Old Buckenham captain Matt Bint keeping grounded ahead of clash at promotion rivals Sheringham

Old Buckenham could take a giant step towards promotion to the Lacons Brewery Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier Division tomorrow with a win against third-placed Sheringham (12pm).

With four games of the campaign remaining, Matt Bint’s side are second in the table, six points off leaders Swardeston II and one point ahead of this weekend’s opponents – and are boosted by their promotion rivals meeting each other in the penultimate round of fixtures.

Riding the wave of four consecutive victories, which was maintained with a 151-run demolition job on visiting Cromer (160) on Saturday, Old Buckenham (311-4) are in an appetising position. But Bint and his side have their feet firmly on the ground ahead of tomorrow’s encounter.

“Every game will be important from now until the end of the season for us, we'll just focus on executing our plans to the best of our ability,” said Bint, who has been at Old Buckenham since he was eight years old.

“Sheringham are a good side, obviously you don't end up third in the table by coincidence. We know they've got some good players in their side, so we'll have to be at our best to beat them.

“If we can keep executing our game-plan to the levels we have been in the past month, it should give us a good chance.”

Bint, who took over as captain from Rob Goodwin at the start of the campaign, hailed Glen Meredith and Ian Harrison inparticular for their support during his first term as skipper. The former starred with the bat on Saturday as he recorded 82 runs against Cromer, who started the day in fourth, while Oli Howes (57) and James Heaney (58) both tallied half centuries.

Meredith (2-26) and Harrison (2-15) were two of five players to claim two wickets in the reply, as Old Buckenham stormed to an impressive victory. Yet, perhaps their best performance of the season came against tomorrow’s opponents, as Old Bucks ran riot in an eight-wicket win in June – restricting Sheringham to record just 94 runs in the first innings.

But when asked if his side can use the reverse fixture as a psychological advantage, Bint said: “No, not particularly. Cricket’s a game that can change very quickly and I'm sure it'll be a different game up at their place.

“We know we've got to go there and play our best cricket and get ourselves over the line against them.”

While he was keen to stress his side will be taking a game-by-game approach for the rest of the season, admitting promotion has not been spoken about much amongst the squad, Bint said his side are full of confidence heading into their final four matches of the campaign and highlighted how important momentum at this stage of the year can be.

After the trip to Sheringham, Old Buckenham will play back-to-back home games against Downham Stow II (8th) and Thetford Town (6th), before they visit Lowestoft Town (4th) on the final day.

“I think it would be wrong of us to underestimate anyone in the league, they'll all be tough games,” said Bint.

“Downham are obviously down towards the bottom of the table, so they'll be gunning for 25 points.

“Thetford have got some good players and then obviously Lowerstoft beat us in the reverse fixture halfway through the year.”

Speaking on what has impressed him the most about his Old Buckenham side, who finished fifth last term, Bint said: “Probably our consistency. To be where we are in the season and to have continued churning out good performances like we have, week in, week out, against sides from the whole league has been really pleasing.”