Weston will go into their game with Midsomer Norton with the expectation of competing strongly and will go and try get the win, insists captain Chris Davidson.
The meeting at Devonshire Road will be the first match between the sides since the 2019 season, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, when Weston lost both games on the final ball.
Midsomer Norton are on a good run of three wins in a row and sit in fifth place in WEPL Premier Two Bristol & Somerset, one place and four points behind Weston.
But Davidson said: “They are just a good all-round side, I don’t think necessarily they have any star players. They have picked up a signing from Bath (Tom Hankins), who’s a very good player but they are a good side with a good spirit.
“A really nice bunch of blokes, they play good hard cricket and they make themselves difficult to beat. But there is certainly nothing that I would look at and think we are up against it.
“We are certainly going into this game with the expectation that we are going to compete strongly and we will be going into it to try and win it.
“Hopefully we will be able to call up a few more players into the side, hopefully a few injuries will have cleared up but playing at home we are always more confident and especially, with hopefully restrictions easing, we can get a few more people down to watch us.
“You will see from the seconds (who beat Cheddar firsts by 65 runs after Jack Trego’s 52) having 50 people from the sidelines cheering you on really makes a difference.”
After starting with four league wins, Weston have lost to Bristol, Frome and Bishopston in recent weeks.
But Davidson feels there is no need to worry about their recent run in form and has full belief in his side to turn it around starting this weekend.
Weston have confirmed a squad of 12 for Saturday, including head coach Sam Trego and Somerset all- rounder Kasey Aldridge.
“I think the only one thing we need to change at the moment is our application with the bat, there is certainly no question about the ability we have got but our application at times and our decision making has probably been poor and that’s understandable with a young side,” said Davidson.
“It’s going to happen. In the field, with the ball, generally we have been pretty good this season and one of the worries with the bowling line-up has been Tahmid (Ahmed) who hasn’t bowled his best so far this season and he’s come back with a bang and his six wickets was unbelievable.
“He’s an out-and-out matchwinner when he gets it right. And if we can get him in form with the strong seam attack we have got then it adds another string to our bow and makes us that little more difficult to beat.
“Because we got off to such a strong start we have got a bit of leeway with this bad run at the moment and a bad run is going to happen with a young side, so it’s not panic stations. But if we can get the fifth and sixth win over the next two or three games then that gives us a little bit of room for error the rest of season.
“That means we can give more people opportunities, the younger guys we can put more responsibility on their shoulders. It’s really key that we pick up another two or three wins as quickly as we can just to give the flexibility to allow the kids to develop.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here