so if they get going anyone has a chance.

Hollinwood
(Captain unavailable)

Littleborough
(Captain unavailable)

Micklehurst
(Captain unavailable)

Middleton

Professional: Ernest Kemm (South Africa)
Captain: Ernest Kemm

We've always prided ourselves on promoting youth players, and with a few big names leaving over the winter there are big opportunities for our juniors to continue their development and cement their places in the first XI.

Contenders

League: Norden, Walsden and Littleborough will all be up there.

Cup and T20 - It's all dependant on who turns up on the day. Looking at the above three again, but anybody can beat anybody.

Ins: Harry Gee (Flowery Field)
Outs: Grant Jones (Bamford Fieldhouse), George Walker (Thornham), Rob Bennett (Heywood)

Milnrow

Professional: Rudi Second
Captain:Max Power

I feel we have the best professional in both divisions in my opinion. We all know what Rudi brings to the table not only as a player but as a person and he's come home to help us achieve our goal of getting promoted.

We have also signed Fanie Devilliers junior, son of former South African International bowler Fanie Devilliers. Fanie is a really talented cricketer who opens the bowling and also bats middle order he will bring great quality to our side.

We have signed Ian Helliwell, former Rochdale CC player, who will bat top order and bring valuable runs, and it helps he is big pals with Lee Crabtree who had a tremendous season with both bat and gloves last year and scooped a well deserved player of the year award.

Our youngsters are year older and year wiser at first team level I am really excited for Jack Wynn, Charlie LLoyd-Jones and Alex Willis - convinced these three will come on leaps and bounds this year.

I'm working with our cricket secatary Colin Williamson who has backed me all the way in signing the overseas players and along with our head coach, Jon Brierley, our club is certainly moving in the right direction.

Contenders

Championship: Don't know half the teams to be honest but Heyside will be there or there abouts

Premiership: Whoever has spent the most money won't be too far away. We will have to wait and see.

Ins: Ian Helliwell (Rochdale) Rudi Second, Fanie Devilliers jnr
Outs: James Price, Brandon Diplock

Moorside 
(Captain unavailable)

Monton and Weaste

Professional: Christiaan Jonker
Captain: Josh Lenihan

With regards to this season we are looking for a more successful season than last year. We are confident that if we play our best cricket we can be up there with the best teams competing.

Going into a new league is very exciting and we believe every game is going to be a test of our ability.

Good luck to everyone and I hope this league will be as successful as the ones we have just come from.

We believe we are capable of winning all three trophies but we know there is going to be a lot of sides with this mentality.

It is difficult to say who I think will win the three competitions as there are three sides that we have never played against.

Ins: Jaques Viljoen (South Africa Overseas)
Out: Niki Bouwer (South African Overseas)

Norden

Professional - Michael Price
Captain: Simon North

We have enjoyed a great couple of seasons. We have a new but familiar pro in Pricey this year and we will be setting our expectations as equally high as previous seasons.

We welcome the challenge brought by the amalgamation of the two leagues and look forward to renewing old rivalries with our former CLL adversaries.

I think the charity game to open the season is a fantastic idea and will give us a small insight into two of the more fancied teams for honours.

Contenders

Premier - Littleborough, Walsden, Saddleworth and Norden.

Wood Cup -will be the above with possibly Royton who were last years finalists.

20/20 - I believe will very hard to call.

Ins - Harvey Fitton, Jack Duffy
Outs - Daniel Salpietro (pro), Simon Harman.

Oldham
(Captain unavailable)

Rochdale

Professional: Will Bosisto (Australia)
Overseas: Marodon Bend (West Indies)
Captain: Jon Henderson

Our aim this season is to remain competitive and to continue to improve as a squad.

We have a relatively young side who are developing as players year on year and we are investing heavily on coaching and facilities to enable this.

The balance of our side is good and with the addition of the professional and the return of Marodon, who was excellent last season, I feel that a top four position is a realistic and achievable goal.

I don't know much about the strength of the ex Saddleworth League teams, but I do know they will be competitive and difficult to beat. We are looking forward to the challenge.

Contenders:

League - Monton, Norden, Littleborough, Rochdale

Cup - Littleborough, Rochdale, Royton, Crompton

20/20 - I have to say ourselves, however the 20 20 competition will be really open this year with some very strong teams.

Ins: None
Outs: Jack Duffy (Norden) Ian Helliwell (Milnrow)

Royton

Professional: Chirag Kharuna (India)
Captain: Denny Hulme

Over the course of the last three seasons Royton have been promoted, finished fifth and been Wood Cup finalists.

