Derby-day duels will add some spice to the league

Arnold takes charge of the Davenport Park outfit for the second successive season and is keen to avoid being involved in another late battle to avoid relegation in Birmingham League Premier Two.

"The first priority is to stay up but it would be nice to looking at mid-table" said Arnold, whose side have finished one place above the drop zone in each of the last two seasons.

"We don't want to be scraping around with two games to go trying to avoid relegation.

"The main target is to improve on last year and hopefully the squad we have this season will be good enough to keep us out of a relegation scarp."

The squad at Arnold's disposal certainly looks stronger than last year's, especially after Warwickshire's Will Rhodes, who played for the club in 2022, confirmed he will turn out on occasions this summer.

All-rounder Shahrukh Khan has arrived from Notts Premier League side Cavaliers and Carrington, Harvey Sage is back after a spell at Quatt, while South African Hanro Swanepoel has returned for a second season.

"We have kept the same side as last year, which we are delighted about," said Arnold. "The aim is to gradually improve with one or two players coming in.

"Shahrukh is a friend of mine from university and he has moved down here due to work.

"We were fortunate to get him before anyone else knew he was available. He will add value to our squad with bat and ball.

Hanro has returned as our overseas and we are hoping Will will play a few times. He will be a great asset when we do have him on the field."

And with five Shropshire sides all slugging it out in the same division, Arnold is expecting a competitive summer.

"There are five Shropshire sides and Kiddy and Old Hill are not far away, so it's quite a local league," added Arnold.

"It's not ideal from a Shropshire point of view not to have a side in the top division, but it should be good fun playing against each other and I expect it to be very competitive.

"I quite like the look of Shrewsbury and Shifnal and I think Wellington will do well."

Worfield start their season at home to Coventry NW on Saturday and will be without batter Basit Zaman, who is expected to be out until June as he recovers from a quad injury.

"We haven't started too well in the last few years and that's something we have spoken about," said Arnold.

"We have worked very had in pre-season and had a couple of good run outs against Himley and Old Hill, which should be beneficial."