LAURA Swainston's friends thinks she's mad. For while the 14-year-old's pals are out shopping for the latest clothes and pop CDs, she spends her Saturdays keeping score at Richmondshire Cricket Club.

Laura, from Pallet Hill, Catterick Village, would jump at the chance to play the sport alongside her father and younger brother but, as there are no girls' teams locally, she does the next best thing.

She has just finished her third season at the club in Richmond and the score book is testimony to her meticulous record-keeping.

She is not fazed by having to simultaneously write, calculate and change the figures on the scoreboard, while keeping an eye on the action.

"I tend to be able to anticipate if it's going to be a four or a six," said Laura, demonstrating what the professionals call a "scorer's eye."

She began keeping score for the second and junior teams three years ago when the former scorekeeper, Carl Doughty, offered to teach her.

"Carl used to score and play, which was quite difficult, " says her mother, Alison. "My husband and 11-year-old son, Craig, both play and I enjoy the sport, so we go as a family."

Laura - right - faces an eight-hour day every Saturday from Easter to mid September, arriving half an hour before play starts to open the scoring box and copy the line-up, given to her by captain Andy Dade, into the score book.

She then scores for 100 overs, which often take until mid evening to complete. In the early part of the season, she is also on hand at evening cup games.

The St Francis Xavier School pupil also has to keep up to date with the rules, including new ones introduced this season, and she helps work out batting averages at the end of each match.

"I really enjoy it and there is a good social side - but my mates all think I'm mad," she said.

At the close of the season, she admits to feeling at a bit of a loose end, but soon indulges her passion for football, including trips with her father to Old Trafford. - D&S