BURNLEY captain Dan Pickup has been pleased with his side’s balance after a strong start to the season.

The Turf Moor men have lost just one of their opening six Lancashire League games and sit fourth in the table ahead of this weekend’s trip to Middleton.

They have also reached the last eight of the Worsley Cup and the second round of the Lancashire Knockout while they begin their T20 campaign at East Lancs tonight.

And Pickup, in his second season as skipper, is happy with the way things are shaping up.

He said: “We’ve started pretty well.

“We lost our second game of the season against Todmorden but have recovered from that really well and we are in a nice winning run at the moment.

“The league is starting to take shape with the sides you would expect to be up there all looking good and it is shaping up to be a really competitive season.

“With the format of only playing teams once I think it is key to beat the sides around you knowing that they won’t get an opportunity to get those points back.”

And Pickup, whose side won the league title in 2015, believes his side possess plenty of match-winners as they go in search of silverware this time around.

He added: “It has been a real team effort so far,” he added.

“The batting effort has been pretty impressive and the bowlers have shared the wickets out well.

“There is no-one really winning games on their own and that helps. It takes the pressure of the professional and one or two others and means that everyone is contributing.”

Of Sunday’s trip to league new boys Middleton, Pickup added: “It is something of the unknown for us. We don’t know a lot about them other than looking at the league table (Middleton are 13th with two wins and four defeats) and the scorecards.

“But we are looking forward to it.”