ahead of the catalonian independence referendum, which has been banned by the central government. spain's national police has been told to stop the vote. dozens of vans have just left their temporary base in the port of barcelona. the united nations is warning of an increase in sexual violence against rohingya refugees fleeing a military crackdown in myanmar. doctors in bangladesh say that many of the women and children who have crossed over the border from myanmar have been sexually assaulted and abused by soldiers. the situation in puerto rico is still dire after the devastation caused by two hurricanes. there's also deepening political tension over the us relief effort. in a series of tweets, president trump promised his support, but tried to blame local officials, democrats and the media for the poor situation. let's have a look at the front pages of this morning's papers. the observer says the knives are out for theresa may as the conservative party conference gets underway. it reports a senior cabinet minister has refused

to back her, remaining in office. the sunday times continues the theme. one of its headlines claims borisjohnson believes mrs may will be gone in a year. a rather kinder front page from the sunday telegraph, which says the pm is set to announce a tuition fees revolution to help students. "that's more like it mrs may" is the verdict in the sunday express. it reports the pm will launch the change as part of a ‘policy blitz‘ to woo younger voters. the mail on sunday says she's gambling that the tuition fees changes will head off a tory coup, but the paper calls it another ‘huge u—turn‘. and more on the conservatives in the sunday mirror, which claims the prominent pro—life tory mp, jacob rees—mogg, has admitted to benefiting financially from a firm which produces drugs to end pregnancies. now on bbc news, race and pace — a look at the impact west indian players who have made on the lancashire cricket league

over the last 90 years. this is a story about small white towns and the biggest black stars. bowling very fast! we are talking about the best players in the world. these guys were clamouring to come and play in lancashire league cricket. when east meets west. rainy east lancashire meeting the sunny west indies. what a marvellous stroke. for the biggest name ever to play in the lancashire league, there was a welcome to match. it was just a special time in a home away from home. a story which starts with reticence and racism. he broke the barriers. they had been fed with the idea that

black people are not really people, that they're lesser and that they're not very bright. but ends with lifelong friendships linking accrington with antigua, burnley and barbados. we've remained friends for 50—odd years and every christmas morning, we speak to each other. two continents, two cultures. united by one spirit. i can remember every player that i played with 57 years ago. it means that they are in my heart. an unlikely cricketing love affair. but how did it happen and what impact did it have? hidden beneath brooding pennine hills lies the towns and villages of east lancashire. until this year, the lancashire league has been unchanged since 1897.

14 clubs, 20 miles apart. local rivalry runs high and the chance to see the indian and west indian professionals in action along with the local lads creates tremendous enthusiasm. it's probably the most famous cricket league in the world. it would be the only thing in summer. it was a social occasion. people came to the games in theirfinery. top hats, tails, collars, ties, ladies in lovely dresses and hats. each team was made up of ten local amateurs and one paid professional. everton weekes, he is the only player ever to have scored five consecutive centuries in test matches. you would see these professionals walking around town. and they were celebs. they really were celebs.

"oh, look, here's the pro. here's the pro!" it was terrific. the pro was the star, the big draw. paid to perform in front of thousands. the professional must lead. if you have a professional in the league that does not lead, well, then the team is not going to do very well. i played with a team. i cannot do it alone. the pro is the centre, the pro is the team. until 1928, the pro had meant a white man, usually an englishman, but occasionally, an australian or south african. that changed when nelson hired the trinidadian, learie nicholas constantine. he wasjust a magical kind of player to watch. very attacking batsman. a demon of a bowler. and more than either of those things,

the most wonderful fielder that i think anybody had ever seen. nelson, heavily in debt, had taken a chance with constantine as a cricketer and curiosity would draw the crowds. he had taken a leap into the unknown, unsure how he would be received. my parents had a very hard time being accepted in the town. yeah, i think they were quite unhappy. people used to pass on the other side of the road when they saw them coming, kind of thing. and a lot of people wouldn't... tried... they ignored them, more or less. how did you and yourfamily find the people of nelson? at first, you know, the strangeness, what we discovered later on to be strangeness, we thought at one time it was prejudice. and we took that as true. schoolchildren were peeping in the window to see him through his living room window. they were all going,

