Sparsholt plan to put pre-season practice into on-field action this weekend when they travel to the Channel Islands to play Guernsey, Elizabeth College and Cobo cricket clubs.

Coach Jerry Frith heads a 21-man squad, bolstered by new three new arrivals at Locks Lane - former Zimbabwe Academy pace bowler Alec Taylor, local school teacher James Frost and Adrian Birkett.

Captain Ian Stuart hopes they will be adequate replacements for Australian all-rounder Ryan Maddix, whose planned return from Northern NSW has been hit by an ankle injury, and former Hampshire seamer James Schofield, now with ECB Premier Division 1 club Portsmouth.