The SHANE LEE Column in association with E W Cartons

IT promises to be a really crazy weekend with the Inter-League Cup tie at Littleborough today and a tough home league game against Accrington tomorrow.

It will be a blessed relief to get out of the house though - just to get away from Brad McNamara's guitar playing!

We are both having lessons in a bid to master the instrument but the feedback that comes out of Brad's guitar would wake the dead.

His playing is driving me up the wall and you can hear it at the bottom of the road when he really lets rip.

I enjoy all sorts of music from the Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi to Nirvana - but I'm not an Oasis fan!

I'm determined to get to a couple of live shows this summer and I am trying to sort out tickets to see U2 at Leeds and maybe the Foo Fighters at Manchester Apollo.

But, while I love my music and my social time in England, my main priority is my cricket and my serious commitment to Enfield.

That is why I pulled out of the Duke of Norfolk's X1 against Australia on Thursday because my ankle wasn't quite right.

It was a major disappointment for me but I couldn't afford the risk of missing what is a very important weekend for Enfield and going into the games only half fit.

It was frustrating to have my score (125) wiped from the record books last weekend when the match against Ramsbottom was abandoned because of rain. It would be marvellous to be in that sort of form this weekend and to try and help us into the next round of the cup and push Enfield further up the league.

I've had a month in the Lancashire League now and that has given me time to assess the strength of the cricket.

I reserved my judgment until I had seen a few games but it is a very competitive league and the standard of cricket is good.

There is a big will to win and the guys play the game quite hard which I'm sure all the professionals appreciate.

The standard is not as high as grade cricket back home. But grade cricket is an entirely different approach with the two innings' spread from one Saturday to the next, instead of a 46-over match.

That probably gives players more time to develop.

I am really looking forward to playing against Peter Sleep tomorrow. He will be the sub professional for Accrington and is still a big name in Oz from his Test days.

I've never played against him but I am looking forward to having a beer and a chin-wag with him because I'm sure he will have a few tales to tell.

The old Enfield professional Damien Fleming has dropped in to see us. He is over in England for a few weeks and we will be having the odd beer or two with him before he goes back.

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