BRAINTREE Cricket Club captain Will Jackson is looking for a mature approach as they focus on their own game in the first of this year’s Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division one derby games against Witham.

It was a triumphant start to the new season for Braintree as they won their opening fixture against last year’s top-flight runners-up Wivenhoe last weekend by three runs.

While Witham started with a defeat at Woolpit, they beat Braintree in both of the derby clashes last year and Jackson wants his players to concentrate on their own games rather than any rivalry between the two clubs on Saturday.

“Witham had a difficult fixture against Woolpit and I know they’ll be looking to bounce back,” he said.

“They always seem to do well in the derby games and I’d say they are red hot favourites again, but I also think the pressure is on them. I think we have learned a lot from playing them last year.

“We’ve certainly matured as a team and we will be focused on our own cricket rather than the rivalry.”

Jackson said he expected Braintree to have a similar side to choose from as the game against Wivenhoe.

That ended with an encouraging early win, but Jackson admitted that it took a special innings from Dan Chalk to set the victory up.

He added: “Dan Chalk made it into the 80s and that really dug us out of a hole.

“We had started well, but we lost a flurry of wickets and Dan Chalk and Dan Garner put on a good partnership in the middle order.

“We still felt 227 was a bit under par for the Braintree wicket, but we were pleased to get there from the position that we’d been in at one point and it was a score that we managed to defend.

“The wickets were shared about a bit, with Louis Cant taking three and I got a couple, but it was a good team performance and was a great way to start the season.

“I think it shows how we’ll scrap for every point and every victory. It was nice to make a statement ahead of the derby game against Witham on Saturday.”