lining up to go and see him because they'd never seen a black man. dad always said when he went to nelson, on one or two occasions, and he shook hands with people, they used to be doing this with their hand to see if it rubbed off! ignored in the street, but on the cricket field, constantine was a huge attraction. when nelson came here, the crowd for the game was 7,000. nothing has been seen like it on this ground before or since. in the 1930s, it was packed. it was absolutely packed. both my dad and my uncles and neighbours, they all came straight from work to get a seat. they even came from yorkshire to watch him. the stands were packed. but after a year, constantine was ready to pack his bags. it was very difficult

to dislike him. although some people did. and he said for two pins, "i would have gone back to trinidad." it was my mother who decided we are not moving. "we are staying here." he would have gone back. he would have gone home after the first year. but she said no, and that's when they took me up. aged two, gloria had moved tojoin her parents in nelson. the family ended up staying for 20 years. we used to call her the only fly in the ointment. she was the only dark student at the secondary school in nelson. what happened was that the people who accepted you, accepted you. and the people who didn't, didn't, and they ignored you. there were people at school who ignored me and pretended i was not there. and i remember them distinctly. and ijust ignored them.

you ignore me, i ignore you. that's all. but her father was far from ignored. despite the great depression, crowds continued to rise and so did constantine's contracts. the cotton industry was on short time and short money. for sixpence on a saturday afternoon, you could see cricket played as well as anywhere in the world. constantine was probably the best paid sportsman in the country, including footballers and boxers and jockeys and other cricketers. constantine led nelson to seven titles in nine seasons, once taking all ten wickets in an innings for only ten runs. no—one in nelson was crossing the road to avoid him any more. my father was a very friendly person. so if you wanted to stop and talk, he would stop and talk. so i used to hate going out with him because he was stopped every minute. he was stopped to talk to somebody.

but that's how it was. and, also, he grew very fond of the people. constantine went on to become a barrister, a knight and then britain's first black peer. baron constantine of nelson. he tackled racism whenever he found it. and also paved the way for generations of west indian professionals to play in lancashire. we must admit that being the first coloured professional cricketer to come to lancashire league, that i had a job to do to satisfy people that i was as human as they were, so in truth and in fact, i carried a burden. he broke the barriers. he did had something to do with a lot of the ones who came. but not only the west indians, the indians too. and here come the west indians... this sight screen that

i am leaning on now, wes hall started his run roughly here. it was so far and he was so athletic... he was a huge man. his shirt wide open and a big gold crucifix going side to side as he ran up. he's getting nearer and accelerating all the way until he reached full pelt at the crease. by 1960, the league was full of brilliant batsmen and furious fast bowlers. wes hall arrived in 1960. he made quite an impression. he came down here. i'll never forget. the first night he walked down here, he walked across this pitch to the nets behind my shoulder here. i'll neverforget — he had a west indian cap on, all his whites on, and a long raincoat down to his ankles. he walked across and we were looking

and thinking that is wes hall. accrington was the defining moment in my life. i am away from home, i have to live with strangers, i have to perform and i have to be the type of person that people would love to be around. it was the first time that i had ever lived for six months with people other than west indians. i was like a fly in coconut ice cream. yeah, very, very noticeable. i mean, the first time i ever heard and out, i learned the language. within two or three months, i was the greatest fish and chips eater in lancashire. and i was quite grateful, you know? that they were so good to me. there is wes in the middle. an absolute colossus.

and he was good to them. especially one talented teenager at the club, former england player and coach, david lloyd. he would be the guy that really got me hooked on the game. and the rest of the juniors that were here at the time. he gave me my first cricket bat. now we see everton weekes... wes wasn't alone. in the late 19505 and 1960s, 12 of the league's 1a teams had a west indian pro. there were so many professionals around. little clusters of people. in manchester, we would go over where we had ourfriends, we would have a big cook—up. but every saturday, you had a test game. but every saturday, you had a test player against you. i was either a great batsman or a great bowler. wes was one of a battery of quick bowlers dotted around the league.

