EAGLEY skipper Danny Counsell is confident his side can have a good season after kicking off their Bolton League campaign with victory at Walkden last weekend.

The Dunscar men ended last season rock-bottom of the league with just one victory to their name but have already equalled that tally after the first round of fixtures.

The addition of new opening batsman Saif Bhojani, who hit 93 on his debut last Sunday, as well as team manager Ian Wainman – formerly of this weekend's opponents Astley Bridge – are big factors as far as Counsell is concerned.

And he is hopeful the club's new professional will arrive from Pakistan in time to figure when they host Astley Bridge on Saturday.

He told The Bolton News: "Ian will make a big difference to us in my opinion.

"It is great to have someone with his experience on board.

"Saif had a great opening weekend and hopefully there is lots more to come from him.

"He has come in from Wolverhampton and I had only trained once with him so had not seen that much.

"But he showed last weekend against Walkden what he is capable of.

"It was a great knock on his debut. He looks a good opening batsman and has a range of shots.

"He has a good reputation so fingers crossed he will be a plus for us throughout the season.

"Our new pro has played Twenty20 for Pakistan and I am told he faced England a few years ago and is highly-rated so that will also boost us when he arrives."

Last week's win also included a decent innings of 64 from deputy professional Ali Khan who took four wickets as well.

Counsell also chipped in with fine figures of 3-3 from just 2.4 overs.

He will hope to repeat that kind of form this weekend against an Astley Bridge side that lost heavily against Bradshaw on the opening weekend.

And with the positive team spirit in the camp, he sees no reason why they cannot make it two wins from two.

Counsell added: "The spirit we have is superb. Even last season when things didn't go our way, everyone stuck together.

"Most of the lads are back again this year and the fact they haven't lost interest speaks volumes.

"We have a good set of lads and that is something that has kept me here over the years.

"It was tough last season but we believe we can have a good year this time around.

"Astley Bridge are always tough opponents but hopefully we can continue the form we showed against Walkden and continue the positive start."