THE cry went up in the East Lancs dressing room, "We was robbed" writes BRIAN DOOGAN.

And it had nothing to do with events on the cricket field.

Those were bad enough with East Lancs, having been set an undaunting target of 140, producing a batting performance of such indifference that they might have struggled to chase two old age pensioners, never mind a league title.

It was soulless and completely unbefitting a club who until Saturday still had a chance of finishing the season as champions.

Mathematically, they still can if, as Enfield captain Andy Barker put it, Haslingden do a 'Devon Loch' and capitulate about five yards from the finishing post.

But the Alexandra Meadows men are not a team of champions, not after Saturday's display of ineptitude.

To rub salt in the wound, their dressing room was burgled and the villain made off with a substantial sum of money, credit cards and three watches.

For those final items to be stolen was ironic.

For when it was time for East Lancs to show their grit, to at least make Haslingden fight for the right to be crowned champions, they were found wanting.

Their South African professional, Billy Stelling, ventured why.

"There is not enough discipline in our side," he said.

"The mistakes we made last season - when we lost out so narrowly to Rishton - were not rectified. We don't practice and when we do it's a joke.

"Constructive practice is needed. "And it's down to each individual to put the time aside.

"I can't make people practice."

One of the criticisms coming from certain quarters of the East Lancs dressing room is that Stelling doesn't seem to be able to motivate them either.

There was nothing inspirational about his performance, lamely going for 17 in the 13th over. And although he was quite economical, he only bowled for eight overs.

In contrast, Alan Dawson, Stelling's compatriot and predecessor at Alexandra Meadows, bowled all the way through and, after plundering six wickets, was rightly pleased by his effort.

"I played two seasons at East Lancs and today I felt I had something to prove," he said.

"And I did the job.

"It's always nice to beat a side you once played for."

Dawson singled out the contribution as well of 15-year-old debutant Munir Khan, whose tight bowling increased the pressure on East Lancs' nervous batsmen.

Only Jan Van Boekel made any impact, scoring 31 off 43 balls but it was not enough.

Earlier, Paul Garaghty had come up two runs shy of his half century. As it turned out, it was the decisive knock.

The final action involved Ian Haworth and Richard Cooper being run out.

For East Lancs, that was all out and all over.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.