ABSENCE has made the heart grow fonder after 12 months without the Worsley Cup.

After taking it from Lowerhouse in 2013, Burnley kept hold of the trophy for the next four years.

But after a year in the hands of Darwen, the Turf Moor side are determined to beat their big Lancashire League rivals and be reunited.

Captain Dan Pickup is not alone in relishing a first Worsley Cup final meeting between Lowerhouse and Burnley in 93 years of the competition, incredibly in the year that the league extended to 24 teams and the odds of it happening increased.

But he is determined to play the game and not the occasion, and keep all eyes on the prize.

“We’ve had a good record over the past few years in the cup. Last year was the first time it had been away from us for four years so we are desperate to get it back,” said Pickup, who is captaining the club for the first time in a cup final.

“It would be massive to win it. I’ve played at Burnley all my life and the derby games do mean that little bit more.

“To be able to lift the trophy for the club would be a huge privilege for me.”

Pickup is expecting a tough challenge from Lowerhouse, but added: “We’re pretty confident in cup cricket. We feel like it suits us with the way that we play generally. We’re quite an attacking side with the bat and we usually have a good variety of bowling options.

“So we’ve been looking forward to this game, especially since we knew who we were playing.

“I don’t think it makes much difference playing at Lowerhouse. If anything there’s probably a bit more pressure on the home team in front of their own fans.

“They will have put a lot of planning into it, and it’s hard to avoid the hype.

“But as much as we can we’ll be trying to treat it like a normal game.

“They beauty of it is we just have to turn up.

“They are big events to host - we’ve had a couple over the last few years.

“There’s so much planning goes into it and weeks and weeks of preparation, but from our point of view we can just concentrate on the cricket and not really worry about anything else.”

Of the rivalry between the town’s two clubs, Pickup added: “There’s always a bit of needle during the game, but afterwards everyone seems to get on pretty well off the pitch.

“Deep down there’s a respect between the clubs.

“It will be feisty on the pitch but I’m sure we should be able to have a beer afterwards, whatever happens.”

Burnley are boosted by being at full strength for the final.

“It’s a bit of a luxury for us because we’ve not been able to say that for a few weeks. A couple of people have been away and we’ve had a few injuries but we’re picking from 12.

“No-one’s had to cancel any holidays, which has been known in the past, but I don’t think anything has been planned for this weekend.

“Everyone must have been confident we were going to get there.”

Lowerhouse are also going into the game at full strength, after securing Leicestershire and Australia’s Mark Cosgrove as sub pro in the absence of the injured Ockert Erasmus. But the South African will still have some involvement in the game.

“It’s a shame for Ocki but his parents are over from South Africa and his dad has part-sponsored the match ball,” said Lowerhouse secretary Frank Entwistle, who has been the main organiser in hosting the final.

“Hopefully the whole town will have a fantastic day,” he added.

“It promises to be a huge crowd as through online sales we’ve already made 66 per cent of the gate receipt, of which the clubs and the league get a third each.

“Being the host club we’ll make money on the catering and bar, and that is massive for us. It will be invested in nets and facilities in terms of the ground itself.

“But our core business is the cricket so nets and the junior section are important then maybe one day we’ll produce a James Anderson.

“We’ve had to bring in additional paid staff to help with it all, but we’ve also got plenty of volunteers, including my 80-year-old father-in-law who will be in a booth on Liverpool Road for online ticket collections.”

There is still the option of admission on the day, with adults charged £4 and concessions £2.