TERRY Braithwaite is hoping his Ribblesdale Wanderers team can bounce straight back up from the knock-out blows Russell Whalley delivered to them last Saturday.

The Great Harwood batsman smashed the Ribblesdale League record with 214 runs in the Ramsbottom Cup tie at home to Wanderers - and the two sides meet again tomorrow.

But Ribblesdale captain Braithwaite is remaining positive about the re-match, hoping that home advantage can help avoid a repeat of the 154-run defeat.

He said: "I'm going to say to the lads that we've got an early chance to redeem ourselves.

"I'm picking exactly the same team because it would be unfair for anyone to be dropped after that.

"I couldn't look at any of the bowlers I used and say they deserved to be hit for so many runs."

Although Braithwaite and his fellow fielders could only stand and admire Whalley for most of Saturday afternoon, the skipper knows they could have prevented his run into the record books.

"We dropped him early on before he'd even made 20 and he made us pay," said Braithwaite.

"But Russ is one of these players that you feel you've always got a chance of getting out because of the way he bats.

"He hit 18 sixes so there were a lot of balls in the air, but unfortunately for us they cleared the ropes!

"He did strike the ball very well but our ground is bigger than Harwood's so I hope he won't find it as easy to reach the boundary.

"He was even hitting good balls well so if we'd bowled bad balls, maybe he'd have got himself out, you never know."

The restrictions of the Ramsbottom Cup also hampered Wanderers as pro Shahid Nawaz was only able to bowl 10 overs.

Braithwaite said: "Shahid only went for 20 runs in six overs during his first spell but then I took him off because I wanted to bring him back at the end.

"But if he's got people in trouble like that tomorrow there's no way I'll take him off, he'll bowl until he's tired or the pitch isn't doing anything for him."

Despite conceding a total of 327 runs on Saturday, Braithwaite feels it's the batting that needs to improve in his team, not the bowling.

He added: "I'm confident we've got bowlers capable of taking wickets like they did last year when we finished fourth in the league. They haven't become bad bowlers overnight.

"The problem at the moment is people have got to start scoring runs."

There's been no such trouble for Whalley this week, although he admits he might have put pressure on himself to duplicate the stunning double century.

"People might start expecting me to do that every week," said Whalley. "I've maybe put a bit of pressure on myself but I do have to carry that sort of form on in the league because I haven't made the best of starts to the season."

The same can be said of Great Harwood, who just have one league win so far, while their hosts tomorrow are second in the Ribblesdale League table and unbeaten.

Tomorrow's Jennings Ribblesdale League games: Baxenden v Oswaldtwistle Immanuel, Earby v Clitheroe, Edenfield v Cherry Tree, Ribblesdale Wanderers v Great Harwood, Settle v Barnoldswick, Whalley v Padiham.