BACUP skipper Neal Wilkinson is backing professional Adam Dale to bounce back with a vengeance as the Lanehead club prepare for the visit of East Lancs tomorrow.

Dale, who won the World Cup with Australia last summer, was left cursing his luck last weekend after a disastrous Lancashire League debut against Burnley.

The right arm seamer had a miserable time with the ball, going for 59 off his 21 overs without taking a wicket.

Then, as Bacup attempted to chase a rain-affected target of 147, the Queenslander was trapped leg before without troubling the scorers, as the home side eventually finished four short of their target.

But Wilkinson believes it's only a matter of time before Dale's luck changes and he starts to rip through sides.

"I suppose he found out what life can be like in the Lancashire League," said Wilkinson.

"Adam desperately wanted to impress our supporters but he found it very difficult in the wet conditions.

"In the end, we managed to persuade him to come in off two or three paces and I thought he bowled fairly well without any luck.

"Things might have been different had we held onto a slip catch off Adam's second ball of the innings because Phil Edmondson then went on to get a fifty. "But I don't think it will do Adam any harm in the long run and I'm sure he'll get a sackful of wickets."

Despite that opening day defeat, Wilkinson insists Bacup can still be a real force this summer.

And, although the Lanehead track again looks like being damp tomorrow, he is confident they can turn over East Lancs before they face Nelson at Seedhill on Sunday in the second half of their Bank Holiday double-header.

"East Lancs are a side you would expect to be up near the top of the league again because they have got a good bunch of amateurs and a professional who has done well for them in the past.

"But as the season gets going I'm sure we can also become a force, too, not just because of Adam, but because our amateurs are developing as well."

Meanwhile, Rishton had lined up Pakistani Aamir Sohail to stand in as sub-professional for Jason Gillespie against Nelson at Blackburn Road tomorrow.

But the former Test captain has been summoned back to Lahore for a crisis meeting of the Pakistani board which will discuss ICC demands that the Quayyum report on match-fixing be made available to Lord's.

Sohail was the man who blew the whistle on the match-fixing scandal in Pakistan during the mid-1990s.

As yet, Rishton have not found another replacement but Peter Sleep will deputise for Gillespie on Sunday.

Tomorrow's Lancashire League fixtures: Bacup v East Lancs, Church v Burnley, Colne v Rawtenstall, Enfield v Ramsbottom, Haslingden v Todmorden, Lowerhouse v Accrington, Rishton v Nelson.