NORTH DOWN

• Captain: Peter Davison
• Overseas professional: Naushad Shaikh
• Players in: Jacob Mulder, Nathan Burns, Ben Escott, Tom Crothers
• Players out: Sathish Suresh

It wasn't the best of seasons for North Down in 2022, but they have a new captain and overseas professional as they look to recapture past glories.

Peter Davison is the new man in charge, taking over from Ally Shields. Their overseas player is Naushad Shaikh, who is a very experienced Indian all-rounder, who has seven first-class centuries and bowls off-spin.

There is a quartet of signings with Jacob Mulder back from CIYMS, as well as Nathan Burns (CIYMS), while Ben Escott arrives from Bangor and Tom Crothers from Instonians.

On the debit side there is just one exit, with Sathish Suresh off to Muckamore.

"The young player to watch for me this year is Tom Crothers," skipper Davison told CricketEurope.

"He is a big tall top-order batsman and a more than handy seam bowler. He didn't have much of an opportunity to play first XI cricket previously at Instonians, but from what we have seen of him, we hope he will be a keen contributor with both bat and ball.

"It's a bit of a reset for us this year with Alistair Shields stepping aside and me taking over.

"That being said the core of the side hasn't changed that much with key players and performers still here. Players of the quality of Alistair, Ani Chore, Peter Eakin and Tom Mayes. We will be looking for those guys to kick on. Obviously we were very disappointed with last year after having started the season strongly.

"We have strengthened the squad, adding quality and depth. Jacob Mulder has proven himself to be one of the best in the league, certainly from a bowling perspective, and there's definitely room for him to make telling contributions with the bat as well.

"Ben Escott has arrived from Bangor. He is a big, tall fast-bowler and I haven't seen too much of him aside from the nets, so we will see how that goes.

"We feel we have on paper a team that go into any game and win it. We will be looking for consistent performances and achieving positive results.

"Brett Mulder has also come in as our Director of Cricket, and he will oversee all aspects of cricket at Comber from the youth section up to the first XI. He has brought a different philosphy in terms of how we prepare and train.

"The guys have really bought into it and hopefully that will continue. He won't be around that much when the season gets under way due to prior commitments in Denmark, but he will be keeping an eye and be in contact during the season. It's a step we've taken this season - not to turn things around as such as I feel we aren't a million miles away. I feel with the squad we have we should be challenging at the top of the table rather than the bottom."

North Down start their season on Saturday with a home clash against Woodvale in a match that was originally scheduled for Ballygomartin Road.

The game at The Green also has an 11am start.