IT hasn't been the most successful season for Cherry Tree's Australian professional Scott Pearce. He's lost his league record of 186 runs, is nowhere near topping the 1,200 runs he made last year - and Cherry Tree's early season look of championship contenders has gone.

"It's been a funny season," confessed Pearce. "After finishing fifth last year we were confident we'd better that. But having an unsettled side all season means we've suffered."

But Pearce, 26, who holds British citizenship and wants county cricket, still believes Cherry Tree can make the top six. "We play Baxenden on Saturday and Edenfield on Sunday. Victories there will put us well on the way to our goal."

Fixtures:Saturday: Barnoldswick v Blackburn N, Baxenden v Cherry Tree, Clitheroe v Earby, Edenfield v Whalley, Gt Harwood v Read, Osw Immanuel v Ribblesdale W, Settle v Padiham.

Sunday: Osw Immanuel v Blackburn N, Clitheroe v Baxenden, Earby v Settle, Edenfield v Cherry Tree, Great Harwood v Ribblesdale W, Read v Barnoldswick, Whalley v Padiham.

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