Chorley had a disastrous centenary on the field last year as they went from third in 2009 to 13 with just three wins all season.

But skipper Andrew Holdsworth is determined to lead a revival.

“We have spoken about last season and moved on,” Holdsworth said.

“The players have been training hard and we are all looking forward to the season.

"All the players live within a three-mile radius of the ground and we want to do well for Chorley.”

Last year’s professional Jon-Jon Smuts has signed for Bacup and has been replaced by former Chorley player Gaurav Dhar, who has just completed a three-year stint as part of the MCC Young Professio-nals set-up at Lord’s.

“He knows the club inside out and knows what the members expect,” said Holdsworth.

“Already there are signs that Gaurav is making an impact.”

Chorley have recruited a club coach with Iain Critchley, brother of the long-serving Michael, moving to Windsor Park from a spell in the Bolton Association. Critchley, an aggressive batsman and slow left arm bowler, will be an important part of the Chorley.

On the batting front, Chorley have lost opener James Reynard who was at the club for one season.

Bowling-wise Holdsworth has a wealth of options with Billy Smith, Kieran McCullagh and Jimmy Lee forming one of the league’s best seam attacks alongside spinners Dhar and Critchley.