PORTLAND Red Triangle get their campaign in County Division Two underway tomorrow (1.30pm) with a trip to Witchampton, and are hopeful of gaining promotion this term.

The island outfit have already racked up a victory against higher-league opposition this year, having beaten Weymouth in a friendly by 100 runs.

In that game, Matt Randell scored a century and Callan Laws and Elliot Sawyer both reached 50.

Portland will be without Simon Proffitt, Gary Randell and Chris Leake for their first game and may miss them throughout the bulk of the season.

Randell said: “Saturday’s game against Weymouth was a good opportunity for the lads to get their whites back on and have a good bat or bowl.

“We approached are innings in the same manner that we tried to adopt last year and pulled it off which is nice to see that the lads believe they can play shots, even this early in the season.”

He added: “The loss of Simon (due to football), Gary and Chris (work commitments) is a big hit to the team as we are losing three match winners.

“Having said that, the team still has 11 players who can do exactly that.

“We will look to be positive against Witchampton and start the season with a win. The club has put all momentum on Saturday cricket this year and we have every intention of being promoted.”