WOOTTON Bassett captain Mark Vincent believes his side have a ready-made replacement for recently departed wicket-keeper Luke Bradley-Leach in youngster Sam Burdock.

Bradley-Leach last week put in an application to the West of England cricket authorities to make the switch to Wilts One outfit Nationwide House, and will no longer be involved with the Rylands Way team.

But whilst Vincent, who himself was once a member of the Nationwide squad, admitted the loss is a blow for his club, he is confident Burdock has all the attributes to take on the responsibility of the first team gloves.

“Luke’s made the decision to go over to Nationwide, and it’s all for personal reasons and we understand them,” he said.

“Obviously we are a little disappointed, but we have Sam coming in who has done very well recently and has shown how good he can be behind the stumps.”

After a two-week break, Bassett return to action at Potterne tomorrow desperate to establish something that resembles momentum as the season moves quickly into its second month.

Rain has played a major role in Vincent’s side’s matches so far this term, and the skipper’s nerves have been tested again this week by unfavourable forecasts predicting more water tomorrow.

“I’ve looked on the websites and it says that there is going to be sprinklings between 10 and four,” he said.

“That will no doubt spice the pitch up a bit, but Potterne’s ground is quite small so if we’re bowling we may have to understand that chasing down 250 plus is not all that bad - we can’t be scared.

“Equally, when we get out to bat we have to be positive and know that we can chase big targets.”

The win at Hatherley and Reddings a fortnight ago boosted Bassett’s self-belief, and although the campaign has been somewhat stop-start for Vincent and his troops in 2010, the captain is hoping that is all about to change.

“We’re not taking any game lightly, we’ve got a full squad and we’re eager to go,” he said.

“The win at Hatherley was big for us, and it has been difficult to find a rhythm with this one week playing, one week not situation, but there’s no reason why we can’t keep it up this weekend.”

Neil Twine is away on holiday this weekend, meaning free-scoring Jack Paish, who has already bagged a 50 and a ton this season, slots into the middle order.