Beaten... Rishton skipper Eric Whalley plays and misses outside the off-stump to the pace of Garth Le Roux, who later bowled him.

From a match report by Peter Higgs:
Burnley went seven points clear at the top of the Lancashire League on Saturday with a perfect demonstration of how to play cricket in the rain. Whether they would have crushed second-placed Rishton quite so emphatically in a 34-over game will never be known. But in a restricted 20-over match they were the masters from start to finish.

After rain had prevented a prompt start Rishton went out to bat at around 3.30 p.m. with great interest centring on the performance of Le Roux, the 6 feet 5 inch tall South African brought in for two matches as sub-professional before the arrival of Mudassar Nazar. But as the big blond paceman struggled to adapt his run-up to the slippery surface it was wily campaigner Fletcher who struck the vital early blows for Burnley. In his first over Fletcher bowled professional Paul Melville with a beauty and then had David Chew caught by Mick Swift off a mis-hit. Rishton were 11 for two and immediately struggling. Opener Mick Eddleston and skipper Eric Whalley set about restoring the situation and were making a reasonable job of it - until Le Roux stepped in to tear the heart out of the Rishton innings. Having sorted out his run-up the giant from West Province began to give all the batsmen trouble on a day which few fast bowlers would have enjoyed. With the visitors on 48 for two in the eighth over he bowled Whalley with a gem. John Ainscough hit Le Roux for a tremendous six but the bowler got almost immediate revenge with a fast yorker. Two pieces of brilliant fielding accounted for the next two wickets as the Rishton innings began to crumble and their innings ended on 109.

Set a rate of 5.5 an over Burnley could not afford to wait around and they got off to an ideal start as Harrison and Trevor Pickup put on 40 in eight overs. Pickup was out for 24 and Barry Bromley departed cheaply but Harrison found a valuable ally in Graham Bushell and their partnership of 47 took Burnley to within striking distance of victory. With 17 needed to win Bushell was out to a fine diving catch on the square leg boundary by Wells - which at least gave the crowd a chance to see a brief glimpse of Le Roux's powerful batting. He hit a fierce straight-drive for four and a colossal six to long-on before quietly playing back the last four balls of Waddington's over to give Harrison a chance of reaching his half-century. With Burnley needing one run to win the captain wanted three for his fifty. He struck the opening delivery of the 18th over (bowled by Hill) firmly through extra cover. But a fieldsman on the boundary was perfectly placed to stop the four and so Harrison was denied a collection-winning score off the last ball - for the second time this season!