New captain Amin Rafiq is excited about the challenge of leading Horspath as the club return to the Home Counties Premier Cricket League this season.
The all-rounder will be at the helm for the first time as last year's Cherwell League champions visit Bicester & North Oxford in Division 2 tomorrow.
Having succeeded Will Eason, who remains as director of cricket, Amin says: "It is obviously a privilege and honour. I am very grateful for the opportunity.
"I think it has come about quite naturally. I have never been one who has been looking for a leadership position or just captaincy.
"It has happened quite organically, which is nice. I am really excited about the opportunity and the season ahead. The guys are raring to go for Saturday."
Amin is no stranger to captaincy, having led Horspath to T20 success in Oxfordshire's Hartwell Cup and the Cherwell's Pullinger Cup last season as well as taking the reins in the Oxfordshire final triumph in the Voneus Village Cup.
"Having done the T20 for the last couple of years it feels like a natural transition," he adds. "I think with having leadership positions in my work and businesses of construction and property supplies it is also one of these things that suits personally.
"It has gone well in the past, but I am under no illusions about the challenges that lie ahead."
Jamaican international all-rounder Derval Green's arrival has been delayed due to a hold-up with his visa application, but Amin will lead a squad has been boosted by the addition of Wargrave all-rounder Sravan Konidena, Henley all-rounder Liam Turnbull and Eversley batsman Tom Nichols.
Amin says: "It is a tough league with some good teams in it, so we are looking forward to getting stuck in and competing at a high level and showing what we are about.
"We obviously have a lot of experienced players that have been there. The core nucleus is there and we have added some good players which is exciting. I am looking forward to Derval coming over as well.
"We have had a couple of setbacks, but we are focusing on the guys we have. We definitely have more strength in depth which provides a selection headache, but it is a good headache to have.
"Sravan has come over from the University side. He is a quality all-rounder. We are looking to him to score runs at the top of the order and he is a tidy seamer.
"Liam is a good all-rounder and athlete as well from the University side and we are excited to have him on board.
"Tom has come to the area. He is a very level-headed batter and hopefully he will get a lot of runs for us.
"They are the type of personalities we want at Horspath along with the guys we have from last year. We are a family club and in that way we create connections as people and not just as cricketers."
After relegation from the Home Counties in 2023, Horspath dominated the Cherwell League last season to bounce back at the first attempt in a season of great poignancy following the loss of club stalwart Max Eason and popular scorer Tommy Pritchard.
Amin says: "We definitely take confidence from the season we had last year. It was unbelievable and to do it with the losses we had at the club. It was an honour that we did it in memory of Max and Tommy. It meant a lot to everyone at the club.
"We want to build on that, push on and use the momentum to go on and be more competitive in this league.
"I think we quite like the underdog tag. We want to have that fight mentally. It is a team representing Horspath and everyone is putting 100 per cent in.
"We respect teams, but we don't fear anyone and I think we can beat anyone on our day."
Amin remains grounded as far as the new campaign goes, saying: "I think the aims are more medium term in the sense I would like to say that in the next two or three seasons this Horspath side will compete in the top division of the Premier League. That is the ultimate goal.
"This season we want to be competitive and finish as high in the table as possible. "There are several strong teams. Our immediate goal is to win games of cricket, be competitive and take it week by week."
Horspath continue their Village Cup campaign at Shipton-under-Wychwood in the second round on Sunday, and will be looking for another bold show in the competition, having been crowned Oxfordshire area winners three times in the last four years, twice going on to reach the last 16 nationally.
Amin says: "The club has been very competitive in cups and looking forward it would be good to go one or two steps further than we have in the past. We will take each game as it comes and not take any opposition for granted.
"We want to give the club and everyone affiliated with the club another amazing cup run. I know how much it means to the club and everyone."
Horspath open the defence of the Hartwell Cup next month with group games against Oxenford and Oxford.
Amin adds: "I think with the T20 over the last couple of years we have built a brand of cricket. We want to play with a no fear mentality and take the game to the opposition, express ourselves and play cricket on the front foot. That is something I am a big believer in.
"We are very fortunate at the club that we have a lot of all-round cricketers. Hopefully we can go on another good run."
Saturday also sees the start of the Cherwell League with Horspath 2nd at home to Tiddington in Division 2, while Horspath 3rd visit Dorchester-on-Thames in Division 4B and Horspath 4th host Stokenchurch 2nd in Division 6C.