THE dust has barely settled on the 2013 Home Counties campaign but Reading CC are already preparing for a title challenge next season.

The Sonning Lane side finished fifth in Division Two West this year after cruising past relegated Falkland by nine wickets on the final day.

But, as skipper David Hartley revealed to the Chronicle, they will have little time to rest as they try to ensure they do not make the same mistakes next year.

“We have just booked indoor nets starting this week and running all the way through to April,” he said.

“As individuals we didn’t hit our targets this year and didn’t play consistently enough to be challenging for the title. It’s easy to look at the games against Farnham Royal, when we had them 23-7, and Great & Little Tew and Harefield when we could have won, but the fact is we weren’t consistent enough and we want to improve on that.”

One thing Reading won’t have to work too hard on is their team spirit, which remained strong even during their barren run of eight matches without a win.

And although Hartley did not confirm that he will be staying on as skipper next season, he did say he is already looking forward to the campaign.

“There’s a really good spirit around the side, everybody enjoys playing with each other and being together, most of the squad has already committed for next season,” he commented.

Reading finished the season on a five-match winning streak following their comfortable success against Falkland.

The West Berkshire side never looked like springing a surprise on the final day and could have been bowled out for far less than 159 had Reading not conceded 36 extras.

Hartley was the pick of the bowlers with 5-27 while Kashif Nasim claimed a couple of wickets.

Praful Waghela (9) was the only casualty in the chase as Curran Gaur (64*) and Martin Andersson (54*) saw Reading to a routine win.

Unfortunately the season did not pan out quite as well for Reading’s other teams in the Thames Valley League.

The 2nds, 3rds and 4ths all finished bottom of their respective leagues and managed just four wins between them.