BATSMEN beware - Baxenden's Sri Lankan pro Indika Gallage is aiming to be firing on all cylinders very soon.
The right arm fast medium bowler has taken time to get into his stride at Baxenden but skipper Dave Usher is confident he will soon be ripping through the opposition - and it will be a boost as Bash still have to face most of the teams near the top of the table.
"Gally is a Test match cricketer so we know what he can do," said the skipper, whose side are currently in a mid-table position, ten points off leaders Great Harwood. "He has obviously had to get used to the wickets but I think he will come into his own when they are hard and bouncy.
"At the moment they have been damp but once they get livelier, then he should be able to go through sides for us. Our problem at the moment is that we are not bowling the top four out. Instead, we are reliant on frustrating them which makes it hard work.
"But, with the better wickets, I am sure Gally, as a Test match opener, will get the wickets, and we hope so especially as, although we have played Great Harwood, we haven't played many other of what I would deem will be the top sides."
The Sri Lankan enjoyed a six wicket haul but lost to Great Harwood earlier in the season and he took nine wickets this weekend in the double header clash.
Unfortunately for Baxenden, it only resulted in one win as the skipper admits their form has been inconsistent so far.
"We had a good win against Padiham on Saturday which was pleasing as Callum Waddington and Russell Haworth won the game for us.
"Callum is only 17 and Russell 22 and it was the first time they have had to cope with a pressure situation. But Callum got 43 and Russell 34 and they put on 70 together to help us win the match.
"That is more pleasing than a senior doing well, to see the youngsters coming through and it is great for the club and more satisfying.
"They were celebrating Saturday night but they were soon brought back down to earth as they both got ducks on Sunday. But that's cricket for you!"
That was in a disappointing game against Edenfield where Baxenden made just 96.
However, Edenfield were struggling and they too lost nine wickets to leave the game in the balance.
"Then we dropped a catch and they went on and won the game," said the captain. "We should have won that and if we had we would have been in the top four or five. That is frustrating."
But win one, lose one seems to be the story of the season for most teams at the moment as the league looks like it could be the closest in years.
"I hope so as it makes it a lot more exciting," admitted Usher, whose side are at home to Clitheroe on Saturday. "Everyone seems to be beating anyone. The sides you would expect to be stronger with ex-pros as players have been beaten by the teams expected to finish lower down the league.
"But Clitheroe will be a hard match for us as they have potential match winners in Shahid Nawaz, their pro who has got more than 1000 runs, and Naeem Ashraf, a former pro. They haven't been on fire yet but both are dangerous."
Harwood are still looking down on the rest of the league but they too had a mixed weekend.
Unusually their batting let them down on Saturday as they slipped to a loss against Clitheroe.
It was doubley disappointing for Paul Houldsworth who dominated the bowling with 5-36 and bowled for 22.3 overs - and the rumours are that he is still aching today!
Clitheroe made 138 and Harwood would have felt it was achievable but openers Martin Nurse (two), Geoff Allen (11) and Russell Whalley (0) all fell cheaply with Chris Ramsker's 20 the only bright spot as they fell 56 runs short.
However, they bounced back on Sunday against local rivals Oswaldtwistle Immanuel who haven't had the best of starts to the season.
Nurse struggled again with the bat (four) but this time Allan Armer (77) and Geoff Allen (69) found their form in Harwood's 208-8. Immanuel pro Raja Ali took 4-21 but couldn't respond with the bat as he made just 22, skipper Gerard Metcalf made an unbeaten 27 and, despite 24 extras, they fell 87 runs short.
In the wickets was Harwood pro Nurse whose 6-28 kept them in top spot two points ahead of Cherry Tree and Barnoldswick and they will aim to extend the lead at Whalley on Saturday.
And it hadn't been much better for Immanuel on Saturday as they lost by four wickets to Ramsbottom Cup holders Settle.
Oswaldtwistle made just 58 with Ali top scoring with just 12 as Paul Ridgway ripped through the batting order ending with 5-27.
They did contain Settle thanks to 4-16 from teenager Andrew Metcalf but unfortunately couldn't claim the win. They travel to Ribblesdale Wanderers on Saturday.
