Bourne finished seventh, one place ahead of Deeping, although the latter did have the consolation of beating their neighbours in the final of the Jaidka Cup.

The strength of perennial champions Bracebridge Heath will ensure that both teams are playing for second place in the Premier Division this season, but neither club is making any rash predictions.

Bourne skipper David Christmas, who will be leading the team for the 13th season, said: "We are not playing for first place as by all accounts Bracebridge are even stronger than usual, but I will be happy to play positive cricket while securing a place in the top four.

"We were short of runs last season, but we have recruited Mark Fotheringham from Australia for this summer and he looked decent in a knockabout we had last weekend."

Market Deeping have again decided against paying players this summer, even though they have lost senior men Lee Peacock and Gary Yeeles to village cricket.

Instead they will rely on promising youngsters like the Kearns brothers to support club legends David Gillett and John McDougall. Gillett scored over 700 runs and topped the division's batting averages last season, while Michael Kearns was the young player-of-the-year in the Lincs Premier Division after taking 30 wickets in his debut campaign at this level.

New Deeping skipper Nick Cowley said: "We are not interested in offering financial incentives.

"I'm not sure it's good for a club in the long run.

"I believe we will improve from last season because our younger players are maturing quickly enough to offer good support to the old stagers like Macca and Gilly.

"Few teams will have a better attitude than us. We will just celebrate the wins when they come along."

Bourne open their League campaign at home to Lincoln on Saturday when Market Deeping host Sleaford.

Full local cricket coverage: peterboroughtoday.co.uk/cricket