BLACKBURN Northern skipper Nasser Malik says he's having problems putting together the pieces of his cricketing puzzle.

On any given match day, the Northern skipper can't seem to put all three elements - batting, bowling and fielding - together.

Northern lost their seventh game of the season on Saturday, a 78-run reverse at the hands of Edenfield.

But with a double header this weekend against Oswaldtwistle Immanuel and Padiham, Northern are looking to solve to puzzle once and for all and get two wins that will see them rocket out of the bottom two and into mid-table.

He said: "It's fair to say the season isn't going as well as we'd hoped. It's our consistency that's letting us down.

"We either bat and bowl well but then our fielding lets us down or vice versa. We just need to do all three to a good standard on one day and I'm sure we'll start picking up wins.

"Our 20/20 form has been really good this season. It's just a shame we can't transform that into the league."

The paid man at Pleckgate Road this season is South African Alan Kruger and Malik has been pleased with what he's seen so far.

He said: "He's a good pro. He's done pretty well with the ball but he's having a bit of a sticky patch with the bat at the minute.

"But he's very enthusiastic and I'm sure he'll come good for us."

After a traumatic season last year, on and off the field, Northern have had a changing of the guard with new faces joining the club.

And Malik reckons some of the younger players are still finding their feet.

He added: "With a few of the older heads leaving the club it's given a few of our younger players a chance to step up.

"But despite our start, the spirit in the dressing room is surprisingly good. We don't have any scapegoats. We win, lose or draw as a team.

"I really believe that a couple of wins can transform our season and we're hoping that we can turn the corner in the second half of the season."