BARNOLDSWICK are considering getting rid of their pro, who is stranded in Pakistan without a visa.

The club are going through a terrible spell, suffering heavy defeats and relying on substitute professionals who have to be booked from week to week.

There is a committee meeting next week and club chairman Phil Brown said they would look at all options, including tearing up Mohammad Ayub's contract.

Brown said the club had no idea when he could be free to come to Barnoldswick and the club had to look at signing a profes-sional who was readily available for the rest of the season.

"We have some c.v.s from people who are interested in joining so we'll discuss it and make a decision on our next step," he said. "You cannot compete without a professional."

Barnoldswick have done nothing wrong, securing a work permit in plenty of time for Ayub. However, when Ayub filled in his visa application, he claimed he had never been refused a visa before.

This was incorrect. In a previous successful stay with Barnoldswick's derby rivals Earby he had been turned down for a work permit because he had not played enough games due to illness. He then applied to come over on a visitor's visa but was rejected. The failure to declare that rejection was picked up by the authorities and Ayub is now appealing against the decision to deny him a visa again.

"All we and he are told is that he is in a queue and they will let us know when they decide," said Brown. "It's his fault and I reckon they have put him right to the bottom to make a point but that's no good to us."

Without Ayub, Barnoldswick have been picking up professionals on a week to week basis but their success has been limited.

In seven matches they have contributed four ducks in a grand total of just 50 runs, which includes Kadir Shira's 32 on Satur-day against Whalley.

Barnoldswick's problems have been compounded by the loss of two of their best players - Michael Scothern has undergone knee surgery for an injury picked up playing rugby and Matthew Nutter is recovering from injuries picked up after an assault. Both are likely to be unavailable for some weeks and the club suffered a 158-run defeat against Blackburn Northern on Sunday.

However Brown said there were some positives - the club's under-11s, 13s and 15s had made a good start and the second team was picking up victories.

Meanwhile a league record held by Barnoldswick was broken this week.

Padiham professional Kashif Siddique established a new batting record for the Ribblesdale League with his innings of 233 against Ribblesdale Wanderers.

The Pakistani star hit 27 boundaries and 12 sixes in a 140 ball innings, beating Australian James Peterson's unbeaten 203 for Barnoldswick in 1996.

Siddique's double century, brought to an end by a boundary catch, came out of his team's total of 355-8.

Unsurprisingly, Wanderers never mounted a serious challenge on the total and were dismissed for 160.

Clitheroe's grasp on the title suffered a double blow. Earby paid man Ali Azmat was in excellent form with bat and ball as the defending champions suffered a surprise five wicket, home defeat.

Clitheroe mustered only 149 largely due to Peter Dibb's 85. Azmat, who took 5-74, then made 66 as Earby reached 151-5.

Chris Walton guided Earby home with an unbeaten 34. Stephen Hipgrave and Matthew Haines took two apiece for the Applegarth side.

However Earby could not keep up the winning momentum on Sunday as they lost by 42 at home to Cherry Tree. Batting first Cherry Tree scored 151-8. But in reply Earby were hustled out for just 109.

Last year's league champions Clitheroe lost more ground at the top as early leaders Baxenden easily defeated lacklustre Settle on Saturday at Marshfield.

The home side, finding runs hard to come by this season, failed to reach three figures, scoring just 96.

Settle's pro Jeeva Kulatunga was their top scorer with a knock. However, only captain Andrew Davidson (11) and Raj Amunugama (10) were the only others to score in double digits.

In reply Baxenden cruised home with a total of 100 for the loss of just three wickets. Amunugama was again among the wickets with 2-22.

On Sundy Settle struggled again losing by seven at Great Harwood.

Batting first the dales men scored 119-6 with Amunugama the top scorer with 39. Kulatunga and Tim Green chipped in with 25 runs each.

With three players scoring 28 or better, Great Harwood eased past the Settle total in 27.5 overs. Skipper Davidson took 2-19.

Barnoldswick remained rooted to the bottom of the table with two losses at the weekend.

Barlick lost by 158 runs to Blackburn Northern at Victory Park on Saturday.

Batting first the visitors put up a big total of 228-9. Barlick stand-in pro Kadir Shiraz was handy with the ball taking 5-94 in his 16 overs.

But when he came into bat in Barnoldswick's reply, he was out for a duck. Opener Luke Hodgson scored 18, but the top scoring honour went to the "extras" with 24.

Barlick fared better with the bat on Sunday at Whalley, but still lost by 102 runs.

Whalley put up a massive total for Barlick to chase. Their pro Bradman Ediriweera top scored with a 125 off 137 which included 14 boundaries. Whalley finished on 252-5. Adil Khan took 2-26 for Barlick.

In reply, the Victory Park side scored 150-7 with Shiraz top scoring on 32. Matthew Garner, Hodgson and Shaukat Sheraz had knocks of 29, 25 and 23 respectively.

This Saturday Barlick host Edenfield while Settle and Earby square off in a derby at Marshfield.