JOE Perkins is hoping that new bowling laws will help his Nationwide House side match their record-breaking fifth-placed finish in the Wiltshire League last season.

Nationwide achieved their best-ever finish in 2011 and Perkins believes fresh rules brought in by the West of England Premier Division will be to his team’s benefit.

Matches will be played over 50 overs with each bowler limited to 10 overs each, meaning every side must have at least five bowlers in their team.

“There’s a lot of clubs that hate it but over the years I’ve seen so many teams play with virtually two bowlers for a whole match,” said Perkins.

“I think it’s a great rule and it should have been made a long time ago.

“We consider ourselves a good bowling team so we hope that will help us.

The skipper added: “Last year was our highest-ever finish in the four or five years we’ve been in the West of England Premier League.

“We’ve set the standard now so we’re hoping all the players are up for a similar kind of finish. If we finish fifth again this year we’ll be really happy.”

Nationwide will be without Chris Cousins and Gareth Davies this season as the pair have moved back to Wales, while Mark Flay is unavailable after recently becoming a parent.

However, it is hoped that youngsters Nathan Sheffield and David Coates will make the step up from the seconds, the former a batsman and medium-pacer and the latter a batsman.

Elsewhere, familiar faces in the form of brothers Jon Clarke and Nick Clarke, wicketkeeper Luke Bradley-Leach and Chris Trewhella will return.

Meanwhile, Marlborough begin the new season without the services of 2011 skipper Arran Dickinson, who has switched to Lechlade, with Nick Crabbe stepping in for a second spell as captain. Batsmen Peter Day, Tom Norris and all-rounder Nathan Morgan have all returned for a second stint at the club.

“We want to establish ourselves as one of the top sides in the division,” said Crabbe. “Peter, Tom and Nathan are all proven first-team performers, which coupled with the signing of batsman Neil Edwards gives us real strength in depth.”

Youngsters including Cam Gordan, Harrison Painter and Duncan Lorraine are likely to play a key role.