JUST a thought, but as things stand at the moment it isn't beyond the bounds of possibility that Walkden and Kearsley could find themselves in opposition, not only in the Hamer Cup Final, but also in the final of the Thwaites LCB Trophy at Old Trafford.

For that to come to fruition, of course, a lot of things have to happen in the immediate future.

The two clubs would need to be kept apart in the Hamer Cup semi-final draw, which will have been made by the time this appears in print, while in the Lancs KO there are still some very good sides standing between the two Warburtons Bolton League clubs and a possible Old Trafford appearance.

In tomorrow's quarter-finals Walkden travel to Chorley, while Kearsley are at home to Blackpool. Neither of the two Northern Premier clubs are exactly setting their league alight at the moment, with Chorley in sixth place in the table and Blackpool seventh, but each of the two teams contains some good players, and the task facing Mike Bennison and Simon Thomson's sides is not a straightforward one.

Should Kearsley prove successful they would face Ormskirk or Prestwich at Springfield Road in the semi-final, while Walkden, similarly, would be at home to Bootle or Netherfield. Nobody said it was going to be easy.

If last weekend's domestic matches are to be taken as a criterion, however, both sides seem to be running into form at the right time. Walkden's awesome batting strength powered its way to 401 for four during the two games, and their runs-per-wicket average over this season's 16 matches now stands at an incredible 39.22. For purposes of comparison, that of Westhoughton, who are no mean batting side themselves, is currently 21.

To find an average superior to that of Walkden, you need to go back to the Kearsley side of 1996, the one that opened up with Duxbury, Davies, Berry and Dublin. Their figure at the same stage of the season was 39.56, which included the massive Hamer Cup 323 for five against Astley Bridge, a statistic that current Kearsley player S Mahboob won't want me to dwell on for too long.

On Saturday I went to see Bradshaw's match against Farnworth SC, a game which never really reached the heights. It was notable in one respect, in that Bradshaw produced arguably the worst display of fielding I've seen in many a long day, living proof, if proof were needed, that bad fielding can become infectious and spread through a side like a forest fire. Indeed, the only thing to be said about the ground fielding was that it wasn't quite so indifferent as the catching. I'd tell you how many chances were spilled had I not lost count three quarters of the way through the innings.

In the midst of it all Dean Eckersley batted well for Circle, as did Neil Johnson for the home side, and even after Neil had holed out to Michael Ashworth the game was still there to be won. But Bradshaw seemed intent on winning the game with boundary shots, when ones and twos were all that was required, and in the end too many fresh air shots left the target half a dozen runs out of reach.

One of the major talking points surrounding Sunday's Hamer Cup quarter-finals was that rule which dictates that only one bowler may bowl more than 10 overs.

I was at Tonge for the tie against Kearsley, and when Tonge went in to bat after tea, to most watchers it seemed to be a toss-up as to which of the two M's, Mel Whittle or Mahboob, would be the chosen one. In fact Simon Thomson fooled us all by opting for Akber, and, in hindsight, it proved a good decision.

After receiving a bit of rough treatment early on from Adil Nisar, Fazal finally dismissed his opposite number, and it was at that point that the game was effectively settled. Darron Foy nipped in with three cheap middle-order wickets, while before tea Dave Leonard had held together the Kearsley innings with his second half-century of the weekend.

It was Mabs' 40, however, that was the difference between the two sides. It wasn't the most cultured innings I've ever seen. Far from it! But it was the kind of knock that Tonge were in desperate need of once Nisar had gone, and with Martin and Kerrigan absent, there was no one there to provide it.

While it is easy to be wise after the event, one has to ask why Ian Taylor wasn't chosen as the 10-over plus bowler. In the two matches over the weekend his composite analysis was 29-10-66-10. On Sunday Dion Taljard's was 25-5-96-3.

At Walkden Andy Taylor was hit for 95 from his 15, and at Piggot Park Tim Barrow went for four an over from his 19, while Rasheed, Bradley and Eckersley each completed their 10-over stints for 23, 22 and 20 respectively.

Is the rule a good one? I don't know. All I'm saying is that it's one which needs a lot of thought, discussion, and, maybe, captain's intuition, if it is to be applied correctly.

One pleasant aspect of the Tonge/Kearsley game was the presence of 11 players, past and present, who were there simply to watch the match. In alphabetical order Dublin, Garner, Guest, Hughes, Marland, Milne, Morris, Roberts, Seddon and two Tattersalls, inter-league players all. Put them in any order you like and you still have a very good side.

As cricketers do the world over, they criticised, grumbled, enthused and reminisced their way through the game, and, let's face it, having played for over 50 clubs between them, they'd have plenty to reminisce about.