Star Priory bowler signs for Bexhill

The Polegrove club have been marooned at the foot of the Sussex Division Two table for the past two seasons and last summer recorded just a single win over neighbours Sidley throughout the entire campaign.

But, following considerable behind-the-scenes endeavour, the outlook appears an awful lot brighter. So much so that vice captain Hamish Russell is expecting them to be back among the league's heavyweights in the not-too-distant future.

He said: "To get a player of his calibre from Hastings shows the intentions that we've got. It's an enormous boost for the club. He will almost certainly be among the leading bowlers in the division and, to be quite honest, I expect him to be one of the leading all-rounders. I expect him to take 35 or 40 wickets without even breaking a sweat.

"This is hopefully just the start, it's certainly the turning point. In five years time I see Bexhill being back as a force in Sussex cricket again. I'm convinced that we can be in the Premier League within two or three seasons.

"The last two seasons we've been disappointed with but it's given us a wake up call and things have had a bit of a shake up. (Captain) Steve Phillimore has been actively trying to recruit players and we're very hopeful that things will pick up."

But that's not all. Russell continued: "We're hoping to be able to announce another couple of signings in the coming weeks and a quality overseas as well as additions to the coaching side. We're still trying to thrash out the details with an ECB level three coach who's also involved in the Sussex set-up. He certainly wants to do it and hopefully in a month's time we will know a little bit more."

The club, which Russell believes possesses "one of the best youth set-ups in the county", has also been working alongside Rother District Council in a bid to revitalise its facilities and plans to improve the condition of the nets as well as the mats within them in time for next season.