Braintree Cricket Club have one aim this year – promotion.

As the Panfield Lane club begin the 2015 season in division two of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship they will have former president Tom Gould very firmly in their thoughts and they will be looking for a strong start when they host local rivals Dunmow on Saturday.

Gould died last December after a 50-year association with Braintree and first-team skipper Nick Butler said his memory would be a motivation for the team to push on into the top flight of the Two Counties Championship.

They were close to achieving that last summer as they finished third behind Frinton seconds and Halstead and will know what is expected in 2015.

Butler said: “Tom Gould was a legend of our club and Essex cricket.

“We’ll have him in our thoughts and it will be a motivation for us to do well for Tom and all the hard work and love he had for the club.

“This year our aim is clear – promotion.

“2014 was a successful year, but while we were unlucky to have three games rained off – whereas the promoted sides had one between them – we only had ourselves to blame with a couple of poor performances away from home that cost us promotion.

“At home we are very strong and know what it takes to win.

“The games we lost were more often than not away from home and we struggled to adapt our approach to different conditions.

“However, there were lots of positives from last year’s campaign. "