New Oxfordshire captain Keith Arnold says his side have what it takes to challenge for next season's Minor Counties Championship Western Division title.

Arnold, who has replaced Rob Williams as skipper, believes that his men will be in the running to take the Western Division pennant for the first time in 11 years - availability permitting.

Oxon were not once able to field a full side last summer, and Arnold is hoping the situation will improve this time around.

"Last year was very difficult," he said. "I was out injured for the first half, and we had a lot of important men missing throughout.

"The key is to get strong sides out early on, get off to a good start and then you find that people want to play.

"I am desperately keen for people to make themselves available. But at the end of the day, I am not going to go knocking on doors and chasing people up - I want players who are keen and willing to make sacrifices."

Arnold, who is returning to captain Banbury Twenty in The Oxford Times Cherwell League after ten seasons with Walsall and then Leamington Spa in the Birmingham League, is confident that Oxon will have the batsmen to match any team in the division.

But he believes that the bowling, as has been the case for several seasons, is a potential area of weakness.

"Now that Devon are losing Nick Folland and probably Peter Roebuck, our full-strength batting line-up is the best in the Western Division," he said.

"But we still need an extra seamer to support myself and Stewart Laudat. We've got our eyes on a couple of people - Philip Evans has the potential and Kingston Bagpuize's Simon Launder is also someone we are interested in.

"There are places available, and it is a case of players putting themselves in the frame."

Arnold missed much of last season with a pelvic injury sustained in a horse-riding accident, and when he did play he was not fully fit.

But he expects to be raring to go come April.

"I'm going to be fit and healthy, and I can't wait to start," he said. "I've always been desperate to play for Oxfordshire, and becoming captain has only enhanced that."

Arnold is also enthusiastic about working with Jack Potter, the former head of the Australian Cricket Academy, who is returning for a second season as Oxfordshire coach.

"Jack had a difficult first year, because he had to get to know everyone at the start and then the personnel kept changing so much.

"But if you talk to those who played regularly, they will tell you that they got an awful lot out of Jack. He's been there and done it, and the players respected that.

"He brought a professionalism to our approach that had been lacking. His fielding practices were hard and everyone felt the benefit, and in 20-odd matches I think he did 20 different warm-up routines."

Two players who Arnold expects great things from in 2002 are youngsters Adam Cook and Ben Thompson.

"Cooky and Thommo were outstanding for us last season," Arnold said. "They dug us out of holes with the bat and they both came on enormously with the ball.

"Cooky has got a fantastic attitude and desire, and Thommo just gets better and better. You forget that Thommo is still only 21 or 22 because he seems to have been around forever. There is more to come from both of them."