NEW captain Paul Bates believes Chippenham have the firepower to re-establish themselves as a major force in Wiltshire cricket.

Bates has replaced Trevor Lloyd in the Hardenhuish hot-seat this summer and is desperate to restore success to the Bristol Road club. But Bates will have to achieve his goal without the help of his brother and former Wiltshire all-rounder Richard, who has quit to spend more time with his young family.

He said: "I have being trying to twist Richard's arm but he is not going to play. It will be a major blow to lose a player of his quality."

Chippenham performed a minor miracle last season to avoid relegation to Gloucester and Wilts One, winning five of their last six matches to avoid the drop.

Bates knows his team must hit the ground running if they want to avoid a repeat performance this team around. He said: "I don't know how we managed to pull ourselves out of trouble last year. It was an amazing end to the season. "This year I think we've got a good chance to finish in the top half.

Bridgwater look like a really good side, but apart from them it's the kind of league where everyone can beat each other. "We really want to get back up to Premier One if we can. To be honest this league is a massive drop in standard and I'm not sure why we have struggled because there are only two or three good teams."

Chippenham used 25 players last season as a combination of injury and unavailabiity hampered first team selection. Bates believes a settled side holds the key to success this summer and hopes to choose from a full compliment of players for the season opener at Lansdown next Saturday.

He said: "It's difficult when you bring in guys who should not be playing in the first team, but sometimes there is no other option. "I took charge of a few away games last year and I didn't have much success because we only had half a team. But all the guys know me and I'm sure this will be a positive year for the club."

Bates is hoping to unearth the next Liam Dawson, who this winter represented England under 16s in South Africa. Dawson and 14-year-old James Vince are both involved with the Hampshire academy. "We don't want to hold them back but it's frustrating when they can't play for us," said Bates. "But it's good for the club to be recognised for developing quality players. "We've got ex-Hampshire player James Schofield and Steve Silk from Corsham on board this year, so the squad still looks fairly strong," he said.