EDGWORTH Cricket Club are planning for the present and the future with a number of ambitious developments on and off the field.

The Turton club are keen to win promotion back to the Premier Division after being relegated in the inaugural season of the Greater Manchester Cricket League.

They are confident of appointing a South African first class player in the next few weeks and have retained their highly-rated players from 2016 in captain Adam Syddall, Liam Watkinson and Josh Fallows.

All four will play a part in the club's long-term plan to build and develop their junior section.

Edgworth, who spent 109 years in the Bolton Association before switching to the GMCL, begin junior nets tomorrow at Turton School (seven-nine-year-olds between 4-5pm, and 10-15-year-olds between 5-7pm).

Junior nets will continue every Sunday throughout the winter and the club is keen to attract as many new junior players as possible, in particular under -15s.

Anyone interested can contact the club on 07970 566479 or 07872 603929.

The club has invested in a new bowling machine and increased the number of coaches as they pile emphasis on growing the club from the juniors up.

Two of their players are looking to secure the ECB level two coaching accreditation and highly-rated cricketer and coach Jason Whittaker has been recruited as junior head coach.

On top of that Edgworth are offering free coaching to all juniors next season, an initiative they believe will pay off in the future by increasing the quantity and quality of players throughout the club.

Boltonian Whittaker, who began as a junior at Little Lever and has played in the Cheshire Premier League since 2008 and 10 years for the Cheshire county team, coached Little Lever School under-15s to the final of the national schools competition where they played Eton, the first time ever a non-private school had reached the final.

It is the first time Edgworth have appointed a non-playing coach.