THERE are some days in this calendar of ours that just were not intended for cricket, and last Saturday was one of them!

When there wasn't light rain falling, the light was a problem, and when the light improved, the rain became heavier, and at one point caused a two-hour delay which effectively killed off any chance of a result.

Kearsley, who fielded first, were without Fazal Akber recently returned to Pakistan, and Darron Foy on holiday. As deputy professional they had engaged Ian Austin, whose first game in the League in 1988 was also, oddly enough, against Eagley when he deputised for Robin Bracewell, the Farnworth pro who had injured himself quite badly in a pre-season friendly. In that game he took six for 47 and hit 69, and in three subsequent Farnworth appearances that year he hit a further 166 runs, but took only three wickets, a lapse in bowling form that, 13 years later, he rectified with something of a vengeance on Saturday!

Eagley were soon in big trouble. Mel Whittle produced an unplayable delivery for Phil McDermott, knocking out his off-stump with a ball which had pitched somewhere around leg.

Tim Rees, having already been dropped at slip off Austin, was then bowled by the Haslingden pro, but the real body blow came with the dismissal of Ian Mitchell, lbw to Whittle. When Chris Lord had his stumps re-arranged by Austin, the visitors were in disarray at 17 for four, with Kearsley looking favourites to "pinch" another 20 points as they had against Bradshaw the previous weekend.

Shahid Mahboob and Dave Shuttleworth had other ideas, however, and with the help of a 16-run over from Whittle which included a superbly-struck six into Springfield Road by Mahboob, an off-driven four from Shuttleworth, and four leg-byes, the total was more than doubled.

At 45 for four came the first break for rain, which only occupied the time it took to remove the covers and put them back again. When play was resumed, wicket-keeper Jon Partington was newly clad in a helmet, while, curiously enough, batsman Shuttleworth had dispensed with his! He didn't last long, though. Three runs later he became Austin's third victim, but Mabs, who couldn't bat boringly if his life depended on it, carried merrily on, always looking to get on to the front foot, and once memorably hitting Austin for a straight six. Martin Seddon began to play his part, but after he had hit Whittle for two consecutive fours, they were off again for rain at 79 for five.

In fairness to the bowlers, the ball must by this time had all the qualities of a well-used bar of soap, and now the light was causing a major problem. When play re-started Mahboob was bowled by an Austin delivery which moved away from him, and Seddon got himself out at the other end when he tamely hit a loose short-pitched ball from Whittle senior straight to Whittle junior at short cover.

This brought Tim Wallwork in to join David Tonge, and, playing confidently, they took the score along to 119 for seven, at which point the rain became more persistent and drove the players off for the two-hour break which was eventually to prove crucial to Kearsley's hopes.

Play didn't begin again until 6.30pm, at which stage Eagley had 11 overs remaining. Tonge, who has joined the Dunscar club from Bolton, and who has certainly looked the part over the last two weekends, got himself out attempting to hit Austin over the top, and at 6.50pm it was all over when Gleaves became the sixth Eagley batsman to be bowled by the former Lancashire all-rounder.

Austin's final figures of 21-8-55-7 were in stark contrast to those produced during the week by his former team-mates against Yorkshire, and while a Bolton League game cannot be compared to a four-day county match, I was left with the distinct impression that Lancashire may well have dispensed a little prematurely with the services of a bowler who is capable of moving the ball both ways as he did on Saturday. Oscar has long been one of my favourites at Old Trafford, and the place, and more importantly, the team, just doesn't seem the same without him. Kearsley's task now was to score 133 in what amounted to half an hour, plus 17 overs at somewhere around five an over, and John Ratledge and Steve Davies made a promising start, hitting 28 from the first four in very poor light. Ratledge had just hit two consecutive sixes off Mitchell, who appeared to be losing line and length in an effort to add to his pace, when the umpires removed the bails, and that, as they say, was that!

Home supporters and players alike were obviously not best pleased that the light had not been offered to the batsmen, as happens under MCC Law, but the Bolton League match rules state that "the umpires shall be the sole judges of the fitness of the ground, weather, and light for play".

While it may all have seemed a bit hard on the spectators, it would have taken the batsmen another 15 overs (assuming that they had carried on at the unlikely rate of seven an over) to win the game, by which time, 8.15pm or thereabouts, the light would have long since gone completely. In fairness, it was the two-hour delay, not the umpires, that had robbed the game of a positive result.