RISHTON professional Vernon Philander could be out of action for up to a month after he damaged his ankle during last week's game with Church.

The 20-year-old South African was running into bowl when he went over on his ankle after stumbling on one of the foot holes on the wicket.

"It's a blow to lose him because he'd settled in well," said skipper Peter Sleep.

With Philander sidelined, Rishton will have to rely heavily on substitute professionals for the next few weeks so fellow South African Justin Kreusch, who is currently playing for Blackpool in the Northern League, will deputise against East Lancs tomorrow.

Meanwhile, newly-appointed EAST LANCS skipper Paul Turner is facing a similar problem as their professional, Mark Orchard, is heading off to Australia later this month to be part of New Zealand's World Cup development tour.

Orchard will be away for five weeks in total, from June 20 to July 29.

"We've been aware of this for a while," said Turner, who has taken over the captaincy from Phil Bolton.

East Lancs are still searching for their first win in the league, but they remain unbeaten in the cups.

Vinny Hanson has told his batsmen that it is time to stand up and be counted.

Rawtenstall entertain close rivals Bacup and Hanson says it is time to get the runs on the board.

He said: "We simply haven't been scoring runs and that has cost us games. We have had a good chat about it but now it is time for our batsmen to deliver."

Tom Chadwick keeps his place as Andy Riley is unavailable.

BACUP, unchanged for the trip to Rawtenstall, have been boosted by Matt O'Connor's return.

O'Connor, who scored almost 2,500 runs for the club and was part of three championship-winning teams, moved to Ireland on business last year but has now returned to the area, and will be playing for the second XI this weekend.

COLNE skipper David Swarbrick is calling for a more consistent batting display throughout the team as his side prepare to host Lowerhouse.

He said: "It is important that we bat as a team rather than rely on our top order batsmen. We have suffered a few lower order batting collapses and those 20 or 30 runs could be the difference between victory and defeat. We just need to be a bit more consistent."

Colne are unchanged so Sid Sharaz and John Lambert keep their places.

LOWERHOUSE welcome back Chris Benbow for the trip to Colne.

The middle-order batsman, a rock during the championship campaign last season, plays his first game of the season after injury.

Charlie Cottam returns but captain Joe Beneduce is away on honeymoon. Matt Hope leads the side.

ENFIELD captain David Bracewell has praised his side's determination after recording a surprise win over Accrington last week.

Accrington needed just 45 runs from 25 overs, but Bracewell said: "We managed to run through them, but no-one could believe it," he said. "I don't think we'll ever have a result like that again.

"We've had some close games and you want to be looking to win those, which we have, and a lot of that is down to confidence.

"Losing hurts more if you're used to winning games and we want to keep the winning habit."

Matt Taylor comes in for Neil Holmes as Enfield entertain Todmorden tomorrow.

Left handed batsman Simon Newbitt returns for Todmorden, with David Hatton making way.

ACCRINGTON captain Matt Wilson hopes their team spirit can recover after three straight defeats.

"We had a bad weekend. We lost all three and we were hoping to win all three," said Wilson, whose side have been knocked out of the Worsley Cup and Inter League Challenge Trophy.

"A few words were said after Monday's game but I guess it just shows that people care."

Damian Clarke replaces Nasser Hussain for tomorrow's trip to Church.

Adam Greenwood will face his former side, and CHURCH professional Ruvin Peiris returns after injury, but Sam Holt is sidelined with an ankle problem.

Rock-bottom BURNLEY have been boosted by new signing Vishal Tripathi scooping the young player of the month award for May.

They entertain NELSON tomorrow still seeking their first league win.

HASLINGDEN and RAMSBOTTOM go head to head at Bentgate tomorrow, both bidding to gain ground on the leaders.