Witham Cricket Club’s new captain believes his team can push on this year to establish themselves in the top half of the top flight of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship.

Jake Wakelin has taken over the captaincy from Leroy Facey for the 2015 season and after two years when they have successfully fended off relegation threats in division one, the new skipper feels they have what it takes to be looking up the table rather than over their shoulders.

They get their campaign under way with a trip to Elmstead Grasshoppers today.

Witham have a close bond between their players, who have mostly progressed from the club’s youth ranks, and Wakelin feels they can use their togetherness to take the next step.

He said: “We have battled against relegation the last two years, but I don’t see why we can’t push on now and maybe surprise a few people.

“We aren’t looking down; we’re definitely looking upwards now and I don’t see any reason why we can’t finish in the top half and be competing against the sides at the top.

“We’ve done well staying in this league with no outside help with overseas players coming in or anything like that and we’ve held our own at this level, but now we’re looking forward."