Malachi Jones, the Willow Cuts captain, has welcomed swashbuckling batsman Chris Douglas back to the club.

The Bermuda and Somerset Cup Match opener has rejoined Cuts after spending just one season at Cleveland County, where his father Stephen Douglas and uncle Allan Douglas made a name for themselves in their heyday.

“Chris and I are close friends and I did not really approve of him leaving last year,” said Jones, the Bermuda all-rounder.

“But he had other things in mind and it was a challenge for him. I asked him to come back this year to help us out in terms of bolstering the batting order.

Another new arrival at Cuts this season will be Shaquille Jones, who has transferred from Somerset Cricket Club. Like Douglas, Jones is also a left-handed opening batsman and spin bowler.

“Shaq indicated he wanted to play for us last season and he’s just followed up on that,” Jones said. “He is a good asset, too, with his batting and left arm spin.”

As well as his batting, Douglas is expected to carry a heavy load in the Cuts’ bowling department with his off break spin.

“Chris will be bowling regularly this season with his off breaks taking into consideration our seasoned spinner, Kevin Fubler, is probably going to take a back seat this year,” Jones said.

Another seasoned player Cuts will be without for most of the season is Dexter Basden, their former captain. “Dexter is not looking to play too much this year so we have replaced him with Shaq,” Jones said.

“We are still going to try and get Dexter to play a couple of games this year.

“But other than that we are looking to play a fairly young side with Chris Foggo or Ricardo Brangman being one of the elder statesman in the team on a weekly basis and use guys like Dexter, Kevin and Dwight [Basden] more or less like role players filling in when need be.”

Jones added: “We have a nice, young nucleus of players and we are looking to push them here and there and still be competitive without weakening the team as we are trying to push for silverware this year.

“We are trying to go with more youth this year because age was a big issue for us last year; it hurt us in the field at times.”

For Jones, winning the Premier Division title remains a top priority for Cuts, who finished third in the top flight last term.

“We have fallen short a couple of seasons in terms of the league title, but hopefully we can get across the line this year,” Jones said. “As a small club we are up there competing with the big dogs.

“I think it would be good for the club’s history to win a league title, and hopefully we can push to achieve that this year.”