WILTSHIRE captain Ed Young is optimistic of an improved showing from his side in their Twenty20 fixtures this season after only one win in eight games last summer.

Wiltshire get their competitive season under way this weekend, travelling to take on Cornwall and Devon in four matches over two days on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday in the Unicorns T20.

There is then a full month’s gap before the bulk of their season gets under way in June.

Young highlighted standout performances in pre-season friendly games that has really given him – and the rest of the team – genuine belief that last year’s learning season is beginning to bear some fruit.

Ahead of Sunday’s opener at Cornwall, Young said: “There were some real positives last year, we just didn’t get the results that we would have liked often enough.

“Especially with a younger team, it was a season about learning and developing.

“We also had a lot of debutants playing minor counties cricket for the first time, so it’s great for them to have a year’s experience under their belts this time around.

“The squad is looking good and it’s looking rounded – it does depend on availability and injuries still, but the only way is up after last season.

“There’s been a couple of promising performances in friendly games and hopefully we can take that momentum into the competitive stuff.”

The 29-year-old has also pinpointed greater planning by the coaching staff and senior players as a source of potential success for his young side.

Young wants every one of his team-mates to take on more responsibility in terms of their own learning too and has said the team will go into every game much more prepared for every eventuality – something he hopes will give them an edge when the game is on a knife-edge.

He said: “Our mantra is to always have a plan and execute it.

“So we’ve always got to have an idea of where we’re being hit to, on which side of the field and to which fielders.

“From there, it’s a case of knowing which ball we have to bowl in order to have that desired outcome.

“On the flip side, when you’re batting, we need to have an answer to the question that bowler is trying to ask of you.

“We also need to work out how to turn these scores of 20 and 30 into half centuries, which actually win a lot of T20 games.”