JOHN Atkinson is proud but at the same time relaxed about the prospect of breaking a long-standing club record for Lindal Moor this weekend.

The left-arm spinner is rapidly closing in on Ray Herman’s tally of most wickets taken for the Pennington Lane- side, and could well surpass the mark in the next few days due to Lindal having three games coming up.

The team were in action last night in the South Cumbria Twenty20 competition, then travel to Millom in the North Lancashire and Cumbria Cricket League Premier Division tomorrow, followed by a trip to Read in the regional final of the National Village Cup on Sunday.

Atkinson, who has been playing for Lindal since 1989, has been aware he has been getting closer and closer to Herman’s total of 1,062 wickets for some time, but the 51-year-old remains focused firmly on doing his job for the team rather than personal glory.

“It was two or three years ago,” said Atkinson, recalling when awareness over the possibility of him setting a new club record first arose.

“We started putting the scorecards on the Play-Cricket website and somebody noticed I was only 100 short of the record, and it’s gradually come down and down, and I’m only a handful away from doing it now.

“For me, when I’m bowling, it’s just secondary. When it happens, it happens. I’m too long in the tooth to be worried about things like that, so whatever happens happens. I’ve always said if it happens then it will, but if it doesn’t I’ve done well enough.

“I’ll be very proud to do it. The person who has got it now, Ray Herman, I know him quite well and he’s a great bloke and was a great bowler.”

Atkinson followed his father Terry, a former player and now long-standing umpire in the North Lancs and Cumbria League, into cricket – first as a junior at Dalton, then moving on to Vickers – now Hawcoat Park – before finally settling at Lindal 29 years ago.

That near-on-three-decade association with the club has led to him becoming heavily involved off the field as both club secretary and head groundsman, along with organizing the area’s Twenty20 competition.

Promotion to the expanded Premier Division this year means Atkinson – a regular in North Lancs League representative XIs down the years – is still getting the opportunity to test himself against the top players in the area, although it has not been without its challenges for the team.

Moor’s only league win of the season so far has come against local rivals Dalton, but Atkinson believes Lindal have shown plenty of good signs against some of the best sides in the competition, despite results not going their way.

“We’ve just gone up to the Premier League, which is a massive step-up from Division One, so we knew it was going to be tough from the word go,” said Atkinson.

“We had a tough start with playing the top four or five in the first few games, but we’ve been satisfied with the performances and it’s just little things letting us down. If we can eradicate them, then the results will be better.

“I’ve always wanted to play at the highest standard I can and, even at this late stage, I still want to do that and it’s been really good.”

Tomorrow’s other matches in the Premier Division see title hopefuls Furness face a trip to the team just above them in Carlisle, while Dalton host Workington and Haverigg go looking for their first league win of the season when they travel to Wigton.

In the Northern Premier League Division One, Barrow welcome Garstang to Ernest Pass as they aim to build on last Saturday’s 81-run victory over Morecambe.