KENDAL professional Kabir Khan produced a magnificent display of swing bowling at Shap Road on Saturday, but his eye-catching 4-11 figures were made to count for little when another forecast of dodgy weather for cricket proved correct, writes Richard Daniels.

Left-armer Kabir looked in peak form as he nipped the ball about to remove both of Leyland and Farington's openers to leave them at 13 for two by the ninth over.

Eight of the Pakistani's 13-over stint finished up maidens and he added two more victims in the space of four balls before the rain closed in.

The visitors were all but washed up at that stage at 116 for eight, leaving Kendal in another strong position to go on and win the game for the second week running.

But the weather had its say again.

On Bank Holiday Monday, when Kendal made a wasted trip to Morecambe only to find parts of the ground under water and no play possible.

NETHERFIELD had to watch Preston move to the top of the table by beating Blackpool on Monday when they had failed to get a start against Darwen.

Both captains wanted to play, but the umpires maintained that the ground and, in particular, the run-up from the Castle end was too dangerous.

The teams hung around until almost 4pm hoping the damp parts would dry out under the afternoon's blue skies, but it proved a forlorn wait.

They did get under way on Saturday and South African professional Pieter Strydom maintained his fine form with the bat with a top-scoring 76.

Added to his century on his seasonal debut and and two half-centuries since, Strydom is piling up the runs, but without them bringing in the points.

Netherfield finished on 157-8 off a rain-reduced 52 overs after Pakistani professional Raouf Akbar took 5-52 , but Preston who had beaten them in the National Knockout the week before did not get the chance to reply.

Controversy rocked the league when the umpires boycotted the Darwen v Lancaster matches on Saturday, apparently unhappy at the handling of previous disciplinary matters arising from this fixture last season.

Nobody knew of the action until the officials failed to show up on Saturday and although the weather would have ruled out play, that is not the end of the matter.

Defending champions Darwen are now claiming the cost of the scorers and caterers' bill and Lancaster their travelling expenses from the league as well as seeking a replay.

May 9, 2003 09:30