The resurrection of Rayne A’s 2025 title-winning team has breathed new life into the chase for this year’s Braintree Table Tennis League title.

With champions Netts A’s leading players cutting back on their appearances, the winners’ trophy looks very likely to be heading back from Earls Colne to Gore Road.

Maria Boulton did not play for Rayne last season, while Adam Buxton and Paul Lucas returned after injury to play a couple of games very late on.

But all three have signed on this year together with newcomer Nigel Peters, a former Chelmsford League player who has recently moved from Kent and is expected to be of a similar standard to his new team-mates.

Netts A, winners for three of the past four years, had five regular players in last year’s title-winning team and expect to have a similar spread this season.

The difference is that Paul Davison and James Hicks, who played in nine and 12 matches respectively, are both listed as reserves and expect to play no more than a third of their team’s matches. As they accounted for 62 of their team’s 141 points, that reduction could be telling.

Andy Holmes and Szczepan Ziobro remain and are joined by 20-year-old Charles Calisin, gaining deserved promotion after winning 35 of his 42 sets in division two last season.

Sudbury Nomads finished only 19 points behind Netts and it is somewhat ironic that they could have fancied their chances at a tilt at the title had it not been for the new-look Rayne team.

They have replaced Richard Fifield – now with their second team, Wanderers – with Michael Emmerson, a team-mate of Ken Lewis and Karl Baldwin at Great Horkesley in the Colchester League (all three had averages in the 70s in the league’s second division).

Liberal A finished behind Netts, Nomads and Rayne and are likely to have a similar line-up this season, although the most interesting feature is the probable return of six-times men’s singles champion Peter Hayden, out of the game for a number of years while waiting for a knee operation.

If the new knee holds up, a combination of Hayden, Brandon Crouchman and new men’s singles champion Scott Dowsett would be a test for any team.

The league lines up with 10 teams in division one, 12 in division two and 11 in division three, a pragmatic solution after the team finishing last in division one and the team in second place in division two both turned down the offer of a place in the top flight.

As a result, this season’s bottom team is unlikely to be relegated, which may be good news for Liberal B or Wanderers, who both came close last time.

Rayne C have been promoted, a just reward for Matthew Brown after his dominant performances in division two over the last two seasons