EARBY professional Jonathan Harvey believes the Jennings Ribblesdale League title race will go down to the wire again this season.

Last summer, three teams went into the final day harbouring hopes of claiming the coveted title.

This time, Harvey believes the charge for the line could be even closer as just nine points currently separate the top five.

"I think there's a much of a muchness in the league this season," said Harvey.

"Some clubs have got stronger, others have got weaker but I don't think anyone is going to run away with it.

"From what I have seen so far a lot of teams have cancelled each other out.

"Normally, a couple of teams tend to have pulled away from the pack by now.

"But that hasn't happened so far this year, mainly because of the weather.

"And I think there are five or six teams who are all in with a genuine chance."

Earby themselves missed out on the chance of moving into the top five at the weekend despite some heroics from Harvey.

The 30-year-old professional, who is now in his fifth year at Applegarth, snapped up 5-9 in a scintillating 14 over spell against Clitheroe on Sunday.

That haul represented the most economical figures of his senior career so far.

But, although Earby managed to dismiss the Ribblesdale club for just 146, they then fell 20 runs short of their revised target, finishing on 87-8.

"I suppose I bowled okay although the wicket wasn't particularly good for batting on," said Harvey.

"I remember taking eight for something against Settle last year but I think that was my most economical spell. "Then, when it came to batting, we didn't get runs quickly enough early on and ended up falling too far behind.

"Fair credit to Dexter Fitton, though, because he bowled well although some of his success had something to do with us chasing the game.

"But we had nothing to lose, we had to go for it."

Now Earby must pick themselves up for their visit to Whalley on Saturday where a win could put them right back in the middle of the leading pack.

Harvey, however, believes the club still have some work to do before they turn themselves into genuine title challengers.

"I'd like to say we have got a chance of winning it but I think we are more likely to finish in mid-table," said Harvey.

"It just depends on whether or not we can play to our potential.

"We've got a few players who have not performed the way can perform.

"And losing someone like Nigel Pickles has also been a huge blow because I think he is one of the best amateur batsmen in the league.

"I also think we are short of a genuine wicket-taker at the moment -- someone who can take 50 to 60 wickets a season.

"That is the equivalent of someone getting 1,000 runs to a side."

Runs, however, are one thing Harvey tends to deliver in abundance.

And after scoring 1,200 last year, he again has his sights on the golden four-figure mark.

"After scoring 1,200 last year, I wanted to get more than that this time around," said Harvey, whose brother Mark is now pro at Great Harwood.

"But after the problems we have had with the weather, I think everyone would be happy to settle for a thousand this time.

"I had a look at the averages last week and, apart from Shahid Nawaz who was on 450, everyone else had only got about 200 to 250.

"Normally, you'd expect people to be pushing 400 at this time of the year so that shows just how badly the weather has affected things so far."