the most potent was charlie griffith at burnley. in 1964, he took a league record 144 wickets in a season, nearly 100 lbw or clean bowled. yes, he is out! a lot of these fellas are amateurs, never come up against fast bowling and before you got there, you could see that they were quite nervous. some batsmen came in and you could see the fear on his face. obviously, they were thinking, "i hope i'll get to work on monday morning." if you didn't get out of the way, then you would get hit and could get hurt. a lot of the senior lads would look at the fixtures and they'd book their holidays when you were up against one of the big quicks. so they'd be having a fortnight off. there was real apprehension. and a bit of fear.

does not matter what sort of wicket you produce when he's letting go at this pace. there was fear among opponents, but in their own dressing rooms, there was only friendship. when you're doing well, everybody is upbeat. i think that's what i took to burnley. we had a great time every week. they used to buy me mentos. we had a great time. the people were fantastic. he was the professional, i was the amateur, but we've remained friends now for 50 odd years and every christmas morning we speak to each other and he usually tells me that it's a lovely morning, going to the beach and then to see his racehorses, while i'm telling him that it's either snowing or pouring with rain. even now when i go back to burnley i have an enjoyable time.

and i've got these friends from all 50 years until now. that speaks a hell of a lot. whenever i see them they talk about that. they say, "you came to burnley and created history — history that will never go away." that's wes. right. that's me. you are the handsome man at the end, are you? yeah. jim eland used to open the bowling with wes hall. he has alzheimer's, but his memories of his west indian colleague remains strong. some days he might not remember how to switch the television on with remote, but the minute a cricketer's name is mentioned it all comes flooding back. "will always have a special place in their hearts for wes hall. "he was a giant in the game and will be forever remembered

"at thorneyholme road". true. he will. it's nice thatjim has the photographs and items in books, where they're both mentioned in the publications and that's a wonderful prompt for him and makes him happy, yes. jim came to barbados about ten years ago. i was so pleased, you know, to reciprocate all the good thing they had done for me. we took him to kensington oval. i said, "jim, you go down to that end, because this end is mine". you know? and, oh, i was so happy to have him there. there on my heart, you know? i pray for them, you know, i talk about them all the time. i often remind people of brotherly love and peace and things like that and that's what accrington brought to me. commentator: we're really

seeing something here, i can tell you. that's the shot he's waiting for. the most fearsome batsman of his era, the most famous cricketer in the world. in the mid—80s, no one in the game was bigger than viv richards. great shot again. absolutely magnificent. yet in 1987, he signed up for a season in the small village near blackburn. coming from a very small island, rishton was the ideal sort of environment for me. it wasn't as sunny as where i grew up. when i first went, it was so gloomy, i couldn't understand how could cricket be played in this part of the world, but anything goes in that part of the world when it comes to cricket here. and that went for viv‘s arrival into the lancashire league.

they said, "why not a chopper?" it was quite a spectacular landing. i remember still at this particular spot, looking in the distance and seeing this little lot get bigger and bigger, until eventually this massive helicopter landed on the field there and the place erupted. a helicopter dropping him off right by the wicket after an overnight flight from the west indies. and, for the biggest name to ever play in the lancashire league, there was a welcome to match. what do you think you can do for the club? well, i'm just trying to do what i've done for teams like somerset. add a bit of spice, i hope. one of the things that i remember more than anything else, the hailstones. i'm saying, "is there going to be a cricket match here today?" there was, and viv warmed up the crowd with 87 runs. richards was finding the middle of the bat. the bat, and the ball, were disappearing from the ground. his teammates were suddenly sharing a dressing room with the captain of the all—conquering west indies.

they still can't quite believe it. this is the exact spot we sat in after the game, viv's first game, except the world's best player's sitting there and i'm 30—years—old or something. when i went into the dressing room, it was like i would have known these guys for a number of years. everything clicked and i guess it's because of the people, the personalities. richards reignited the heyday of the league, as crowds flocked to see him. we were so lucky. to hit rishton twice at home, with great weather, and get a couple of thousand people on, that must have set us up for two years. and the big debate from the committee down here was — how many pies do we need? we've got to get plenty of pies in. david lloyd was then in his 405, but still bowling. viv was a daunting process. he was in his pump! he was as good as it gets!

