Ian Cockbain wants to make Formby a bit more ruthless as he takes over as captain in his late father’s footsteps.

The son and namesake of the Liverpool Competition legend inherits from Ryan Brown a side brimming with top-order talent but lacking in match-winning consistency.

And he thinks if he can help them change that, they’re more than a match for anyone in the league.

Cockbain said: “On paper, I thought we had one of the best teams last season, certainly capable of competing.

“It’s about stringing together performances, and not just against the good teams, being a bit more ruthless. 

“That’s one thing I’m going to be driving for this year, a bit more consistency, because on our best day we can beat anyone, and we showed that last year.”

Key to those best days was Formby’s imposing batting order.   

Cockbain and opening partner Ollie Sutton made three centuries each in the league and racked up 1,749 runs between them.

But with Sutton taking steps towards a possible county breakthrough by appearing in Worcestershire’s 2nd XI six times last season, Cockbain isn’t banking on him being available for the whole season.

The captain said: “Me and Ol got off to a flyer pretty much every week last year, between the pair of us we managed quite a few hundreds. 

“It would be nice if everybody else jumps on that bandwagon, because it will be a big ask for us to get the same runs again. 

“If we can share them around then that will make our lives a bit easier and hopefully provide a few more winning opportunities.

“Ollie is a fantastic player, both with the bat and with the ball. 

“We’re hoping to get a few more overs out of him if he can stay fit, because he’s one of our frontline bowlers, not just our opening batter. 

“I hope he gets off to a great start but then if he does we might not see him again for the rest of the season, because he deserves further honours given his performances over the last couple of years. 

“He did pretty well on trial last year, so with a bit of luck he’ll start well and get himself nestled in somewhere. 

“I’d love for him to not play for us, given it’ll mean he’s getting higher honours.”

The experienced Tom Billington has been recruited from Horwich RMI to fill any potential gap in the batting order, while New Zealander Ian Souness will have a similar all-round role as last year’s overseas, Ankit Sharma.

And young prospects Lucas Kennedy and Archie Davies will be given more opportunities to show what they can do.

Formby’s fifth-place finish last season was an improvement on 2022, when they struggled to bowl sides out and flirted with relegation, but with doubts over Ben Aitchison’s fitness and availability, taking 10 wickets a week may once again prove tricky.

That’s where a skipper comes in, of course. Cockbain has been a leader throughout his career, and was appointed club captain at Gloucestershire before injury intervened.

So he feels no added burden when it comes to carrying on the family business at Cricket Path. 

He said: “I’ve done a lot of captaincy as a kid, in T20s, and at Gloucestershire, so there’s no added pressure – it’s just turning up on a Saturday and trying to add my input into the game on the field.”