Minster captain David Masters looks ahead to new Kent League Premier Division season

David Masters hopes to bring the fun factor back to Minster as 1st XI captain - but the aim remains the same.

Minster underachieved last season in the top tier of Kent League Cricket with a seventh-place finish in the Premier Division but it all starts again this weekend.

“We are playing to win, to win the league, just in a different way,” said new captain Masters.

“It is my pressure to try and win the league and the other boys’ pressure just to play cricket, that is the route we’re going down.”

Masters, 46, has taken over the captaincy from South African Ed Moore, who has moved on after three years with the club.

The new captain started his career with Kent before playing at both Leicestershire and Essex. Masters has been with Minster since 2020 after previously playing for Upchurch and Lordswood.

He’s stepped up to skipper the 1sts this term and is looking forward to a new challenge.

He said: “I was asked the question (to captain the side) and I said ‘yes, I would love to’.

“We didn’t have the best of years last year, with the team and the players we had, so it was just about trying to pull the guys together and get more of a club-feel atmosphere, a bit more of a happier atmosphere.

“Last year was hard. When you lose it doesn’t help, people aren’t as happy and weren’t enjoying their cricket as much.

“At the end of the day we are there to enjoy our game of cricket at the weekend, and that is the steps we’ve gone back to. We’ve signed a couple of new players, that have come in and settled nicely. It should be good fun.”

Minster have signed 23-year-old New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Quinn Sunde for the season while another youngster, James Speer, adds fresh blood to their bowling attack.

Masters said: “We needed to