Captain: Philip Allen. Professional: Raouf Akbar (Pakistan). Last year: 2.

Stuart Maher We have lost Russell Whalley with a broken leg and that is a major blow because he is the top amateur batsman in the league.

"He missed virtually all of 2007 with injury and we did okay and he wasn’t fully fit when we won the league in 2008.

"We are not a one man band and have been wanting the lads to step up to the mark for some time and if the professional can get into the wickets and perhaps chip in with a few runs we will be okay.

"We are certainly looking at a top five finish."

Matt Donlan’s prediction: 8.