DARCY Lever captain Jimmy Walsh-Hill says local derbies made joining the Bolton League the right decision.

With Farnworth visiting Hacken Lane tomorrow, a trip to Bradshaw last Sunday and the prospect of Little Lever on the horizon, Walsh-Hill is excited about what the League has to offer Bolton clubs.

"It's a great league for competitive local cricket," said Walsh-Hill whose side were one of nine to join the League from the Bolton Association this season.

There are lots of fixtures he is exciting about, not least when Little Lever visit Darcy for the first time on July 23.

"That's a nice fixture for us because we are neighbouring villages and when we play I’m sure lots of people will come to watch and it will be a great day," he said.

"When were were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of joining the Bolton League or the Greater Manchester League playing teams like that and Farnworth and Kearsley – it was those sorts of fixtures that people were talking about.

"Little Lever holds a lot more attraction than playing Roe Green away for example when there'd be one man and his dog watching.

"In this league we will get some really good rivalries.

"If we were playing Denton on a Sunday afternoon no one would be interested. If we were playing Bradshaw like we did last week it's a massive fixture.

"It makes a massive difference to bar takings which are very important to survive. It was not just a cricket decision but a decision for long-term sustainability.

“One of the other reasons I wanted to stay in the Bolton League is because of the coverage it gets in the local paper.

“Local cricket should be kept local. It makes it more interesting for the fans and gets better local coverage.

“With all respect, nobody is really bothered about playing a team from the other side of Greater Manchester."

Hill, who has replaced Nick Fawcett as captain with the latter concentrating on playing, has spent all his career at Darcy apart from a brief spell with Tonge.

“Ever since I was a child I have been around this club," he said.

"As soon as I could walk I was brought to Darcy Lever and grew up around the club.

“It has a really good family atmosphere and that’s what makes it a really special club.

“Our aim is to improve on last year. We underachieved last year so we are looking to do a bit better and realistically aiming for a mid-table finish.

“We have not got much money or the spending power of some of the other clubs so there is no way we should be challenging at the top, but if we can cause the odd upset along the way that would be great.

"We have a nucleus of players who are Darcy through and through and that makes for a good club.

"We have done okay so far and while it looked on paper like we got battered at Bradshaw in the cup last weekend we didn't. We had them at 140-5 and dropped a couple of catches and they went on to get 278 then we were 80-0 before a collapse in the middle.

"But we're not targeting clubs like that and Farnworth who we play this weekend. We're targeting certain games that we feel we can win and if we do we will be where we want to be."