Cricket: Leek need upturn in fortunes

LEEK will have to turn the form book on its head as they look to end their eight-match winless run in the league tomorrow.

Jamie Cullerton's side find themselves bottom of the table after only one win all season – against Leycett back in April – ahead of their home match against leaders Longton.

Leek and Longton are the only two teams never to have been relegated from the top flight, but the former are in real danger of losing that record unless they can spark an upturn in fortunes.

Their already disappointing campaign sunk to new depths last weekend when they were knocked out of the Talbot Cup by Division Two Weston after being dumped out of the County Cup by lower-division Whitmore.

By contrast, Longton have six wins to their name – and are 16 points clear of Knypersley. They have named an unchanged side for their trip to Highfield.

Knypersley have also won six times and will be hoping to add to that tally when they visit third-bottom Moddershall.

Last year's champions have struggled without Imran Tahir, although captain Scott Oliver is boosted by the return of leading run-scorer Chris Beech.

Knypersley skipper Paul Goodwin can call on in-form veteran Kim Barnett after he helped set a new Minor Counties fifth-wicket record in this week's draw at Norfolk.

Barnett struck 126no in an historic stand of 300 with youngster Liam Hughes, an inning which followed hot on the heels of a match-winning half-century against Burslem last weekend.

Goodwin's bowling options are also strengthened by the return of seamer Andy Marshall.

Leycett have two reasons to smile – they won their first match in the Premier Division last weekend and also vacated bottom spot.

Ian Boulton takes his team to Audley, with Derbyshire batsman Dan Redfern available to assist their relegation fight.

Audley have lost their last three league matches to slip precariously towards the wrong end of the table.

They are still 33 points clear of their visitors, but may have to do without the services of Staffordshire seamer Craig Barker, who is nursing a back injury.

Wood Lane's three-match winning run was halted by last week's draw at Little Stoke, but they remain handily placed in third ahead of their visit to Burslem.

Burslem are fifth and have managed to shrug off the problem of not having a settled professional for the majority of the campaign.

Stone SP travel the short distance to Little Stoke still without professional Qaiser Abbas, which has prompted them to search for a substitute for the encounter.

Little Stoke captain Gareth Morris returns to lead his side, who are in sixth place – 25 points clear of their opponents.