JER Lane captain Raqeeb Younis has glorified his side's batting after an impressive start to the campaign.

The Jers sit at the summit of the Bradford Cricket League Division 2, with five games played and an unbeaten start to the season.

Younis's side also progressed through the Jack Hampshire Cup round 1, beating Scholes comfortably by 166 runs.

An impressive 139 run inning from Osama Ahmed stole the show that day, and as his side prepare for the weekend battle with rivals Sandal, captain Younis was quick to praise the team's batting displays so far this campaign.

He said: "I think the main thing for our early season success, is that we've got a strong batting line-up.

"Our number-10 batsman got 139 against Scholes on Sunday as well, so our batting is a powerful point in our game.

"And I'm not surprised Ahmed hit 139 runs either. All the lads have got ability in our side and I know that from top to bottom, we will score runs. "

Jer Lane will head into a tough fixture against Sandal this weekend, the side they defeated in the Bradford League’s Division Two League Cup final last season.

And Younis is hopeful his side can put on a show; however he did concede that it will be a tough game.

He said: "Sandal are a good outfit, they've started the season brightly and it will be good to play them.

"Games like this bring the best out of our lads as well, because they like to play smart cricket.

"I'm looking forward to it, so are the lads. We are arriving into the game full of confidence, so hopefully we can get the job done."

Reflecting on his sides' improvements since the cup final in the previous campaign, Younis said: "I think we've progressed quite well.

"We've made a few good signings and because we had half a season's play together last year, we were able to build on that, and the new lads have settled in nicely."

All being well, the game with Sandal will go ahead after Jer Lane's league game at the weekend was halted, due to poor weather.

Younis and his side were left frustrated that they couldn't build on their early season momentum.

He said: "It was frustrating; however, credit should be given to the umpires for trying to get the game to go ahead.

"Conditions were okay to start with, so it allowed us to start the game, but as the game went on the rain didn't stop.

"So yes, it was frustrating, because Hopton will be challengers by the looks of thing. They're a handy outfit.

"I thought we were in a good position to try and get a win on Saturday, but the weather didn't allow us to."

The upcoming fixture at the weekend, will see the league's previous finalists come toe-to-toe once again.

The Jers remain unbeaten, while Sandal have won two games, lost one game, with the other two game's being abandoned. Weather permitting, a cracking Division 2 fixture awaits.