Carlisle Cricket Club will open their new Cumbria League season away to the 2018 champions Cockermouth.

The game, on April 20, is almost deja-vu as last season Carlisle’s opening game was against the previous year’s champions Workington.

Carlisle have handed a two-year contract as club professional to Mike Slack, who has moved from Wigton.

Opening-day hosts Cockermouth have appointed 21-year-old Sri Lankan fast bowling all-rounder Kavishka Anjula as their new professional for the 2019 season.

He takes over from Pakistani Haseeeb Azam, professional in their title-winning season.

Newly-promoted Egremont start at home to Dalton while there’s a tasty contest in prospect at Cleator where last season’s runners-up entertain a Workington side who missed out on a title hat-trick in 2018.

Whitehaven have signed Scotland international Safyaan Sharif for the new season.

He was sub-pro for the last four matches of the 2018 season and immediately impressed with his performances and attitude.

They start at Wigton while the opening day is completed in the Premier Division by Keswick v Millom and Lindal Moor v Furness.

The first round of the Higson Cup will be played around the first May Bank Holiday weekend.

Furness v Dalton is being played on the Sunday (May 5) while, on the Monday, the three ties are: Keswick v Lindal Moor; Wigton v Workington; Millom v Cockermouth.

Egremont, Cleator, Whitehaven and Carlisle all received first-round byes.

The quarter-finals will be played on the second May Bank Holiday Monday, May 27.

The games are: Keswick or Lindal Moor v Carlisle; Egremont v Whitehaven; Millom or Cockermouth v Furness or Dalton; Cleator v Wigton or Workington.

The semi-finals will be played on July 14 and the final is set for Sunday, August 4.

The Premier Division season is due to finish on Saturday, September 14 when the scheduled games are: Cleator v Dalton; Cockermouth v Whitehaven; Egremont v Millom; Keswick v Carlisle; Lindal Moor v Workington; Wigton v Furness.