Shenley Village captain Morgan Stanley believes his side will more than make up the numbers in their first season in the Saracens Herts Championship.

Shenley were promoted from Division One at the end of last year, winning the league by 58 points.

Stanley admitted the prospect of the Championship was a daunting one, but he, and his team, is excited to get the season underway.

“It’s very exciting; last year was incredible, much better than we could ever have imagined,” he said.

“Our first aim is to stay in the division but I think we have a good chance to be near the top. We’ve never been at this level before but we’ve got a lot of talented players and I think we can challenge in the Championship.”

Tom Bruce returns to the club. The New Zealander has been playing first-class cricket for Central Districts where he posted an average of 57.45 runs and took four wickets in seven games.

Shenley has also retained Charlie Thurston. The Middlesex 2nds batsman spent the winter playing cricket in Melbourne.

“We’re very lucky to have Tom back; he’s a very good cricketer,” said Stanley. “Charlie normally has school commitments but we’ve got him from the start of the season this year. They’re both great players and really important for us.”

The biggest reason the skipper expects Shenley to thrive in a higher division is the environment the club has fostered in recent years.

“We are in the process of developing the club structure - we didn’t even have a mentality of training a couple of seasons ago, but we’re pushing it forward now,” he said. “We have changed the culture, which is important. If you want to compete, you have to take it seriously, which we are. We’re moving in the right direction.”

Shenley open the season at home against Reed, 11.30am start.