A CRICKET club is facing a disastrous season after winning the league and cup double with a player who was on bail for raping a young girl.

First team captain at Blackburn Northern Cricket Club, Reza Hussain said no-one will play for or sponsor the club after a former player was found guilty of raping a 14-year-old Accrington girl in a Blackpool hotel.

He said no new players have come to practice sessions in 18 weeks and businesses who were interested in sponsorship have backed out.

Mohammed Arshad - aka Ajmal Mohammed - 40, of Audley Range, Blackburn, played for the club in the run up to his court case last year.

But the Ribblesdale League decided the club was not to be stripped of its trophies, even though the player should have been banned when the charges were first made.

Mr Hussain said there are now more Criminal Reocrds Bureau checks at the club than before and anyone suspected of breaking the law would be questioned more thoroughly.

He said the bad publicity could spell disaster for the club. He said: "No-one wants to play for us, so we can't replace players who have left.

"Last year we had up to £3,000 in sponsorship and we had interested businesses lined up for this year. Once the bad publicity started, no-one wanted to sponsor us any more - they all did a complete U-turn.

"I still say we did nothing wrong. He wasn't a professional and he worked in a supermarket at the time. He played for another team before he came to us and we had no way of knowing he was accused of rape.

"I took the captaincy over a short time later in December and it's proving tough to move on.

"Two players who left were senior players and it's a struggle to replace them.

"We've had no newcomers at the practice sessions at all - usually there's four or five at least.

"Because of one person, the club could go under.

"CRB checks used to be for anyone working with children or the first team captain, now it's been extended to the second team and vice captains.

"It's impossible to check all the players, they are not professionals, although we are more cautious.

"We would ask more questions now and try to get help from the police.

"If things don't change we will get deeper and deeper in trouble.

"We offer good opportunities for youth players and we won the league for the first time in 26 years.

"It would be so wrong to throw all that away."

Under England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) rules, Ajmal Mohammed should have been suspended at the start of the season after being charged with rape and attempted rape in February last year.

The middle order batsman went on to play for Blackburn Northern in the Ribblesdale League all season, using the name Mohammed Arshad and wearing his electronic tag.

He was given an indefinite sentence for the offence at Preston Crown Court in February.