CLITHEROE could lose professional Shabbir Ahmed to the Pakistani one day squad.

Ahmed has unexpectedly made it to the final 21 players taking part in a seven-day training camp this week, with 15 being selected for the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

The spinner will, therefore, be out of Clitheroe's second game of the Jennings Ribblesdale League season on Saturday, but could also miss the rest of the campaign.

He was absent from last Saturday's opening game and captain Neil Bolton is concerned that the club could be left without a pro on the books.

He said: "There is a chance of him getting on the tour and he has told us he will know by Tuesday.

"Obviously we would be delighted for him to be selected and it would show what a good player he is, but it would be panic stations for us.

"He is down to the last 21 but we are hoping he won't make the full squad because if he does I don't think we'll see him here this year. It will be getting towards the end of June when his commitments there would finish."

Clitheroe didn't miss Ahmed too much against Padiham last Saturday as they won by nine wickets, but it was thanks mainly to stand-in pro Johann Louw's five wickets and 46 runs.

The victory put Clitheroe top of the table after the first round of games as they were the only team to collect bonus points.

But Louw won't be available this Saturday as he will be playing for East Lancs in a Lancashire League double header weekend.

Another Johann, Botha, will be drafted in from Central Lancashire League side Heywood.

Better news for Bolton will be the return of last year's leading runs scorer Mark Hargreaves, who is back from holiday after missing the Padiham clash.

Clitheroe's visitors tomorrow, second placed Cherry Tree, had no such problems with their pro Mohammed Naeem Ashraf, and they will be looking to build on his good showing on the opening day.

An unbeaten 71 carried Cherry Tree to victory over Great Harwood by five wickets.

READ v BARNOLDSWICK

READ will be looking to build on the good start they made to their title defence when they beat Oswaldtwistle Immanuel by nine wickets.

However, Barnoldswick have had no such warm-up for their visit to Whalley Road.

Tomorrow's match will be their first game of the season as their start has been delayed by work on the batting square at their Victory Park home.

But if former Colombo Colts batsman, Sri Lankan pro Jeevantha Kulatunga, can acclimatise then it could game could go down to the wire.

This is a meeting of last year's top two teams in the Ribblesdale League.

WHALLEY v RIBBLESDALE WANDERERS

BOTH these sides started with victories on the opening day and the winning of the toss could be important tomorrow.

Both Whalley and Ribblesdale might fancy bowling first after both secured wins chasing targets last Saturday.

Players to watch will include home pro Shahid Nawaz, who dominated the Wanderers innings against Baxenden with an unbeaten 97, while Lee Kearsley was outstanding for Whalley as he scored 70 against Edenfield.

BLACKBURN NORTHERN v EDENFIELD

BOTH sides are looking for their first win of the season at Pleckgate Road and for the home side it will be a relief to finally get under way.

Northern were out of action because they were due to play at Barnoldswick on the opening day so have a lot to contend with this weekend.

They take on Barnoldswick at Great Harwood on Sunday but before that must combat Edenfield and awesome Aussie Ian Mitchell.

He has the league's only century of the season so far following a 107 not out against Whalley. Northern, however, will be buoyed by the fact that they still didn't win the game despite this knock.

Home supporters will be keen to see how new South African pro Gareth Flusk performs having previously shone in Lancashire at Vickerstown.

EARBY v BAXENDEN

JONATHAN Harvey returns to Earby as captain of Baxenden in a showdown between two sides looking for their first wins of the season.

Of the sides that batted first on the league's opening weekend, Baxenden posted the highest team score of 173-6 against Ribblesdale.

They were unable to contain the Wanderers pro Shahid Nawaz when the bowled, but the batting performance will give Harvey confidence they can pull off a result against his old side.

Harvey broke batting records during his days at Applegarth but will be looking to improve on a disappointing 9 on his first appearance for Baxenden.

Earby will be looking to bounce back from a nine wicket opening day defeat at Settle.

PADIHAM v OSWALDTWISTLE IMM

NEITHER of these teams' professionals disappointed last Saturday but neither could inspire their team mates to victory.

Immanuel's Wesley Morrick scored 46 not out in a low team total, but was their only wicket taker as they lost to Read.

Padiham's Pankaj Tripathi hit 63, but only one other batsman made double figures as they lost to Clitheroe.

GREAT HARWOOD v SETTLE

GREAT Harwood will be hoping their new faces make more of an impact in the club's second game of the season.

Although pro Andy Crook hit 38 and Andy McNicholas made 15, apart form Paul Houldsworth's 79 not out, no other Great Harwood batsman made double figures against Cherry Tree.

They lost the game by five wickets, while Settle beat Earby by nine wickets.

Results in Monday's Telegraph.