MARK Greaves has challenged Davenham’s batsmen to spend longer at the crease as they attempt to improve on an eighth-place finish on their debut in the county league’s second tier.

Following victories in four of their first half-dozen matches, the men from Butcher’s Stile won only two of the 16 that followed.

“We need to score more runs,” said Greaves, who continues as first-team captain.

“One thing we’re looking to be better at is chasing a target.

“We learned that requires a bit more patience than we showed last season.”

Batsmen Sam Hunt, from Nantwich, and Kingsley’s Callum Begg have are among Davenham’s new recruits along with Australian teenager Tim Nieman.

He replaces Kendel Fleming, leading run-scorer last summer.

Dean Jackson, restricted by work commitments from playing regularly in 2014, will not lead their attack.

Greaves said: “We wanted to strengthen our batting line-up, which I feel we have.

“It’s a blow not to have Dean, and we’ll miss him, but he’s not played as much in the past couple of years anyway.

“I think we’ve got people who can chip in with the 20-odd wickets he took last season.”

After back-to-back promotions, Davenham’s aim was to consolidate in their first term in Cheshire County League Division One.

Greaves says they can set their sights higher after doing exactly that.

He added: “We did what we wanted to last year.

“It’s the biggest step up in quality we’ve had, and we learned a lot.

“We know we have to prepare properly for every match, which is something we’ve talked about a lot over the winter.”

They visit newly-promoted Weaverham in a campaign curtain-raiser on Saturday.

“I don’t mind a derby first up,” said Greaves.

“Maybe we can catch them cold!

“I expect Weaverham to be strong, maybe even contenders to challenge for promotion this season.”