CHERRY Tree have undergone a winter of change with professional Naeem Ashraf moving on after seven years at Preston Old Road to take on a challenge in the Bolton League.

Opening batsman Michael Veevers has also left to join league rivals Read, while wicket-keeper batsman Lee Kennedy is unavailable and Gary Bolton has hung up his boots.

"It will be a testing time for us after losing so many players," admitted captain Andreas Sudnik as he prepares for his first season in charge.

Sudnik is not making any predictions about his side's chances of repeating last summer's top-six finish but is looking forward to the challenge.

"Availability will be the key and if we can get everyone playing we could put a run together," he added.

Chris Riley will have an important role to play at the top of the order following the departure of Veevers and Anthony Robinson and John Baldwin may also earn a promotion up the order.

Kevin Reed is also set to return to bolster the batting line-up after injury and Cherry Tree's bowling attack looks in good hands with Arshad Mohammed, Nigel Robbins, Ian Bickerstaff, Baldwin and Sudnik all likely to chip in.

New professional Zahoor Elahi, capped at Test level by Pakistan, will also bowl off-spin to supplement his anticipated runs as he looks to fill the void left by Ashraf's departure.

And 21-one-year-old John Pickup is taking charge of Barnoldswick for the first time following Mike Scothern's decision to stand down.

"We are in a bit of a transitional stage and not really pushing for the league so we thought it was the right time to do it and build from here," said Pickup.

The all-rounder has no shortage of first-team experience at Victory Park and will also be helped by the return of professional Jeevantha Kulatunga.

The Sri Lankan topped the 1,000-run mark last season and may also get a few more overs to bowl this summer.

"It might be similar to last year for us, but hopefully we can compete in as many games as we can. We've got a good pro, who is a match-winner," Pickup added.

Barnoldswick are also hoping for runs at the top of the order from new arrival Arfhad Latif.

Padiham skipper Anthony Hall is hoping to hasten his side's recovery after a disappointing season last year.

The Arbories club felt the fall-out from the departure of a number of key players as they finished second from bottom.

Highly promising young batsman Vishal Tripathi has also left to join Lowerhouse and the club is still waiting to see whether Phil Metcalfe will play.

But on the plus side, all-rounder Umar Saddique is back and Hall is also looking to young bowler Gary Ramshed to continue the promise he showed in the second-half of last season.

And the captain also has high hopes for new paid-man Kasif Siddique, a top-order batsman who bowls off-spin. "He comes highly recommended and is hopefully someone we can bat round," said Hall.

"Last year was very disappointing, but hopefully with more consistency we can improve on our points tally."

Earby skipper Chris Walton is also hoping for better after finishing in the bottom four last summer.

However, it's down to a similar group of players, minus Paul Tilbury and Read-bound Andrew Rushton, to produce the goods with professional Mohammed Ayub also a familiar face at Applegarth.

The Pakistani filled in as a substitute professional on a number of occasions last season and Walton is looking for the off-spinning batsman, who misses the opening weekend, to confirm the good impression he made.

"He enjoyed it here and looked a good player. He scored quite a few runs and hopefully he can get between 800 and 1,000," said the skipper.

With Walton and Nigel Hodge consistent scorers and young opener Matthew Nutter shaping up well, Earby may not be short of runs.

Wickets may not be so easy to come by, although vice-captain Stephen Hipgrave may get his share and young all-rounder Scott Hudson will get a chance too impress.

Walton will oversee a fairly young side but expects to be competitive.

He added: "Hopefully we will be in mid-table. On paper we are as good a side as half the teams in the league and last year we managed to upset a few of those at the top."