THERE’S only one thought in the minds of Little Lever as they begin their campaign in the first-ever Bolton League second division.
They want it to be their last for a long time.
One of the original 12 members of the first-ever Bolton League in 1930 and league champions as recently as 2013 the Victory Road club are used to challenging at the top table.
They just missed the cut for a spot in this season’s Premier Division when they finished 12th out of the 21 clubs who all featured in one division last year.
That has been something of a wake-up call to the club who showed their intentions to bounce back up when they signed the Bolton League’s top batsman of the last few years, Adil Nisar, as their professional in the winter.
As well as Nisar, Little Lever tried to sign an overseas player but were thwarted by new Home Office regulations which have been introduced this year to restrict the number of foreign players able to play amateur cricket in England.
Captain Josh Gent said: “We just missed out on staying in the top division last season so we should be there or thereabouts at the top of the second division this year.
“We would not be spending money on Adil and trying to get an overseas if we weren’t serious.
“The Premier Division is where Little Lever belong. We won the league in 2013, were Hamer Cup finalists and reached the LCB Knockout in 2014, so we think we should be playing at the top level.
“If I wasn’t striving to play in the Premier Division I probably wouldn’t be playing.
“That’s where the club want to be.
“There have been a few changes in the winter and there’s a real good vibe around the club, a good buzz again, and that helps.”
Gent believes the introduction of promotion and relegation for the first time in the Bolton League will keep all clubs interested to the end of the season.
“I would much rather be in the top league but it’s good to have something to strive for,” he said.
“When times are hard the thought of going for promotion will keep us going.
“In the past teams near the bottom knew they had nothing to play for and knew they would probably be near the bottom with nothing to play for next season.
“Now they know they could get relegated and we all know when you get relegated it’s not easy to come back up.
“That will be motivation to try to win every game right to the end of the season.”
The Victory Road side, who kick off their season with a trip to Little Hulton in the Peter Stafford Trophy today, have also brought in Mohammed Adnan from Lancashire League side Church, and Dane Hargreaves is back after being out injured for the last two years.
Out are Jon Kerrigan who has joined Farnworth, Dave Bath (Chorley), Craig Naylor (Tonge) and Andrew Worden who has retired.
But the big news is the signing of Nisar.
Gent, who has replaced Kerrigan as captain this season, believes Nisar – who was released by Farnworth at the end of last season – can lead Little Lever to promotion.
“You don’t need to tell anyone what he will bring to us, everyone knows – a lot of runs,” said Gent.
“Everyone knows about Adil and how good he is. He’s not going to become a bad player overnight.
“He scores going on for a thousand runs a season and no disrespect to anyone in this division but he’s playing against lesser sides so I can only see him getting more runs.
“He always gets runs against us. Our ground suits him, a small ground.
“He’s bringing a lot of experience, which we already have.
“Simon Anderton (an experienced Little Lever player) played with him at Tonge and said he was a fantastic cricketer.
“Adil was out of our price budget but Simon said he was worth every penny.”
On the other new players for this season, Gent added: “Mohammed is ex-Little Lever and Farnworth, an off spinner, and it’s good to have Dane back after a cruciate ligament injury. He’s a match-winner.
“But Andrew Worden has had to retire on medical grounds which is a shame because he is a great all-rounder.”
Today’s fixtures
Peter Stafford Trophy
Group A
Darcy Lever v Blackrod
Group B
Social v Bradshaw
Bridge v Atherton
Group C
Golborne v Daisy Hill
Group D
Walkden v Eagley
Tonge v Adlington
Group E
Farnworth v Kearsley
Little Hulton v Little Lever
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