Barnsley Woolley Miners are set to start what they hope is a title-winning season at local rivals Elsecar CC on Saturday.

Elsecar were promoted to the Yorkshire Premier League South last season to join the Shaw Laners who have traditionally been the highest-placed team in the town.  Elsecar captain Paul Cummins said: “It’s a great game to start with. We were all waiting to see when that fixture would be and then when it was the first game of the season we were very happy. 

“There could be no better start to the season for either club. We beat them in the cup two seasons ago and we’ll be hoping to do the same again which would be a brilliant start to the season.” 

Barnsley have been travelling to Chesterfield to train at their coach Chris Marples’ indoor centre.  Their captain Jason Booth, who used to play for Elsecar, said: “It will be a tough first match and we can’t go in half-cooked. Elsecar will be really excited about being in the top league and they will be desperate to beat us because of the status of our club. 

“I had a lot of success at Elsecar and we used to get some really big crowds. Hopefully a lot of people will turn up to watch. They will have the chance to see Harpreet Singh who is one of the best club cricketers ever.” 

Singh was the league’s top-scorer last season when Barnsley finished fourth. They are hoping to improve this time. Booth said: “We will be trying to win the title.  We’re not going to be settling for the top five and building for the future anymore, we should be confident of winning every game and competing for first place come September. 

“We have signed a new fast bowler called Michael Kitson and we hope he will be one of the best in the league. When you put him together with Harry Ashton who has been netting with Leicester CC, and Dan Waldron who is a very experienced bowler now, as well as our spinners who are the best in the league, then we have an excellent bowling attack.“If we get enough runs with the bat we will have a real chance."

Elsecar have retained their promotion squad while recruiting batsman Matt Higgins, who played for Barnsley last season, all-rounder Charlie Kaye from Sprotbrough and Pakistani Saeed Anwar Junior who was at Hoylandswaine last season.  Cummins said: “No side who has finished second in the Championship has avoided relegation. Our number one target is to stay up. “It has always been the club’s aim to get into the Yorkshire Premier League but it’s just the start. We want to kick on and stay there.”