KENDAL will be without professional Eldred Hawken for the Bank Holiday weekend double header.

The South African pace bowler pulled a hamstring in last weekend's defeat at Blackpool and will miss Saturday's home match with Morecambe and Monday's local derby clash at Netherfield.

Hawken will undergo treatment this week to see the extent of the damage but captain Chris Miller is hopeful the 25-year-old will only be a short term rather than long term absentee.

"We will have to wait to see what the physio says but hopefully Eldred will only miss one weekend," said Miller. "It means we need to bring in sub professionals for the two games which is never ideal.

"We are close to sorting one for Monday's match at Netherfield but we are still on the look out for Saturday's game against Morecambe."

Hawken pulled up after bowling 3.1 overs against Blackpool and was unable to bat.

Playing the league leaders with a full strength team was always a tough task for Kendal so doing it without the main strike bowler and important part of their batting attack made it all the more difficult - and so it proved.

Batting first on a batsman-friendly flat wicket, Blackpool declared on 210-8. Matthew Houston top scored with 79 for the hosts with Christi Vijoen scoring 52 in a 99-run match-winning partnership.

Miller (4-68) and Stu Parkin (3-78) were the pick of the bowlers.

"It was a decent total for Blackpool but I thought it was gettable on what was a flat wicket," added Miller. "I think that is the reason why Blackpool declared to have more time to get after our batsmen."

But not for the first time this season, Kendal suffered a batting collapse as they felt the full brunt of the strongest bowling attack in the league.

The Shap Road side went from 15-0 to 16-3 as Richard Gleeson claimed a hat-trick and they never recovered.

Opener Darren Braithwaite appeared to be getting his eye in but when he was Gleeson's first victim, clean bowled for 12, it was the start of another dramatic collapse.

Only Saeed Bariwala (10) and Darren Nightingale (19) managed to get in to double figures as Kendal were dismissed for 49 in 26.2 overs.

"When you lose your top order to a hat-trick then you know it is not going to be your day," added Miller. "But credit to Blackpool, they are the best team we have played and you just have to hold your hands up and say we were beaten by a far better side."

Miller knows his team are in for another tough weekend but is aiming to end Netherfield's hold over them in recent years.

"They have definitely had the better of us in the league in the last few seasons but we will be going all out to try and end that run," he said. "It is a derby game and anything can happen in those sort of matches.

"But first of all we have to play Morecambe and they have had a good start to the season so we know that is going to be a tough game."