Lowerhouse v Burnley

AUGUST Bank Holiday tends to see people heading to the south-west and sunny Cornwall, not driving the other way.

But South African all-rounder Steve Pope went against the flow to motor up to East Lancashire yesterday and take his place in Lowerhouse's Transco Lancashire League derby with Burnley.

Pope was the latest temporary recruit employed by Lowerhouse since the departure of hired professional Jon Kent.

But none have come further than the professional with Truro, who left his house at half-past five in the morning to arrive in time for the game and then after a night's stay in Preston was set to head home again today.

By rights, Pope should have scored a hundred and taken five wickets, if only to help pay for the petrol.

Instead, the man from Border was dismissed for 12, claimed 2-42 from 17 overs and finished on the losing side as in-form Burnley cantered home by five wickets with seven overs to spare.

"I've often played against him at home. It was a good effort for him to come and play," admitted Burnley's paid man Dale Benkenstein, who saw his side to a second maximum-points victory in as many days with a measured half-century.

The Natal all-rounder may have been impressed by Pope's commitment but there was still a job to be done and Benkenstein had no qualms about sending the former Morecambe professional away empty-handed.

He straight-drove Pope for four early on as the off-spinner went for 23 from his first five overs. His next 12 cost just 19 and brought him the wickets of David Brown and Andy McLeod as he received some assistance from an uneven pitch of variable bounce. But Lowerhouse had too few runs to play with, having been dismissed for just 141, once Ben Law had blazed his way to an impressive 45 from just 53 balls with six fours to launch Burnley's reply.

Law and Benkenstein put on 57 and once Law had gone, the professional took the visitors to within 12 of victory before being bowled by a good one from John Russell.

"Ben played brilliantly and it really takes the pressure off, knowing you just need to score two an over.

"We knew that if we batted our overs we would win. Their pro bowled well but the guys played well and didn't lose their heads," said Benkenstein, who has now shared in six wins from the last eight games -- and the other two were rained off -- as Burnley beat their local rivals for the first time in four attempts to climb above them in the table.

He added: "We lost at home so it was nice to get one back on them. We've done really well since we lost in the cup. We said we really wanted to finish as high as we can and if things go well with three games left we could even end up in the top-four, certainly the top six.

"We're on a roll and you've got to keep enjoying it and ride with it. Andy did well winning the toss and we put them in because they seem to chase well. So we let them set a score and then went for it, and the guys are playing really good cricket, not just one or two but everyone is contributing."

The South African, whose 50 came off 95 balls with seven fours, has now scored 788 league runs to add to his share of wickets and hopes to be back at Turf Moor next summer after being invited to talk terms.

"I'll see what they come up with and we'll take it from there," he said.

Lowerhouse will welcome the stability of a regular professional in their ranks again. They have done well to cope with the enforced chopping and changing but weren't at their best yesterday, only Chris Bleazard offering sustained resistance with the bat as he continued his excellent run with another half-century.

His fifty came off 62 balls and contained eight fours before he clipped a catch to mid-wicket as the home side subsided from 89-2 to 141 all out with David Connolly's flight earning him 4-21 from 15.3 overs.