AARON Lee says that he wants to stay on as Purton captain after his first season in the job.

The opening bowler took up the reins from Elliot Hill this summer and while he was disappointed to spend the campaign battling down at the bottom of the Wiltshire Division, Lee insists he enjoyed the responsibility.

With the place in the West of England Premier League retained, despite a 106-run defeat at Marshfield, the Purton captain is already plotting for the new season.

“It was pleasing that we stayed up, that was what we were aiming for at the start of the season,” Lee said.

“But to be honest we were disappointed to be battling at the bottom rather than the top.

“We are going to take a break now and then come back and work hard over the winter so that we can make a better stab of it next season.”

Lee admits that he has been surprised by the amount of work that comes with being captain.

“You can’t switch off, especially on game days,” Lee said. “It has been a difficult year but it has been one that I’ve enjoyed a lot.

“I always knew that there was a lot of work involved, but I have been surprised by how much there is to do behind the scenes.

“Despite all that, it is something that I want to keep doing and I definitely want to be captain again next season.”

In a year where they have endured a mixed bag of results, Purton’s final game of the campaign was one which finished in disappointment.

Marshfield got off to a decent start as William Pascall and Jeremy Bond put on 72 for the opening wicket before former edged Dale Bowler behind to Sam Pinchin for 10.

Bond fell six short of his century with Tom Bowler (4-62) picking up the key wicket as Marshfield were bowled out with the penultimate ball for 262.

However, Purton’s response with the bat was less than impressive with only Bowler (72) offering any resistance as they were bowled out for 156.

“It was a difficult pitch and one that our young players were not used to playing on,” Lee said.

“There is a way to play on a wicket like that. Their opener played a lot of shots across the line of the ball and he got a decent score.

“But our aim was to stay up and we did that.”