HOOK and Newnham Basics captain Matt Love is determined to play his part with the bat this weekend.

The skipper will move up the order and open with Jordan Hobday in the absence of Ben Thane.

Love scored over 400 runs last season, but this season, coming back from injury, he has yet to post a big score.

Love said: “I think it is important for me to step up and score some runs for the team. At the moment, we are fielding and bowling really well, but our batting has not really fired as well as it can.

“Once it does I am sure we will post some big scores.”

Victory over visiting Andover on Saturday will see Hook, who are currently sixth in Southern League Division One, leap frog the opposition, who are fifth.

The home side are expecting a tough game, despite the fact that they won the corresponding fixture last season by 93 runs.

Love said: “They are a solid side and have a couple of really good players in Dave Taylor and Glyn Treagus.

“It will be nice to play at home on a dry deck for once as it was soaking wet for the only home game we have played so far this season.”

Last weekend, Hook returned to winning ways as Hobday and Thane’s excellent opening stand set them on the way to a 55-run victory away at Hursley Park.

They got off to the perfect start, with openers Hobday (91) and Thane (55) putting on 135 for the first wicket, after Love won the toss and elected to bat.

The visitors were not able to build on this as they would have liked, with no other batsman scoring more than 15 runs, but they posted a competitive total of 226-8 from their 50 overs.

Spencer Champ then got the visitors off to an equally good start with the ball, dismissing the top three batsmen with 34 on the board on his way to figures of 4-25.

Hursley were unable to put together a significant partnership as Hook took wickets on a fairly regular basis, eventually bowling their hosts out for 171 as spinner Anik Divecha took 3-16.

Talking about the win Love said: “Spencer Champ had a great game and was the pick of a great bowling attack. We started off really well and should have scored a few more runs, but in the end it did not matter.”

l Hook will face the winners of the Sparsholt and St Cross Syms tie in the quarter-finals of the Southern League T20 Plate.

Both games will take place at Hook on Sunday, July 13.

The match between Sparsholt and St Cross Syms starts at 12.30pm, with Hook playing the winners at 4pm.

The semi-finals and final take place at Totton and Eling on Sunday, August 17.