Our aim is always to progress and improve on the previous year and this year is nothing different. We will aim for a top five finish and a strong cup run in both the Wood Cup and T20 competitions.

Contenders

League – Norden, Littleborough and Walsden

Cup - Norden, Littleborough and Walsden

20/20 – Unsure, the PCL introduces new teams and different grounds so I am really excited to see what this competition brings.

Ins: Chirag Kharuna (Pro), Denis Louis (Overseas), Paul Winrow, Ryan Carruthers, Joe Lovell Outs: Geeth Alwis (pro), Sam fielding (overseas), Aqib Zulifiqar (Holinwood)

Saddleworth CC

Professional: Imran Aslam (Pakistan)
Overseas: Nauman Akram (Pakistan)
Captain: Brian Lord

This season is an exciting time for everyone involved in the inaugural Pennine Cricket League. We are delighted to be in the Premiership and are expecting our toughest season in recent memory.

Last season was historic as we managed to win an unprecedented treble, becoming the only club in S&DCL history to achieve this. However, we are fully aware of the different challenges that Premiership cricket will bring having lost several key players in the off season.

The club is currently in the process of making some significant upgrades to facilities and during this transitional phase our primary aim for the season is to ensure that we are still playing Premiership cricket come the 2017 season.

Contenders

Premiership - Norden, Walsden, Monton, Littleborough. Will be contested between these four clubs. If I had to choose a winner I would probably be pushed to go for Norden as they have won the CLL for the last couple of years. Littleborough will probably feel they underachieved last season and under new captain Matt Taylor I feel they can push last years CLL top three all the way this time out.

Championship - Heyside, Milnrow, Stayley. Heyside are normally there or there abouts. They have a solid side that has been together a while and look to have recruited a couple of really solid overseas players. Milnrow in securing Rudi Second have arguably signed the best batsman in the entire league and will be expecting to challenge for promotion. The members at Stayley will be demanding success with the amount of talent they have assembled for the 2016 season. Under Peter Skuse's captaincy I expect them to be more than competitive.

Cup - Littleborough, Norden, Walsden. In the cup it is important to have depth in the bowling department. These three sides look to have the most depth in terms of bowling.

20/20 - Micklehurst Mad Dogs. Anyone can win the T20 so why not the Mad Dogs from Micklehurst?

Ins: Brad Hadfield (Micklehurst), Matthew Taylor.
Outs: Michael Jones (work commitments), Joe Taylor (work commitments), John Slater (Retired), Steven Taylor (Retired), David Roberts (Stayley), Peter Roberts (Stayley), Mohammed Shakir (Delph)

Shaw
(Captain unavailable)

Stayley
(Captain Unavailable)

Uppermill
(Captain unavailable)

Walsden

Professional - Umesh Karunaratne ( Sri Lanka )
Captain - James Rawlinson

A team of talented competitive, local, homegrown players.

Finishing second in the Premier Division last season in the CLL and champions in recent years has made us hungry for the top spot in the new pennine league.

We are a versatile team capable of success in league, cup and T20 formats. We have a blend of young talented cricketers and experienced long serving players. Our professional is a top quality all rounder who can win matches with both bat and ball. We don't like to be beaten and our attitude is that the game is never over until it's over no matter the situation. We go into the season confident but are under no illusion that the standard of cricket this season is going to be of the highest calibre.

Not knowing some of the other teams is very interesting but we do know it's going to be a tough competitive and exciting season which is what it is all about

Contenders

League - As well as ourselves I believe Norden, Monton and Littleborough will all be up there this season.

Cup & T20- anybody's game.

Ins- Matthew Dawson, James Rawlinson
Outs - none this year.

Werneth

Professional – Azam Hussain (Pakistan)
Captain – Ian Dronsfield

We are thoroughly looking forward to the new season in the new league, visiting different grounds, meeting new teams, umpires and supporters.

Our aim is to be as competitive as possible and like last year when we play well, we are capable of some very good performances.

The cup draws have not been kind to us, but we will try and cause an upset or two along the way.

Contenders

Premier League – Norden, Walsden and Monton all have strong teams. Will be interesting to see how Royton fair with the additions they have added.

Championship – Its difficult to say seeing as I do not know where most of the former Saddleworth League’s grounds are never mind the make up of their teams, however I would say Milnrow, Moorside and Heyside will probably be challenging as they all have good professionals and some decent amateur players.

Cup – Monton, Littleborough

Ins – Azam Hussain (Professional), Farrukh Subhani (Ashley CC)
Outs – Rob Shaw (Joining the Army)