Dan Bassett happy after recruitment drive nets brothers

Skipper Dan Bassett has been busy strengthening his pack during the winter and is delighted to have snapped up brothers Basit and Junead Zaman.

Top order bat Basit and seamer Junead have plenty of Birmingham League top flight experience following spells with West Bromwich Dartmouth and Kenilworth Wardens.

“I’m good mates with both of them and played with Basit at Dartmouth,” said Bassett, who side start against Milford Hall.

“The chance came to sign them and they ticked all the boxes. I’m quite excited to get hold of them, they are both proven Birmingham League Premier Division players.”

Bassett has also seen Tom Elwell and Mike Brookes return to the club after respective spells with Old Hill and Beacon, while Stuart Jones has joined from Coseley.

And there has been an overseas addition with seamer Liam Ward-Armstrong arriving from Western Australia outfit Mount Lawley.

“We have undergone a bit of recruitment and got the players we wanted,” added Bassett. “I think we are stronger than last season and I would like to think that, with a bit of luck, we will up towards the top.

“I don’t know a lot about the league but I have heard there are some good players and we will have to be on our game and make sure we are 100 per cent.”

From pushing for promotion in the Staffs Premier Division to battling to avoid the drop, Whittington captain Dan Wilks says survival is the aim for his side this season.

The Lichfield-based side finished fourth last year, but Wilks admits his targets have now changed following the restructure.

Whittington have seen Dan Hackett, Matt Stone, James Evans and Jono Allcock all leave the club over the winter.

In their place, Tom Wahh, Shezhad Malik, Abbas Ahmed, Matt Griffiths have arrived, as well as overseas player Syed Hasan.

And Wilks says finishing outside the bottom two is the first aim for his side this season, with the skipper not quite sure what to expect from the new league.

“There are seven teams that have come down from the Birmingham League so I think the standard is going to be a lot better,” he said. “I’m in favour of the changes. But our aim has to be to stay up.

“We lost four players and have brought five in. It’s a talented squad.

“But it’s very hard to tell how well teams will do because it’s all new. We are in the dark.

“We don’t quite know what to expect, it’s going to take a few games for the division to settle down before we know where we are.”