No-show pros hit clubs’ plans

TWO CLL clubs have been dealt late blows on the professional front.

Ryan Hinds, a member of the West Indies Test team which beat England 1-0 in the Caribbean this winter, is not coming to Rochdale, a club source revealed this week.

Hinds had been under the impression he was to be selected for the Windies squad to tour England in a few weeks’ time, an opinion he relayed to Rochdale.

The Redbrook side began to make contingency plans to find a stand-in, but the waters were muddied when Hinds went to play in Guyana and lost contact with Rochdale.

With only a few days to go before the start of the season, Rochdale are on the look-out for a replacement.

Wood Cup winners Monton and Weaste had to seek an alternative professional after Australian Craig Simpson told them he was injured and unable to fulfil his contract.

A Sri Lankan Test player has been lined up to take his place.

Ashton are another club to have had all sorts of problems, but they have secured a West Indian professional at the 11th hour.

Montcin Hodge is a 21-year-old right-hand batsman and right-arm offbreak bowler who comes from the island of Anguilla.

The local clubs excepted, other new professionals in the league this year are Sohaib Maqsood (Milnrow), Rasika Priyadarshana (Walsden), Daryn Smit (Littleborough) and Ken Skewes (Middleton).

Maqsood, from Pakistan, is a right-hand opening batsman and right-arm off spinner, while Priyadarshana is a right-hand batsman who bowls fast medium.

Smit is a South African right-hand batsman who can also bowl leg spin and keep wicket, while Skewes hails from Australia, is a right-hand batsman and bowls left-arm seam.

Elsewhere, Ruvin Peiris remains at champions Heywood, Jean Symes stays at Norden and Usman Tariq has been retained for another season at Radcliffe. The same applies to Adil Nisar (Clifton) and Wayne Madsen (Unsworth).