ALSAGER are hoping the arrival of four players from Nantwich will signal a change in fortunes.

The Fairview Avenue club was forced to fight a relegation rearguard last term after failing to find consistency with bat and ball.

Pace bowler Phil Cottrell is one of the key arrivals to lead the attack and former captain Steve Armitage has also returned to the club, while Mark French has joined his former Dabbers team-mates in a bid to try and secure regular first-team cricket.

The batting should also be strengthened by Alsager Town footballer Mark Lawson, who will be swapping his shooting boots for batting gloves during the summer.

Indian all-rounder Davinder Dahiya is also back for another season as the club's over-seas player.

Gary Pickford will captain the team for the third successive season and brother Paul is hoping to be fit to open the batting after missing the final few games of last season with an ankle injury. Shaun Woolley will act as vice-captain.

One player keen to make an impression this term is young seamer James Warrington, who has spent the winter taking the wickets of some of the biggest names in Test cricket after accepting an offer to play in New Zealand with Queenstown CC.

Warrington, who claimed 54 wickets in 2003, impressed to such an extent that he was selected to play for the Central Otago representative team, giving him the chance to bowl against some top international play-ers.

'One great highlight for me was getting to bowl at the New Zealand and Pakistan oneday international teams,' he explained.

'They were playing at Queenstown's event centre and I was selected as a net bowler. Bowling at them was an amazing experience and I bowled very well at the Pakistanis and picked up the wickets of Inzamam ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana and Moin Khan.'

With a revitalised squad in place, club officials are hopeful an exciting season is in prospect.

Club secretary Nigel Lobley said: 'Last season was disappointing and our problems in scoring runs and taking wickets resulted in a bit of a struggle to avoid relegation.

'But we have a few new faces and we're hopeful we can challenge for one of the two promotion spots this year.'

Things are also looking brighter on the junior front.

Lobley explained: 'I was at the junior training night last week and there must have been 70 or 80 youngsters there with the senior players, which is very encouraging. We have one or two who will be close to playing for the Firsts and Seconds.'