COLNE captain David Swarbrick is expecting fireworks between the paid men when CHURCH visit The Horsfield tomorrow.

Mahendra Nagamootoo made a huge impact on his return to Lancashire League cricket taking 8-24 against Rishton, whereas the West Enders' paid man Ruvin Peiris has already had a ton and a 49 not out so far this campaign.

And the Church pro had the upperhand in last season's league encounters so Swarbrick believes it is pay back time for Nagamootoo.

He said: "Naggers took eight wickets for us on Sunday then seven more as a sub pro for Barrow on Monday so I think it should be a fascinating contest. Ruvin scored two centuries against us last season so we will be looking to get him out early.

"And Naggers has already shown he is in the form to do just that."

Church skipper Phil Sykes, who leads an unchanged team into battle, said: "I fancy them to be one of the dark horses in the league this season.

"They've got a great pro but so have we and it'll a great battle between Mahendra and Ruvin."

RAWTENSTALL skipper, Peter Hanson, reckons this season could be one of the most wide open in recent years.

Hanson believes tomorrow's visitors, EAST LANCS, are one of a number of teams who could be challenging for the title come the end of the campaign.

He said: "There are a lot of good teams in the league and results have already shown that everyone is capable of beating each other. I think it could be wide up this year."

Richard Wood comes in for Peter Wrathmell.

TODMORDEN face ACCRINGTON at Centre Vale tomorrow with Simon Newbitt coming into the side for Ben Sutcliffe.

Skipper Stuart Priestley said: "Anybody can beat anybody in this league. Accrington had a poor seaon last year but they're playing well and their pro has had a great start but we'll go into it quite confident."

Unchanged Accrington will be hoping to make the most of a good batting wicket at Todmorden.

Professional Nishit Shetty has got off to a good start in his Thorneyholme Road career, and captain Matt Wilson has his fingers crossed that plenty of runs will be on the cards for the Indian left hander tomorrow.

"It's a good batting track at Todmorden and we've got a good batting pro," he said.

HASLINGDEN skipper Stuart Catterall returns to lead the side as they take on champions Lowerhouse.

And the skipper is looking forward to pitting his wits against the title holders.

He said: "Everybody wants to beat the champions and we're no different. It's my first season as captain and the pro is starting to settle in so a win would be a huge confidence booster."

The champions bring back batsman Peter Mawdsley to the side.

RAMSBOTTOM are unchanged as are opponents Burnley for the clash at Acre Bottom.

And Burnley skipper Jonathan Harvey said: "You'd expect Ramsbottom to be challenging but we'll just aim to control the controllables to get our season underway."

Enfield captain David Bracewell believes their mixture of youth and experience will provide a successful blend for them this year.

"We've got a bit more know-how in the squad this season, to go with some good, younger players," said Bracewell ahead of tomorrow's home game against Nelson.

Enfield expect to have only one change from today's line-up, with Andrew Windle replacing Neil Holmes.

Nelson are unchanged for the fixture.

Bacup are looking to get a sub professional on board for tomorrow with Chris Cairns unavailable for the game against RISHTON, but Tim Farragher returns.

Rishton welcome Mohsin Ahmed into the side after he completed a four-match ban imposed for an incident while he was still at Accrington last season.