Carlisle will still be without their skipper and professional Michael Slack when they face Millom at Edenside on Saturday.
Slack had a scan on his damaged knee this week and is awaiting the results although he did report that it was feeling a bit better.
He had been taken to hospital in Barrow after suffering the injury while fielding for Cumbria in a county game at Furness last month.
Carlisle will look to their third different sub pro when they take on the South Cumbrians and have booked Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Hareen Buddila.
The former Sri Lankan Under-19 star plays his domestic cricket back home for Galle and he
is currently pro with Ramsbottom in Division Two of the Lancashire League.
In the 2023 season he was the professional at Fulwood and Broughton CC in the Northern Premier League where he not only took 77 wickets but also showed his credentials as an all-rounder, scoring 624 runs.
He was actually 25 last Sunday when he scored 40 for Ramsbottom and took 1-43 from 13 overs in a win by 26 runs over Rawtenstall.
Carlisle have recovered well from their opening day loss to Keswick and have won every game since.
Millom, with former county batsman Nathan Waterston moving over from Furness as the new club pro, have been involved in some tight games so far but have won only once, with two of their matches abandoned.
Cockermouth marched on 100% at the top with a key victory over Keswick last week. It was the Fitz Park side’s first defeat of the season and leaves them 13 points behind the leaders.
They look to make amends at home when they take on a Wigton side boosted by a home win over Dalton last Saturday.
Wigton made significant progress last season, and after a rocky start this time round, will try and build on that win although a trip to the Lakes might not be the perfect follow-up.
Whitehaven have broken into the top three and that is clearly based on a solid professional in Terance Warde, the regular availability of Chase Young and the emergence of their crop of talented youngsters.
They were big winners at Egremont last week and will expect to follow up when they entertain Haverigg.
Whilst Whitehaven have made good progress this year, the same can’t be said of Workington who have gone in the opposite direction.
Expected to be up there challenging the Valentine Ground side are well off the pace after suffering four straight defeats.
Furness might not be the side of old, but they will still represent a major challenge for the west Cumbrians when they meet in Barrow as skipper Matty Lowden takes his side south, low on confidence.
As for Furness, sixth place and 30 points off the summit, is not where you normally expect them to be. But they clearly have an excellent pro in Matthew Kleinveldt (110no last week) and will expect to substantially improve their position before the end of the season.
Talking of good professionals, Cleator were clearly delighted with Rishabh Tiwari after his unbeaten 62 guided them to a vital win at Workington.
The only problem is he’s returning to India for two weeks for some selection games and after creating a splendid impression both on and off the field will be missed. He will be back for the game on June 22.
Cleator will be looking for a sub pro to stiffen up the ranks as they take on unbeaten leaders Cockermouth at the JD Campbell Memorial Ground.
Cockermouth are in the same boat, although at least they are able to field the same sub pro while their professional Shrikant Mundhe competes in a T20 tournament back in India.
Chirag Khurana has filled in twice so far as sub pro and will be in the line-up again at Cleator.
The last game sees Dalton hosting Egremont, who are bottom of the league and in danger of being cut adrift.
Raghav Kupar is proving a sound recruit for Egremont, with bat and ball, but badly needs more substantial support around him if the team is to survive in the top flight.
Dalton, for their part, after a very promising return to the Premier Division have lost their last two games and will see this as an opportunity to halt the slide.
