Baxenden have made the perfect start to the defence of their Ribblesdale League title – but they know there will be potential banana skins along the way.

And one of them could be new team Salesbury tomorrow with skipper Ian Austin aware that teams are out to make it especially uncomfortable for the title favourites.

"Salesbury have nothing to lose," said Austin who did think about retiring last season but the lure of defending the title has meant he has returned to Back Lane for more.

"They will be dangerous because they are something of an unknown quantity – I don’t know any of their players except pro Richard Rostron, Peter Sleep’s stepson.

"People are expecting us to beat them as they are up against the champions and they have just come up so the pressure is on us."

Former Lancashire all-rounder Austin missed the season opener after being stranded in Turkey due to the air chaos, but got back for last weekend’s double header and hit an immediate century to help guide Bash to a hat-trick of wins.

They saw off one of their title challengers Barnoldswick on Saturday, with Austin smashing 105 off 120 balls with 17 boundaries and a six, before beating neighbours Oswaldtwistle Immanuel on Sunday.

"I don’t know where that century came from," said Austin. "But it is always nice to get off the mark.

"Barnoldswick are a decent side and I know their pro Jaffer Nazir from the Bradford League. They have got a number of decent new recruits and I think they will be challenging for the title.

"The only thing is they are now playing catch-up after losing their first three games. They are 31 points behind us already and that is a lot to make up – although it can be done. It is the perfect start for us with three wins out of three and winning the first game was massive for us."

Austin was in his holiday apartment getting texts off his chairman as Bash sealed a last ball win in their opener.

"You don’t lose the title with an opening day defeat but these are the games you need to win if you are to set your stall out for the season," continued the captain.

"It was so frustrating being in Turkey especially as the chairman kept texting me the wrong scores! I only learnt when I came back that it was down to the wire but that was a good result for us. Now we just have to keep going."

They also start their Lancashire Cup campaign on Sunday against Longridge.

Austin admitted it was fourth on his list of priorities last season after the league, the Ramsbottom Cup and the 20/20 competition and this hasn’t changed in the new campaign.

"It is fourth but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to win it. And I think this is the perfect chance to try a few things out.

"Perhaps someone from number seven or eight can move up the order and make a claim for being higher up and we will be trying things which are beneficial to us in that game.

"Already we have some big games coming up with Earby in the cup and then Read and Great Harwood in the league. We have a tough few weeks ahead so we need to just use Sunday to our own advantage."

While Baxenden sit at the top of the table it has been hit and miss for last season’s runners-up Great Harwood and top five chasers Oswaldtwistle Immanuel.

Harwood – still waiting for pro Raouf Akbar to arrive – got their first win of the campaign against Edenfield with sub pro Luke Woodcock, Church’s paid man, making 68 after he had also taken six wickets.

They then lost to Cherry Tree despite four wickets from sub pro Brenton Parchment as, without injured Russell Whalley, they were unable to get into the big scores with their batting.

The Harwood pro is due to arrive today, flying to Karachi from Islamabad and then Karachi to Heathrow.

OSWALDTWISTLE IMMANUEL pro Chris Cook-Martin got hopefully his first of many centuries in their Saturday win over Settle. The English paid man hit 109 with 15 fours and three sixes, ably supported by 41 off Andrew Metcalf.

But the day after – despite Gerard Metcalf taking four wickets and hitting an unbeaten 31 – they couldn’t see off early pacesetters Baxenden in their local derby.