Denman Cricket Club is currently feeling the pinch, despite their pristine oval and flow through of young talent.

President and club stalwart Alan Mills said that while he and all the players still love their cricket, it's difficult to get others to forfeit their whole Saturday just to play.

"The biggest issue is trying to get people to commit to playing sport for six hours," he said.

"If you play soccer or rugby league or whatever it's over in an hour and a half. "For me I'm a cricket tragic so it's not a problem."

Having been involved for a long time, and seen periods where they have played in a 24 team competition, he knows there are highs and lows.

He's pleading for people to sign up and play at least the first game or two, revealing that's usually the toughest time in terms of numbers.

"Once we get the first two games up and running we seem to be able to handle it, and as a general rule we struggle through to Christmas then everyone wants to play," he said.

Enthusiasm is still strong within the junior ranks though, with under 10s, 12s, 14s and 16s all maintaining strong numbers, as well as having a few youngsters trying to break into the senior squad.

"That's not a problem at all, we use the juniors in a big way, as much as we can," he said.

The club begun playing in the Singleton competition five years ago and Mills said he has no regrets making the switch, even though numbers are dropping across all teams.

However, one player that will be returning is batsman Hunter Ball who enjoyed an outstanding season last year in the Maitland tournament.

He also helped Hunter Valley retain the Stan Austin Trophy at under 16 level, after averaging 62 throughout the four matches.

He's just one of several players Mills highlighted as potential match-winners this campaign, with captain Karl Bowd set to return from injury around late December.

The club is hopeful of retaining two teams, and is calling on anybody interested to get in contact and help them enjoy a strong 2019/20 season.