WHEN driving rain gave way to Caribbean thunder Franklyn Rose provided enough of it to threaten Burnley's grip on a wearisome affair at Turf Moor.

Ultimately, though, the rain won out and it was the home side, strengthened by the return of their professional, Rudra Singh, who claimed victory with a faster run-rate.

Brought off the field at 7.14pm with Burnley batting and Rose doing his best to eliminate the opposition one by one, play was finally called off completely at 7.50pm.

While Burnley deserved their victory, bowling economically and then maintaining a superior run-rate throughout their innings, the pain of defeat was visible in the dark eyes of Jamaican Rose.

A superbly conditioned athlete and one of the quickest bowlers in the world, he finds it difficult to conceal the naked ambition that runs through everything he undertakes.

"If I had got another wicket quickly, then who knows?" he reflected in the pavilion afterwards.

"They would have been under pressure for certain.

"But the weather meant that it was not to be.

"I'm disappointed. I needed a bit more support.

"We didn't have another strike bowler - Michael Devenney could not play because of an injury to his eye - and the responsibility was all on my shoulders.

"It just didn't happen for us."

His counterpart, Singh, was delighted primarily with Burnley's win but perhaps more significantly by standing up to the rigours of a senior match for the first time since sustaining an ankle injury.

"This was my first game back since the first match of the season and I felt all right," said the Indian whose reputation as a gentleman is carried effortlessly.

"It was a little tender afterwards but I bowled reasonably well, taking a shortened run-up, and I am happy with the injury's progress and happy that we won this game."

A bruising encounter it was not, although that might be disputed by Enfield's Damien Hartley who, despite wearing a helmet and protective visor, was struck on the bridge of the nose in the first over by one of Singh's deliveries.

As he was carried off the pitch, blood streaming down his white shirt, he resembled a man who had just gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson. His replacement, Andy Barker, should have been threatened with such action, for he advanced the Enfield total with all the urgency of a snail on an empty stomach.

Dean, his brother, failed to make any swifter progress before being dismissed by Kizar Saeed, but it was Masook Ahmed, Gary Barker and Rose who put beef into the visitors' innings.

Barker opened his shoulders to power over a couple of sixes and, with Rose supplementing a few boundaries, Enfield set a target that was not insurmountable but a lot more formidable than it had threatened to be early on.

In reply, the Grand Old Man of the Lancashire League and his capable son, Peter and Michael Brown, set off on the right foot, in particular "Junior" who played some exquisite shots off Rose.

But the contribution of Singh was crucial, a handy knock of 40 as the rain came tumbling down and eventually brought an early intervention.

"Rudra is very important to us and it was significant that we arrested the slide on his comeback," said captain Brown, who will admit to being "mid-forty".

Umpire Roy Lyons, who could add a couple more years to that amount, was a key figure to yesterday's plot. "I have yet to come here on a fine day," he said. Franklyn Rose will not want you about, Mr Lyons, whenever he next visits Burnley.

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