FARNWORTH Social Circle begin the defence of their Bolton League title tomorrow with skipper Matt Parkinson confident they can be challenging for honours again in 2015.

The champions open up at Kearsley but will be without professional Rameez Alam who is not yet available.

They have also lost key players during the close season with young talent Josh Bohannon moving to Southport CC, while the experienced Tim Rees is taking a year out and Liam Bones has also departed after just a year at Piggott Park.

But the arrival of promising youngster James McDonagh from Vernon-Carus CC in Preston is a boost and Parkinson hopes he can offset the losses for the reigning champions.

The skipper told The Bolton News: "With Josh, Liam and Tim leaving, we are losing three quality players and two with good experience.

"But James has come in and he looks a talented young batsman with quick feet and a good range of shots.

"I hope he will do well for us throughout the season.

"The lads are all keen to get going again – the start of the new season is always exciting.

"We had a good season last year, though were slightly disappointed not to reach the Hamer Cup final.

"But with the budget we work with, we did tremendously well to win the league and hopefully we will be up there again this season."

Bradshaw were the nearest challengers in 2014 but Parkinson believes the main threat could come from Westhoughton this year after they kept hold of professional Qaisar Abbas and signed former Lancashire County star Oliver Newby.

Parkinson added: "Westhoughton will be difficult to play against this year with the players they have added.

"I also think keeping Qaisar is massive because he is a quality professional and a leader on the pitch.

"It will be interesting to see how teams start off because it is always a bit like a lottery early on with teams finding their feet."