And that's not the only heat for there are an increasing number of highly rated teenagers with county experience pushing hard for starts in the club's number one team.

"It's a headache...but a nice headache with such a rich pool of players coming through " said Ed ahead of the weekend home game against the defending champions.

The 1XI finished off their winter preparation with a rain interrupted friendly at Liverpool Comp Premier League side Liverpool CC. While conditions weren’t conducive for good cricket, it was an opportunity to dust off the cobwebs.

After a solid season last year, the club aims to go even higher this year with whst Galley describes as a similar but improved squad. Filling the voids of both overseas star Tim Reynolds and stalwart Nathan Brown, now at Upton in Division 2, has been important over winter. But with some excellent recruitment of overseas Dan Scholz and Zac Christie plus an exciting plethora of Timperley juniors the squad is looking competitive.

Galley added:

"I’m really looking forward to getting going with the boys on Saturday, Winter training has been good and we’ve got a great bunch of lads looking to attack a tough start against Didsbury. We’ll be viewing Saturday as a superb chance to put an early marker down for the threat we pose this season. We’ve got a seriously strong wider squad this year, with the return of lads from uni, local signings, and some strong developing juniors - I’m excepting heavy competition for places which will only help to drive performance and give me plenty of selection headaches!"