NORTHWICH survived a first season back in the county league last summer after two decades away – now skipper Mark Walker wants to discover what his players have learned from it.

The Moss Farm outfit won four matches before the end of May, only to slide to ninth in the table after adding only two more during the season’s remainder.

They visit promoted Bollington this weekend.

“We’ve proved we can win games at this level,” said Walker.

“The main problem we encountered was being able to select the same side consistently, which makes it hard when you only have a small pool to pick from.

“If we can start well again, and use the experience of last summer, then we’ve a great chance of finishing higher.”

Sam Shepherd will again lead the Northwich bowling attack, hoping to match a tally of 59 wickets – which included six five-wicket hauls – last time around.

His best return was 8-29 at Warrington in April.

Walker said: “Sam makes more of an impact at the beginning of the season when the pitches are better suited to him.

“But bowling isn’t so much of an issue for us – we’ve seven or eight who can make a contribution.”

Instead he is looking for improved form from batsmen, including himself, who struggled at times to adapt to a higher standard in 2014.

Walker added: “There was a lot that was new; playing on wickets against clubs and bowlers we’d not met previously.

“That made it harder to predict where we’d end up.

“I think we can improve on our position, particularly if we have two or three who up their level with the bat.”