NEW Earby professional Alex Scholefield could scarcely have hoped for a better start to his Ribblesdale Cricket League career after claiming a hat trick in a 7-32 return on his debut in a nine-wicket win at Oswaldtwistle Immanuel.

The former Todmorden amateur has been making plenty of friends with his affable manner since moving to the Applegarth club in the summer, but the passport to wider approval ultimately rests with his ability to take the side back into the higher reaches of the Senior Division table. While one swallow does not make a summer, even in his most optimistic moments, he could not have hoped for a better start.

His hat trick blast saw him have fellow professional Will Carr caught by Nigel Pickles, Andy Dignan was bowled and Gerard Metcalfe was trapped lbw to leave the home side in desperate straits at 14 for four.

Keen fielding provided the back-up Scholefield and his fellow bowlers needed to press home their advantage and the home side were shot out for only 62 runs 33 overs, only a defiant 25 from Vic Woods and a partnership of 39 with Alan Moorby sparing serious blushes.

In reply, Steve Pickles and Ian Clarkson steered the visitors to a nine-wicket win, Pickles including four fours in his unbeaten 33 and Clarkson three in his 19no.

Scholefield was not the only bowler to hold the upper hand on the first day of a new season, with four teams falling well below the three figure mark in the seven-match Senior Division programme and nine teams failing to reach 100 in the top two sections.

Two of the three Craven district sides fell into that bracket, with Barnoldswick bowled out for 60 and Settle falling for 89, although in Settle's case, they were able to take some comfort from their game with Cherry Tree in that the visitors lost seven wickets reaching their target.

"I'm confident that if we can post totals of 140-plus we can win most of our matches," says captain, Andy Davidson: "We really shouldn't have had a sniff, but we bowled really tightly and Cherry Tree struggled. Another 20 runs would have won us the game.

"The wicket was soft, but played well. It was a grafting track and one that demanded the right sort of shot. Overall, our shot selection was poor, but we showed a good fighting spirit in trying to defend a modest total."

At 59-2, Settle were in reasonable shape, but the loss of eight wickets for the addition of only 30 runs saw the balance of power shift sharply in favour of Cherry Tree.

When Settle then captured the wickets of both openers with only two runs on the board, they sensed an upset, but professional Naeem Ashraf, who finished fourth in the league batting list last season, steadied the ship with a crucial innings of 39. His partnership with Robbins took the total to 58 before the visitors lost their third wicket and while they had their anxieties after that as Settle regained the initiative, they managed to scramble home with three wickets in hand

Barnoldswick regulars were scratching their heads in answer to the poser "When did we last have six batsmen collecting ducks in one innings?" after they were dismissed for a humble 60 at Great Harwood.

With four wickets down for five runs, at one stage it looked as though the half century might prove a challenge and while that milestone was eventually overtaken, only Messrs Nutter, Khan and Michael Scothern reached double figures.

The visitors had a couple of successes when the home side replied, but with opener Ian Haworth standing firm for an unbeaten 23, there was never any likelihood of the home side struggling to reach their target.