Ormskirk’s Harvey Rankin is raring to go ahead of what could be a pivotal weekend in his club’s season. 

The defending Love Lane Liverpool Competition champions take on their nearest rivals, Northern, at Brook Lane on Saturday, hoping to stretch an already imposing 36-point cushion.

Then, on Sunday, comes a massive trip in more ways than one – all the way to Gosforth, Tyneside, with a place in the semi-finals of the ECB National Club Championship on the line.

If there are any nerves in the camp following an uncharacteristic collapse against Rainford on T20 finals day last Sunday, they are not showing.

Rankin said: “We’re all extremely keen to keep the train going. 

“We’ve got some good momentum from the earlier rounds of the National and we want to take that same energy into Sunday. 

“The club has a history of doing well in this competition, just not well enough at times – there’s nothing to suggest we don’t have the skills or the application to go further. 

“We’re all focused on that.

“Last Sunday was just one of those things. 

“We’ve had conversations about it and everyone knows what went wrong, myself included – luckily, we don’t have those days very often.

“This is why we play club cricket, and it’s why we all play for Ormskirk – to play in these big games and get to the later stages. 

“It’s what it’s all about.”

This season’s previous meeting of the Big Two, at Northern’s Moor Park, ended in a draw – one of five in the last 10 El Compico clashes in the league.

But only one of those was at Brook Lane, a venue which has only hosted two draws in total since the pandemic – an end-of-season encounter with Leigh in 2022, and last year’s Northern game.

As one of the people tasked with making runs on it every other week, Rankin knows all too well what the wicket is like, and he wouldn’t bet on another stalemate on Saturday.

“I think the pitch could play a part and there could be a lot of wickets,” he said.

“The pitch isn’t always the best for batting and it’s one where you need to work hard for your runs and play the scenarios well. 

“I’d envisage a result either way, and it’s a good, high-quality game to have ahead of Sunday.”