Kulatunga arrival will kick-start Burnley's season

4:18pm Friday 2nd May 2008

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ALL-ROUNDER Jeeva Kulatunga arrives in England today to kick-start his Burnley campaign.

After taking part in a 20/20 competition in his homeland Sri Lanka, Kulatunga will open up his Burnley account against Todmorden at Turf Moor.

"It will be great to have Jeeva with us," said Burnley captain Qasim Ali.

"I think it will settle the side a lot more now he's with us. He's a good player and we hope he will do the business.

"The only worry this weekend is that he might suffer from jet-leg!"

RAMSBOTTOM have named an unchanged side from the team which demolished Colne last weekend.

And captain Simon Read, who got his season underway with a knock of 54, is hoping for more of the same as they welcome Nelson tomorrow.

He said: "Last year we chopped and changed the side a little, so it's good to name a settled team.

"It was a good start last weekend and the pro looked really good. Long may it continue."

CHURCH skipper Phil Gilrane believes the shackles are off his team after chalking up their first win of the season.

The West End outfit host Haslingden tomorrow after getting their campaign up and running with a dramatic one wicket victory over East Lancs last Saturday.

It looked bleak for Church at one point, needing 51 runs to win with two wickets left.

But Adam Greenwood was the star performer, carrying Church home with an unbeaten 38, supported by tail-ender Barry Shorrock.

"It was a great game," said Gilrane. "At one point, it looked as though we were down and out.

"But Barry came in and dug deep for us, allowing Adam to play his shots.

"That first win is so important. We did not want to go two or three weeks waiting - the lads would have been down.

"But we can perhaps enjoy our cricket a bit more now and look forward to a few more wins."

Meanwhile, Haslingden captain Graham Knowles is hoping his side can improve on their fielding after a succession of dropped catches ultimately cost them against Nelson last week.

He said: "Nobody means to drop catches, but we paid the price for it last week."

Zubair Imtiaz and Mike Ingham return to the squad.

Saturday fixtures: Burnley v Todmorden; Church v Haslingden Colne v Bacup; East Lancs v Accrington; Enfield v Rishton; Ramsbottom v Nelson; Rawtenstall v Lowerhouse.

l Don't miss the big preview in tomorrow's Telegraph.