FOLLOWING the recent poor weather, especially last Sunday when the entire premier division programme was washed out without a ball being bowled, clubs will be hoping that the sun shines at last tomorrow.

Guisborough, who lead the table by nine points, are at home to Richmondshire. The visitors have managed just one win in 13 attempts and are third from bottom, but name an unchanged team.

Northallerton moved into second place when they stole a march on their rivals by completing and winning their fixture last Saturday.

They meet Darlington at Feethams minus captain Ian Gill, who is replaced by Dennis Norman. Ian Place is able to play and he is named for Chris Wayman.

Darlington are strengthened by the inclusion of Danny Morgans and Duncan Johnson, who take over from Liam Brown and Paul Raine.

Darren Hickey will make his league debut for Great Ayton following his transfer from Darlington RA. On his day, he is capable of dominating any attack and it will be interesting to see how he copes at Blackhall.

Dave Pennock, John Russell and Tom Harrison are all ruled out for Ayton, so David Collins and John Marshall are also added to the line-up. Blackhall show just one alteration, with Anthony Grey taking over from David Brown.

Peter Cartwright for Mark Barker is Darlington RA's only change at home to Redcar, who include Dave Dowson for the unavailable Mally Whitehead.

Middlesbrough welcome the return of captain Martin Ball and Mattie Brown for what could be a stern test against Bishop Auckland at Acklam Park. Darren Riley and Chris Bruton are the players to make way.

Boro celebrated winning the Junior Cup on Tuesday night when they reduced Thornaby to 63 all out, with John Paul Price taking five wickets for just five runs. Boro won by seven wickets.

With Graham Robinson unable to play, Normanby Hall bring in Michael Addison for the visit of unchanged Saltburn, who remain in a strong challenging position for the title.

The weather wreaked havoc with last weekend's premier division programme. All six games scheduled to be played on Sunday were cancelled without a ball being bowled and several matches were abandoned in Saturday's programme.

But Northallerton escaped the worst of the weather. They completed their fixture and also secured victory over Middlesbrough, a result which moved them into second place.

Ian Gill's side batted the full 50 overs, totalling 193-7. After losing three early wickets, Northallerton regrouped through Doug Mulholland and Jonathan Barnes (31).

Mulholland ended unbeaten with 83, which included one six and nine boundaries.

Brenton Parchment delivered an economical 12 overs in the Boro attack, conceding only 29 runs for three wickets, while Janisar Hussain also bowled 12 overs, taking 3-63.

Middlesbrough's reply never threatened following the dismissal of Parchment for 21 and Colin Haslett for 23 and the innings closed on 103 following 34.3 overs.

Barnes, as economical as ever, bowled 17.3 overs, including eight maidens, to claim 5-27 and Richard Chandler gave admirable support, returning 5-75 in 14 overs.

Darlington completed their game with neighbours Darlington RA at Feethams, but after an interruption of ten overs in the RA's innings, the match ended as a draw.

Faced with a target of 177, RA batted 42 overs for 156-7, which included useful contributions from David Eccles, Paul Freary, Jimmy Middleton and Gerard Hull. Steve Chapman claimed 3-39 in 13 overs in the home attack.

When they batted first, Darlington were given the best possible send-off by openers Neil Pratt, whose 61 included nine boundaries, and Chapman (37).

The pair added 107 and laid the foundations for an eventual total of 176 all out, compiled from 47.4 overs.

Andy Russell took 5-53 in 18.4 overs and Wallace Cornwell had figures of 3-53 from 14 overs.

Richmondshire's home game with Blackhall went ahead uninterrupted, but still ended as a draw. At stumps, the Colliers were 38 runs short of a winning margin, but with their last pair at the wicket.

Peter Moss (40) and Tony Booth (33) raised hopes when they both struck six boundaries forming a sound partnership for the second wicket. But Blackhall were later in trouble before Philip Bell, batting at number nine, hit four sixes and three fours in 40. In the end, the game was saved by Mark Cushlow and Richard Watts.

Shanoka Dissanayake bowled unchanged in the Richmond attack, returning 5-87 in 25 overs, nine of which were maidens, and Chris Layfield also produced form with the excellent figures of 4-33 from 14 overs, six of which were maidens.

When they made first use of the wicket, Richmond posted 225-9 in 50 overs as the runs flowed from Adam Smith (66), Mark Layfield (53) and Dissanayake (38).

Philip Bell was the most successful Blackhall bowler with 5-61 in 14 overs, while Mohamed Fazal bowled unchanged for 25 overs to claim 3-101.

The other four games all ended prematurely when the rain returned.

Great Ayton were 112-8 after 34.4 overs at Saltburn, for whom Lee Hodgson took 4-31, while less play was possible at Redcar. The home side received 33.2 overs from the Normanby Hall attack, totalling 128-2, which included 68 by Neil Russell and 46 from Martin Hood.

At Kingsway, Bishop Auckland realised 162-3 against Guisborough before rain intervened. Richard Hawthorne was unbeaten on 95, hitting one six and seven boundaries.

The game at Park Drive had only just started when it was halted by a deluge with Hartlepool six without loss against Marske.