'It will be tough to defend the NSSCL Premier title, but I'm backing the boys'

Greg Prime says Hem Heath are ready to fight off all challengers as they look for more title glory.

Prime skippered Hem Heath to the NSSCL top-flight crown last summer as they held off Porthill Park to win it for the first time.

The inclement weather has prevented Prime’s men from starting their defence so far, with the league pushing back the fixtures in order for clubs to get their grounds ready.

But it’s all systems go tomorrow with Hem Heath welcoming Leek to Trentham Lakes for their opening Premier A contest.

And Prime is in a bullish mood as his side look to keep their hands on the silverware.

“It’s been a bad few weeks weather wise, but the lads have trained as well as they can,” said Prime.

“At the time, winning the title didn’t really sink in, but it has done now. It was a massive achievement and everyone at the club was proud of what we managed to do.

“But we can’t rest on our laurels. We know what we can do and know how to perform and have won the league.

“I think it will be tougher to defend it. We are the winners and people will want to have a taste of what we had last season.

“But I’d still back us to be able to defend it.”

Unsurprisingly, Hem Heath haven’t been too active in the transfer market.

There have been a couple of additions, with New Zealand paceman Ray Toole taking on the overseas role from Aussie Gabe Bell.

Last season’s success was the culmination of years of planning for Hem Heath.

They put their faith in youngsters who have since helped the club to win the Talbot Cup before their league triumph.

Prime insists there was no reason to deviate from their successful formula.

“We want to play the same type of cricket and with the addition of Ray and hopefully we will be as strong as we were, if not stronger,” he added.

“Ray is a lovely lad and he’s been over for three weeks now. We’ve seen him bowl in the nets and he’s a decent cricketer. Hopefully he gets his rewards with wickets. Gabe was brilliant last year but couldn’t come back.

“Ray has also been bowling for Warwickshire seconds and hopefully he does well for us.

“People at the time questioned what we were doing with our philosophy. But we’ve been vindicated and we have a group of players who will still get stronger.

“When you’ve won the league you have to put faith in the players that have achieved that. There might be a couple of different players, but that’s it.”

Meakins and Burslem were promoted to the top division at the end of last season, replacing Elworth and Eccleshall.

And Prime is well aware that the top flight will be as challenging as ever.

“We had a good chat in the week and everyone is up for it and we want to go out and perform,” said Prime. “It’s going to be tough. The two sides that have come up have great ability and everyone seems to have strengthen and people have signed some good pros.

“It will be tricky, everyone will think they can beat everyone else. There’s no weak links.

“We we will start on Saturday and focus on that and then take it from there.

“We have set ourselves the target of winning every game, but we take it week by week.

“Even towards the end of last season, people were saying ‘you’ve got them to play, then them’. But we took it one at a time and dealt with what was in front of us.”

Leek make the trip to the defending champions with a renewed spring in their step.

With a couple of weeks remaining of the 2023 campaign, the prospect of relegation loomed large over Highfield.

However, Alex Mellor’s men won their last couple of league games to preserve their status - and also won the Talbot Cup.

Captain Mellor is hoping his side can carry that over into the new programme.

“Momentum is one of the big things in sport,” he said.

“We now want to run with it. We gave ourselves a great little opportunity to play in the Premier Division again this season with the run we had.

“It showed what we are capable of. Hem Heath is a tough start, but everyone is in the same boat of not having played any cricket.

“It’s a good chance for the batsmen to spend time in the middle and the bowlers to get some overs in their legs.

“In this win/lose format any victory will leave you feeling confident and even more so if you can beat the champions.”

Leek have significantly strengthened over the winter.

Brothers Tom and Louis Moulton have been recruited, Rory Haydon has returned to the club, while Shamsur Rahman has been signed as the club’s overseas player.

Rahman is yet to arrive, while Tom Moulton misses out this weekend due to injury.

“When you look at the signings, bar the overseas, they are all lads who have played cricket at Leek before,” added Mellor.

“They know what it takes to play for Leek. They will have been around when the club has been thriving, so there are plenty of positives.”

With the new signings - and that momentum from last season - Mellor is optimistic about Leek’s prospects over the summer.

But he acknowledges the strength of the division has increased.

“We just want to win as many games as possible,” explained Mellor. “We don’t want to put a number on it, but we’re ambitious and think we can be competitive.

“We’d like to be looking at the top half of the table, but the league can be anyone’s this season.”

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