Richards eyes Premier crown (From Dorset Echo)

Richards eyes Premier crown

8:58am Thursday 21st January 2010 in

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DORCHESTER captain Martyn Richards has set his sights on reclaiming the Dorset Premier League title.

The county town side, who lifted the trophy in 2008, relinquished their crown last season after a disastrous start restricted them to a fourth-placed finish – 4.21 behind eventual champions Parley in the averages.

Three defeats from their opening three games made life extremely difficult for Richards’ men last time out and the first-team skipper believes an improved pre-season for the 2010 campaign is crucial.

He said: “We start pre-season nets at the end of this month and we’re all looking forward to it. With all the cricket that has been on the television of late, it’s really whet the appetite and we’re all champing at the bit to get the pads on.

“We’ll be looking to have a better pre-season than last year. We had three friendlies organised but two of those got cancelled.

“The one that was played didn’t feature many of our first-team regulars so a lot of the lads entered the season cold. Therefore everybody’s keen to have good net sessions in order to hit the ground running.”

Richards, whose men start their campaign away to Blandford on May 1, is also eyeing one or two potential new signings to boost his chances of glory this season.

He added: “We’re hoping to have a couple of new additions to help improve the depth of the squad. Hopefully we’ll have a strong season throughout the three teams.

“We’ve got good youngsters coming through so I expect we’ll see more of them this year as well. The likes of Rob Waite, Dan Belt, Paul Tweddle and Lee Haynes are still with us while Xenon Ellis returns from travelling in April so he’ll be with us for the start of the season this time around.”

Richards is happy to maintain his role as skipper with top-order batsman Haynes continuing as his second in command.

Richards, who is set to be suspended for the opening two games of the new season following comments made at the end of last term, said: “It’s a busy role but a rewarding one. I’m still enjoying it and after last year I’m keen for us to have a good go at winning the title again.”