RATWENSTALL have been hit hard by not having a regular professional in the ranks this season, according to wicketkeeper Nick Payne.

The Worswick Memorial Ground side thought they could boast the services of Sri Lankan Saliya Saman until his visa application was turned down.

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And since then they have had to draft a series of sub pros in to cover, including Waqas Saleem at Enfield tomorrow, while trying to secure a full-time signing as soon as possible.

Payne said: “It’s not helping us not having a professional.

“It’s so hard to get a settled team when you don’t have a pro. You’re chopping and changing each week.

“The sub pro we had last week was Travis Dean and I’ve never seen anyone make batting look so easy.

“The lads can’t get settled and there’s no pro to help out with things. It’s a nightmare.”

Rawtenstall won their first two games of the season against Todmorden and Colne, but have since lost three and had two rained off.

Those three defeats came against Church, Ramsbottom and Burnley, and Payne admits it has been tough at times, although there was some improvement against the champions last Sunday.

He added: “We’ve had a bit of mixed fortunes so far this season and lost the last three games.

“Against Church we were absolutely decimated and they were far too good for us because we were appalling.

“We played with a depleted side against Ramsbottom and were 80-odd all out.

“Last week, we played against Burnley and we batted really well, but just lost it in the field.”

The trip to Colne Trophy holders Enfield is another tough assignment, but Payne says if Rawtenstall can get the basics right they have a chance of turning around their flagging fortunes.

“You look at Enfield and they’ve got players like Adam Bracewell who, on his day, can take any bowling apart,” he said.

“I put him in the same league as Church’s Levi Wolfenden batting-wise – he’s one of the best in the league.

“Then you’ve got Ben Dowling, who was pro last year at Stand, and Liam Jackson, who’s a quality all-rounder. The league as a whole has got so much quality in it.

“We want to get the basics right and compete, which is what we didn’t do against Church or Rammy.

“We did last week, but the fielding let us down. We need to get all three facets working together, and if we don’t we’re going to end up losing again.”

n Former Todmorden paid man Qaiser Abbas is sub pro for Church at East Lancashire on Saturday.

Fixtures (Saturday): Bacup v Accrington, Burnley v Rishton, East Lancashire v Church, Enfield v Rawtenstall, Nelson v Haslingden, Ramsbottom v Colne, Todmorden v Lowerhouse.