By Mark Bristow

Leeds & Broomfield open their second season in the Kent League’s third tier, knowing they will have to take their A-game into Saturday's local derby at home to newly-promoted Kings Hill,

Both teams have hurtled through the Kent League structure at pace in recent years, with Leeds hopeful of improving on their fourth-place finish last season.

They face a side who were runaway champions from the division below, losing one game.

“It’s the toughest of starts,” said Max Aitken, who hands over the captaincy after four years to opener George Davis.

“We know Kings Hill will be among the favourites for our league but I’m confident we’ll be up there also.

“Kings Hill have got a great overseas in Lachlan Crump returning this season and with the likes of Miles Richardson and Richard Nicol also there, they are going to be strong.”

Indeed Crump, a player with the Gold Coast Dolphins, scored 736 league runs in 2022, behind Nicol’s 970 runs and Richardson who, in addition to his 862 league runs, took 41 wickets.

Leeds will also have overseas strength in Ryan Tullia, a 24-year-old batsman and club captain for Sydney grade team Gordon.

Aitken said: “Ryan's been with us for a couple of weeks now although he had the typical Australian batsman’s start in English cricket, popping up a catch after being early on a drive in our friendly away to Sevenoaks Vine.

“But as he adjusts to the pace of the pitches at this time of year he'll be a great acquisition.

“We’ll certainly need Ryan. When we were making our way up through the divisions, there were some one-sided games but in this division this season there doesn’t seem to be any weak links.”

The availability of former Sevenoaks Vine captain Tom Parsons, which was restricted to half the games last year after the opening bowler became a father for the second time, remains important to Leeds and Aitken added: “We can contain opposition well but with his experience and quality, he turns us into a side who can bowl teams out cheaply.”

Leeds have plenty of depth and are confident that Ed Scrivens, brother of Grace Scrivens, the captain of England’s Under-19 World Cup women's T20 Finalists, can build on an impressive 2022 in which he scored 847 league runs and took 23 wickets.

Kings Hill, who only formed in 2006, have now achieved nine promotions in 11 seasons but James Green, who embarks on his second season as captain, cautioned: “Obviously the higher we go the more challenging it becomes and this year will provide a lot more even games.

“We can’t go out expecting to roll teams any longer, but having Lachlan back is a bonus.”

The Mote will aim to put a fraught winter behind them at Beckenham in their Kent League Championship opener having suffered knockbacks over two potential overseas players on top of losing brothers Matt and Jason White, respectively former first and second team captains, to Linden Park.

The club finished fourth in the fiercely competitive second tier of the Kent League last season.

They have finally signed an overseas in Dylan De Villiers, a South African who was bound for Lordswood’s 2nd team but welcomed the opportunity of first-team cricket.

However it is in two of their homegrown youngsters that hopes of significant progress are high.

All-rounder Charlie Hodgson, 19-year-old son of former Mote captain James Hodgson, now head of cricket, has just returned after seven months with Laidley District in Queensland, with The Mote hopeful the experience will help him take on more responsibility.

Meanwhile Kent academy player Fergie Conway, 17, gets his chance to flourish as a regular first-teamer while opener Tom Harvey, who broke an ankle only days after scoring a century at eventual champions St Lawrence and Highland Court that put him out for two thirds of the season, is ready to start the campaign.