Ribblesdale League focus: Padiham CC

3:16pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

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THE sun has come out and it's shining brightly on Padiham at the moment.

The club picked up their second win of the season against Oswaldtwistle Immanuel and welcomed back several of their key first team players.

Umar Saddique, who scored over 400 runs for the The Arbories side last season, has been joined at the club by his 16-year-old brother Abdul, from Nelson.

And with the return of Naveed Ashraf this weekend to face league leaders Great Harwood in the Ramsbottom Cup, skipper Andy Robinson believes his side will be a forced to be reckoned with again this campaign.

He said: "It's really good news for the club.

"Losing the players that we thought we had left a big hole in the team.

"We were looking at doing a re-building job with some of the younger players being given a chance. Now I've got a nice headache when it comes to selection for the weekend.

"Umar has been a big part of the success over the last couple of seasons and Abdul looks to be a really good prospect.

"We'll also have Naveed Ashraf, who wasn't able to play in the first few weeks of the season, back in contention.

"We're as strong, if not stronger, than we were last season and we feel we can be one of the contenders.

"We've been runner-up and third in the last two seasons and we feel that we can be right up there against this season."

Umar Saddique picked up a five-wicket haul against Immanuel, with pro Siddique taking three, and Robinson is expecting them both to fire in the coming weeks.

He added: "Kashif missed the first few weeks of the season because he was still playing back home.

"But we know what he's capable of, and if the sun keeps shining, he can take teams apart.

"He broke Russell Whalley's record last season, with 233, and with the track at The Arbories, and the short boundaries, you wouldn't put it past him to do it again."

Whalley and Siddique come face-to-face this weekend as Padiham and Great Harwood do battle in the Ramsbottom Cup this weekend.

And Robinson is expecting fireworks as two of the league's big hitters face off.

"I think people who live near the ground might need to board their windows up before this game," he joked.

"There could be a lot of runs scored on Saturday. The track is a batsman's paradise and, with the short boundaries, even if you score 250 in the first innings, you don't know if it's a good score."

But Padiham have had the Indian sign over The Cliffe outfit in the past couple of seasons, and Robinson said Saturday's showdown would give him an idea where his side are at.

He added: "We've been their bogey side for the last couple of years, but this game will give me a good indication of how we measure up.

"The likes of Great Harwood and Baxenden will be up there.

"And with the likes of Peter Shirtcliffe pusing the boys we've brought back, I'm hoping we can mount a challenge too."