LOCAL pride will be at stake in every way when the top two clash in the Jennings Ribblesdale League on Saturday.

Read and Great Harwood go head-to-head at Cliffe Park with the leadership at stake.

And the battle within the battle will involve the two professionals, who are team-mates back home in Pakistan.

Read professional Akram Raza is captain of Habib Bank, with one of his charges being Harwood all-rounder Farhan Adil.

Both men have helped their respective 'summer clubs' into the title race and according to Read captain Nick Marsh, Raza will be determined to pull rank on Saturday.

"He will certainly be trying to put one over him," said Marsh, who has been delighted with Raza's impact at Whalley Road.

"Akram is a class-act," he added. "He's 35 years of age, a Test cricketer and widely respected back home.

"He's ultra-professional and has a great way with him. He's fitted in tremendously well and we are absolutely delighted with him.

"We know he's going to score runs, especially when the wickets dry up."

Raza, who has already made three fifties and a hundred despite missing the first couple of games of the summer, has stepped into the considerable void left by the departure of Peter Sleep.

And as well as the input from the Pakistan professional, Marsh has also been impressed with the response of the rest of the side to Sleep's departure in what has been far from a one-man show in climbing to the top of the table.

"I'm delighted with the way things are going and the great thing is that everybody is contributing," he added.

"Akram Raza got a lot of runs early on which gave us a boost and even though he hasn't got as many in the last three games we have still got scores on the board.

"Michael Whalley had been batting well and made fifties, Warren Eastham has had a couple of fifties, Joey Marshall, who's only 17, has got his first one in the league and I managed to get a 50 last weekend.

"One of the strengths of Peter Sleep was that he was so dominant. But in some ways that can also be a weakness because some of the rest of the amateurs seemed to rely on him.

"The lads have taken on greater responsibility and they are all scoring runs and when Akram hasn't been batting so well he's bowled a lot of overs and been very economical."

Marsh led by example as his 58 took Read to a six-wicket win over Edenfield last Saturday to consolidate their position at the head of affairs.

His club hasn't won the championship since 1979 but sustaining a challenge would make up for the disappointment at falling at the first hurdle in their defence of the Jennings Ramsbottom Cup.

However, Marsh, whose side also wrapped up a highly satisfying 10-wicket win over Greenmount in the LCB Cup on Sunday, isn't getting carried away ahead of one of the sternest test of their title credentials.

"It's a long way away and I think the league is very open. There are a lot of good sides.

"I think Baxenden will go close, Earby will still be there or thereabouts, Blackburn Northern are doing well and Great Harwood and Cherry Tree are also going to be there," said the skipper, who shared in an unbroken stand of 99 with Eastham (68 not out) as Read saw off Greenmount to set up a home clash with Bootle.