BARNSLEY Woolley are due to host a local derby with Cawthorne in the league tomorrow before beginning an attempt to win the Twenty20 Blast for a third successive year on Sunday.
Both Barnsley and Cawthorne were beaten in Yorkshire Premier South fixtures this week and now meet at Shaw Lane.
Barnsley captain Liam Johnson said: “It will be a good derby.
“Cawthorne strengthened a lot in the winter. It’s another tough game but we have to start stepping up. We are confident that we can turn them over.”
Cawthorne captain Mike Jepps added: “It’s a big game for us. We want 12 points to cement us in the top five, as we are.
“I know Liam Johnson well, we played together at Tickhill.
“It’s always one we want to win.
“We’re a small village club whereas Barnsley are a town centre club with four senior teams and a big junior section. It’s not David and Goliath but we’re punching above our weight in this division. We’re happy to be underdogs but, with the way we’ve started the season, we have confidence in our ability to win these games.”
Barnsley then visit Shiregreen on Sunday for the first round of the Twenty20 Blast.
Johnson said: “We are hoping to win that again. It’s a strength of ours with the way we play.
“We like to play positive attacking cricket which sometimes, especially with the weather around on difficult pitches, it stumps us because we are free-flowing.
“Hopefully we can blow out any confidence issues, nerves or anxiety, and express ourselves with a bit less pressure on us.”
Barnsley lost by 124 runs at home to Tickhill in the Yorkshire South Premier.
They were bowled out for 126 chasing 250 despite Sheryaar Ali hitting 80.
“We knew it would be tough.
“We were missing players again through injury, work and family commitments.
“We were against a team with an international cricketer (Sri Lankan Minod Bhanuka) and county cricketers.
“We bowled and fielded alright but their quality shone in the end.”
Barnsley are tenth in the 12-team league with one win from five games so far. They have been missing key men such as Yorkshire second team players Harvey Round and Owen Smith as well as spin-bowler Oliver Jackson.
“We’re lower than we planned to be in the table but it’s down to outside influence with injuries and other things.
“We have had tough fixtures as well. It’s been difficult to compete at times.
“The senior players like me need to step up a bit more. There is a hell of a lot of pressure on us to put in match-winning performances.
“Adam Copley is bowling on one finger. I am bowling on half a knee.
“We know it will turn. It feels imminent that some of the guys will come back. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’re not doing too badly.”
Cawthorne fell 40 runs short chasing 154 at home to Whitley Hall.
Danish Aziz took seven wickets.
Jepps said: “It was a fair result.
“Whitley’s experience showed.
“We got delayed and it was reduced to 42 overs. We bowled well early on but they played their shots and got a good total on that pitch.
“We fell short by 40 with five overs left which is frustrating.
“If we kept wickets in hand, we might have had a chance of winning.
“We have lost two close games against teams above us so far this season.”
Elsecar remain winless after falling 60 runs short chasing 221 at Doncaster Town. Enzo Campagna and Bilal Anjam took three wickets each. Samarpit Joshi made 77 not out.
