CRICKET: THE return of Australian ace Matt Kimble has provided Marlborough with the perfect tonic ahead of their new adventure in the Gloucester and Wiltshire Division Two.

All-rounder Kimble enjoyed a spectacular debut season last summer, taking 50 wickets and racking up 500 runs as Marlborough held off the challenge of Box to lift the Wiltshire League title.

They clinched promotion to the fourth tier of the West of England Premier League structure as a result, and the club's young guns are expected to make a lasting impression at the higher grade this term.

Just one of the regular first eleven, 32-year-old Paul Clark, is over the age of 30 and the side are led by Tom Norris, who, at 22, guided Marlborough to the county title in his first season as skipper last year.

The club have retained all of the personnel that helped them lift the Wiltshire League title.

Norris is hoping to lead his men to further glory this summer, although he feels consolidation in Division Two would by no means be a disaster.

He said: "We're still looking to improve on last year. We've got to go into it thinking we can win promotion. We're not silly, but it has to be an aim otherwise there is no point."

"I suppose the best thing for the club would be if we stop in this league for two or three years and then push from promotion. Sometimes you can go up too quickly, outgrow yourselves, and it has a bad affect on you.

"It is going to be hard to live up to last year. The main thing is we are young and enthusiastic and are always going to get better. The players have grown up together and it seems to have worked."

Norris is aware the form of talisman Kimble will prove crucial to his side's chances of success at the higher grade, but stressed his side are far from being a one-man team.

He said: "Matt didn't have the best winter in Australia, although he played second grade cricket and it is a much better standard.

"We weren't totally sure he was going to come back, but we're chuffed that he has. It is not just about him being such a good player, all the others look up to him and learn from him.

"He passes things on to the younger players at the club and everyone gets along with him.

"I'm sure he will be a good, if not better, in the higher league. He didn't actually score that many runs in the first half of last season, but once he got used to the wickets he got a couple of hundreds and a few other high scores.

"But people like Richard Turnell and Dominic Fry are also big players for us and we will be looking for them to produce good things."

Ben Head is also fit to play after injury prevented him from bowling for the second half of last season. He topped last season's bowling averages with 28 wickets at an average of 7.21.

Marlborough's season opens with a home game against Redmarley on Saturday. Norris and his side are looking forward to renewing rivalries with former Wiltshire League sparring partners Goatacre and Marshfield in their first season in the division.

He said: "Goatacre is a good ground to go to and Marshfield and Hinton Charterhouse are in there as well. There are plenty of teams in Gloucestershire that we haven't played before and that will be a new adventure."