Hucknall Cricket Club target a season of progress

Hucknall ended last season’s restructured Notts Premier League with a disappointed record of three wins and six defeats.

But Johnson believes the results do not tell the full story and is confident his side are not far away from an improved season.

“The record is poor,” he said. “It is easy to say, but there were two or three occasions where we should have come away having won the fixture.

“You win two or three of them and then you have won more than lost and are looking upwards.

“We have strengthened really well and we are really confident in the group that we have got together this year.

“The building blocks were put in place the year before last and we had high aspirations for last year.

“Our aim is to target the mid-table finish and be looking up and not over our shoulders.

“The league is very much split into three. You have got the real high-fliers, the teams who struggle and there is a middle group of clubs who are ambitious and trying to improve.

“We want to be in that middle group who are looking up. If you get some momentum and a few wins then who knows what is possible.”

Hucknall have a first team training day on 3rd April, followed by pre-season games on 10th and 17th April, ahead of the season start on 24th April.

And Johnson believes the club can take inspiration from neighbours Papplewick and Linby ahead of the new campaign.

The traditional ‘also-rans’ lost in the final of the Dan Sutton Trophy play-offs after a big improvement last time out.

“They are a really good example to the teams in the middle of the league,” he said. “Their captain has a great knack of recruiting players to make a good side.

“They were really good last year. They have strengthened well this winter and I expect them to be up there this year.

“We have to be aspirational to that. We are a couple of years behind them in terms of development, but we are heading in the right direction.

“They are a potential example of what can be achieved.”