Wells skipper wants a Premier return
5:07pm Thursday 8th May 2008
WOODFORD WELLS captain William Rogers has set his sights on promotion to the Premier League this season after the club brought in nine new players in the off-season.
Having just been promoted to Division One, Rogers has seen enough of his new recruits already to suggest the side will be title challengers this season.
"We're definitely going to try and win the league," said a confident Rogers.
"We've picked up nine good players and we are now a lot stronger than we were last year."
Amongst the nine arrivals are Wanstead trio Hassan Chowdhury, Rory Ellison and Mark Webb, while bowler Luke O'Reilly has also joined the club.
Wells' overseas player this season will be Australian Michael Chambers, who has flown over from Sydney, while Lancashire-based player Joe Taylor has joined Fives' Tom Clark at Monkhams Lane.
With all the club's members from last year remaining at the club, Rogers now has the luxury of a top quality deep squad to choose from. And he is not surprised to have attracted so many top class players.
He added: "It was a deliberate ploy to bring in plenty of players," he said. "Our ground is fantastic and we have a great social aspect to the club as well, so that is what has helped us bring in the new lads.
"It has also given us good competition for places. Everyone is enjoying being at the club."
With five wins from five games so far this year, including an impressive result against Hainault in the League Cup, Rogers has had the chance to pick out the players he believes will make the biggest difference to the side.
Batsman Chowdhury and bowlers Ellison and O'Reilly have impressed the Wells' skipper, and he is convinced they can play a key role in propelling the team to the top of the league.
"I'm expecting big things from these boys. Rory, Luke and Hassan are going to be very important players for us this year. They look excellent from what I've seen so far."
Despite the added strength in depth, Wells go into this Saturday's opening fixture with Chelmsford slightly short of numbers, as various players are unavailable for the trip, but Rogers remains confident the team can still prevail and get off to a good start.
"We want to start well and get off to winning ways, but we're struggling a little bit this week. But I'm sure the players we will have are more than capable of getting a result."