CHERRY Tree hope they have sown the seeds of success at Preston Old Road as they chase their first Jennings Ribblesdale League championship since 1997.

The Blackburn club finished an ultimately disappointing fourth last summer and also had problems with their pitch.

Batting was an awkward business at times with the ball climbly steeply when damp got into the wickets.

However, Cherry Tree have taken measures to rectify the problem and, weather permitting, skipper David Hayes hopes his side can again emerge as title contenders on good cricket pitches.

He said: "Gary Bolton has been doing a lot of work on it and Steve Elwood has been on a course on the subject but everyone is in the same position with the weather.

"We'll just see how it goes and, fingers crossed, we'll have a nice summer. When it's dry it's as good as anywhere but when it's dry and then it rains it does tend to fly.

"We want to play on good wickets. We prefer batting and bowling on good tracks and it doesn't benefit us if it becomes a bit of a lottery."

Cherry Tree got off to a winning start last Saturday and Hayes, whose side entertain Clitheroe tomorrow, admits that early season form is important to his side's chances of being among the leading pack.

He added: "Away from the holidays we should be competitive. We've got the same side as last year and with 10 games to go we were top.

"Then we lost Gary Bolton on holiday and Nigel Robbins and I got a broken arm and we fell away in the second half.

"It would be nice to do it. That's what we're striving for. We need to get a good start and get some points in the bag for when players are away."

Hayes' side is helped by the return of professional Naeem Ashraf for a fifth season and the skipper is hoping for a repeat of the Pakistani's 945 runs and 87 wickets in the league last summer.

In his first season at the club Ashraf contributed to a league and cup double but Hayes is predicting a closely contested title race this time with strengthened Earby and Baxenden sides likely to join the challengers.

"In the last few years you could look at the fixtures and nearly pick out who was going to win but I think it will be a bit more competitive this season," he said.

TOMORROW'S FIXTURES: Barnoldswick v Settle, Baxenden v Whalley, Blackburn Northern v Great Harwood, Cherry Tree v Clitheroe, Earby v Read, Edenfield v Oswaldtwistle, Ribblesdale Wanderers v Padiham.