COLNE were on the wrong end of two early finishes in a very disappointing weekend, suffering away defeats at Rishton and East Lancashire.
On Saturday at Rishton, Colne chose to bat first, but in spite of some signs of promise, were all out for only 118 with 11 overs unused.
Professional and captain Shadley van Schalkwyk was top scorer with 32, including five fours and a six, and Lewis Rimmer was top amateur batsman with a fluent 22.
Saleem Quereshi made 21, and Khurrum Nazir 11, but no-one else reached double figures.
Rishton professional Daniel Salpietro bowled through, taking 3-63 from his 19 overs, and there were three wickets each for Garth Wyse and Afaq Sartaj.
Van Schalkwyk and Matthew Walker were Colne’s opening bowlers, and both bowled excellent opening spells.
Each took two wickets as four Rishton batsmen were dismissed for only one run between them.
With Rishton 13-4, there were high hopes of victory. But Salpietro, having bowled throughout Colne’s innings, now batted through Rishton’s. He made 65 not out, supported both by Shaun Hutchinson at the other end, and by the 28 extras Colne gave away.
Van Schalkwyk had several close shouts for lbw but didn’t get the verdict, and although a couple of late wickets gave Colne two bonus points, Rishton’s win was fairly comfortable in the end.
Sunday’s game was the same, only worse. The East Lancs ground has suffered badly from the recent rain and floods, and has a very soft outfield and untidy-looking square. But although the wicket was worn and had some uneven bounce, it was a fair wicket - a good wicket, considering the circumstances - and was no excuse for Colne’s failure.
Mr. Extras scored 20 of Colne’s total of only 88 all out, and was joint top scorer with Nazir. Phil Bolton bowled medium pace and obtained both swing and movement, and took six of the first seven wickets, finishing with 6-29 from 15 overs. Pro Erasmus also went for less than two per over.
Nazir opened the bowling in an attempt to exploit the bounce, but although he did take two wickets, the experiment can’t be said to have worked. East Lancs cruised to a seven-wicket victory in only 17.3 overs.
This weekend, Colne have a home double header. Todmorden come to the Horsfield tomorrow in a replayed game, and Church are the visitors on Sunday. Both games start at 1 p.m.