NEW KEIGHLEY first-team skipper Alex Towler has backed the All Rounder Cricket Bradford Premier League's revamped structure.

The traditional Bradford League clubs have been joined by clubs from the disbanded Central Yorkshire League, and Towler called the move refreshing and exciting.

He said: "I have been playing since I was nine or ten and have been going to the same clubs over and over again.

"It makes a refreshing change and it is exciting to be going to new grounds and testing ourselves against new players, and it is also exciting for the league."

Keighley have been placed in Championship A of the two-division second tier below the top flight.

New opposition will be Batley, Birstall, Hunslet Nelson, Liversedge and Ossett, while familiar Bradford League sides in their division are Baildon, Idle, Saltaire, Undercliffe and Yeadon.

There will be two blank fixtures in the division following news this week that Windhill have pulled out of the competition.

Idle were supposed to be the first visitors to Lawkholme Lane on Saturday but the league have opted to delay the start of the campaign for a week due to wet weather making it hard for clubs to get their pitches ready. That match will now be on September 17, meaning Keighley's first game will be away to Saltaire a week on Saturday.

Having finished tenth in Division Two last season, Keighley are setting their sights higher this term.

Towler said: "We feel that last season was a blip and we want to see the young lads push through this year as we aim to finish in the top five.

"My brother Ross is coaching us, and it will also be good to have our new signings Ben Hastie, Rory Robinson, Matt Haines, Zahir Abbas, Mohammed Shahnawaz, Owen Sargent and Jack Rogers as they will push last season's first-team regulars for places.

"Competition is good, and the new lads have been to the indoor nets at JMS, so they have got to know the rest of the squad.

"We have only been able to have one outdoor session on Tuesday of last week, which we used for fielding practice."

Keighley did get an outdoor practice match last weekend, however, facing a Yorkshire Academy side at Weetwood.

Towler said: "Richard Robinson is groundsman there, so it was quite easy to switch it from our place, and it was quite a good deck and quite a big ground, which surprised one or two of our lads!

"The Academy made 259 in their 50 overs and we replied with about 130, with our overseas player Ben Hastie batting well to score 30.

"He landed on Tuesday of last week and stayed in London until last Thursday, so he has acclimatised in two stages as it is colder up here, but he is still getting used to the temperatures!"

* In light of Saturday’s postponements, the second team game between Idle and Keighley, which had been rearranged for June 5 due to vandalism at Idle’s ground, will be played on September 17 in line with other games.