SEVERAL clubs are heading the chase for one of the Lancashire League's leading amateur bowlers.

David Ormerod, who has taken more than 800 wickets for Bacup during a 24-year spell, decided to quit the club after being replaced as captain by veteran wicketkeeper John Chapman.

Haslingden and Accrington are believed to be two of the clubs interested in signing the pace bowler for next season.

Ormerod said: "I've been in talks with several clubs, and I'm just weighing up my options."

In a statement to the club this week, Ormerod hit out at the decision to strip him of the captaincy after such a short spell, claiming he had been made a scapegoat for the club's poor season.

It read: "At the end of the 2005 season there was nobody more disappointed about the first eleven performances than myself. I stated at an end-of-season event how poor the season had been but was optimistic about continuing as captain and turning our fortunes around.

"We had many problems to overcome both before and during the season: Jack McGregor left the club; Matt O'Connor - Bacup's leading run scorer for the last two seasons - left to relocate to Dublin; professional Adam Griffiths failed to perform to the standards expected of him on the field; and Peter Killelea suffered a serious back injury and missed a large part of the season

"This is not to say that the whole season should be written off as a total failure. A lot of positives arose such as the maturing of Paul Gallagher and Tim Farragher into very good cricketers.

"I enjoyed my first season as captain and was left believing that next season I would be given the opportunity to put into practice some of the valuable and sometimes painful lessons that I had learned. This sadly was not to be."