Blackpool CC 2026 preview: Stanley Park skipper wants to hit the ground running

Having succeeded club stalwart Paul Danson 12 months ago, Howarth saw his players claim a top-four finish in division one of the Northern Premier Cricket League thanks to a run of seven wins from eight in the second half of the campaign.

The challenge now for the Blackpool squad is a run of wins over the full season if they are to challenge for a first title since 2021.

Howarth said: “We’ve done that throughout the last two years, when we’ve come on strongly in the second half of the season after we’ve been let down by a slow start.

“We’re wary of that happening again but it’s about being consistent throughout the whole season.

“That’s what all the good sides do, they are consistent throughout the whole season, so we need to try and do it for a full year as well.”

After a winter’s preparation at Rossall School, Blackpool’s season starts with Saturday’s opening NPCL 40 Over Cup tie against Leyland at Stanley Park.

They will be without their overseas professional Ali Usman, who – along with Fleetwood’s Muhammad Hurraira – has been called up to a Pakistan training camp.

Two 40 Over Cup matches and an ECB National Club Championship match with New Brighton build into the league season, which starts at Leyland on May 2.

“We aren’t treating the cup games as a net because we want to be competitive in all competitions,” Howarth added.

“They are certainly a chance for us to get the rust off though and get back into the swing of things.

“We have two tough 40 Over Cup games against Leyland and Garstang to start with, so we’re going to have to be on it straight away.

“To be honest, I think there will be quite a lot of teams who will fancy their chances of success this year.

“I think there will be five or six teams who will fancy themselves to do well if they get the results they’re looking for and they get lucky with the weather.”