In literature, an odyssey is a long, wandering journey marked by many changes in fortune – Prescot & Odyssey have been living up to their name in recent years.

Relegated from the Liverpool Competition in 2017, they began to founder in the Southport & District League, eventually finding themselves in the relegation zone late in the 2021 season.

Graham Talbot, who took over as captain, admitted: “We were not in a good period.

“But I said to the lads, if we managed to stay up then things were going to go forward and progress. 

“We managed to do that, and the last couple of seasons we’ve strengthened. 

“This season coming, we’ve strengthened even more and the target for this year is to be challenging to win the league and get ourselves back into the Liverpool Competition.”

Successive fourth-place finishes certainly suggest P&O have what it takes to challenge. 

A squad including former Wavertree men Matt Nation and Stewart Guy will be augmented by another, young all-rounder Callum Jacob, as well as wicketkeeper Steve Donoghue – a former Frinton-on-Sea teammate (and presumably wicketkeeping mentor) of a young man by the name of Ben Foakes.

Talbot added: “It is a tough league, and there’s always three or four teams challenging up there to win it. We’re just focusing on ourselves.

But whether it happens this year or not, his ambition is clear.

He said: “When I took over, the first thing I said was our club should be in the Liverpool Competition. 

“We’ve got fantastic facilities, and we shouldn’t be where we were. 

“We needed to progress and we’ve got to that standard now. 

“We want to be in the Liverpool Competition and when we do get there, we’ll be good enough to stay there and progress. 

“That’s the aim over the next couple of years.”