Consistency key to competitive season - Bridson

Bridson was quick to stress that the newly-formed Sussex Division 3 West - where Findon will ply their trade this campaign - will be tough and they will need to perform at a consistent level to pick up results.

Findon were only able to muster a seventh-placed finish in the old Division 4 last term, with Bridson wanting more this season.

He said: “We’ve had a good couple of months in pre-season. We’ve got a couple of new players but we’ve also got a few injured players who probably won’t be ready for the start of the season.

“We’ll need a couple of the younger players to step up but we’ve still got our core players available for the start.

“The league is going to be strong so I just want us to be competitive.

“We’ve struggled for consistency over the last two years. One minute we will beat top of the league and then the next week we lose to bottom of the league.

“We just need more consistency and be more competitive.

“We’ll hopefully have a strong top-half finish.”

Findon have added Australian overseas Liam Freeman to bolster their playing ranks this season, while former Scotland international and Sussex star Matt Machan has been named coach. Felix Jordan is also nearing a return after missing the whole of last season through injury, with Bridson believing he could be like a new signing when he comes back into the fold.

“He’s not a new signing but we’ve got Felix Jordan, who only played once last year because of injury, will feature a lot more this season,” Bridson added.

“Matt (Machan) coming in is another massive positive and hopefully it will have a strong influence on our performances this year. Someone with his quality and knowledge of the game is only going to benefit us.

“I think it’s good a lot of our games are a lot closer this season, our biggest away trip is about half an hour.”

Findon travel to fellow Division 3 West outfit Stirlands to start the new season with a Gray-Nicholls T20 Cup first-round encounter on Saturday.

Three Bridges 2nd XI travel to Long Furlong to kick off things for Findon in the league the following Saturday.