i looked at this ground and the end i was bowling from, i thought, this is not big enough for us two! ijust kept bowling up and, bang, there's another! i've gone out of the ground again. away from the pitch, viv threw himself into lancashire life. i found out about another cuisine that you have in that part of the world. mushy peas and pie! it looked a little foul at the time, but, at the end of the day, i am a temp, an honorary lancaster at that particular time, so i'm going to let it work. if viv was introduced to mushy peas, the ca ptain‘s family learnt about caribbean cuisine. ijust thought, oh, heck, viv richards is coming in my house! yeah, it was a great, great summer. his wife used to come with food and his favourite was monkfish and she used to cook it on this hob here. it was magnificent.

i was playing with viv richards for five months of the year. absolutely unbelievable. everybody‘s supposed to get their day in the sun and mine was saying that i captained viv richards! they played a huge part. from the first night that i went to david and his wife's house, it wasn't all about the mushy peas and pie, but humour. they were very, very, very good people. there's some change for my ticket. the lancashire league's best days are behind it. crowds a fraction of the full houses which once packed places like nelson. constantine had thousands clamouring to see him here. today, at times, it can bejust a few men and a dog. i don't think anybody would pretend that it's the same as it was. you get a handful of people

who are watching the games and the golden era of the great professional is gone. west indian pros are a rarity these days. the depth of talent in caribbean cricket has declined. south africans are now a more popular choice among league clubs. 12 months a year cricket, the indian ipl, there are so many other demands on the top players. it's hard to get them when they're at their peak now. yet one thing hasn't changed. these cricket clubs remain crucial parts of the community. the league is 125 years old, so that history is always there, whichever club you go to. it's great. you learn a lot from other people's coaches, obviously, while you're out there and playing with each other week in, week out. it's a good experience. nelson is often portrayed as a divided town. a place where whites and asians live separate lives. the last british national party councillor in the country represents

part of this town. but there's no divide at its cricket club. we have had problems within the town, of segregation and communities not mixing, but the club itself has really helped with that and i am sure we can use it as an example for other organisations in the area, to show how we've helped integrate our society and our communities to come together just through one sport. nearly 90 years after constantine came to nelson, the memories remain. notjust on the walls of the clubhouse, but in the values of its members. we're very proud of constantine and what he did and what he stood for and people here have the same kind of attitude as what he had. 4,000 miles away in the hills above trinidad's capital, port of spain, consta ntine's great—grandchildren are learning about his impact. here's your great—granddad.

that's my dad. yeah, that's our house. what number was that? three. it's a nice house. it was a small house. i did not realise until much later what a contribution the family had made. and the links between east lancashire and the west indies live on. i'll always be grateful to nelson and in many ways nelson will always be home. you know, i am only 80, so if there's one thing i'm going to do is to return to accrington some time. rishton just sort of opened their arms and it's notjust the memories of what you accomplish in county cricket, test match cricket, all this sort of stuff, but that was something very special.

hello again. it's typical autumn fare over the next few days. the start of a new month, wind, sunshine and rain. these weather systems tracking rain in from the atlantic, deepening low pressure strengthening winds as well. quite a contrast in temperatures. clear skies in scotland, not far from freezing this morning. much milder weather with rain and drizzle further south, low cloud as well. rain on the way for the great scottish run after a chilly start. temperatures lifting

but winds picking up as well. heavy rain across western scotland as the rain moves in and east across the country through the morning, some rain will drizzle at times in england and wales. a glimmer of sunshine, the best in the afternoon across northern ireland. improving across some other western areas later in the day. quite a muggy field across england and wales. a windy day across the uk. winds picking up in wembley for the nfl. drizzly rain at times. you can see the saints vs dolphins game on bbc two later on today. this rain finally clearing away in the evening across eastern parts of england. skies clearing away from showers in the north—west. seeing the weather changing. warmer, tropical, muggy air giving way to a north—westerly winds overnight and into monday. pulling in something a bit colder. this is the former hurricane maria, sliding through the english channel. a big impact on monday

because of the low pressure to the north. winds even stronger by monday morning. 50 mph for rush—hour on monday. 60 mph quite possible across some western and northern parts of scotland. accompanied by a lot of showers as well, quite nasty weather for a while. further south, wind is not as strong. not much rain, a decent day for the south—east. chilly in the wind, temperatures a bit lower on monday. seeing rain clipping the far south—west of england in the afternoon. this is what is left of hurricane maria. rain running through much of england, through the channel, gone by monday. we still have north—westerly winds. by this stage, not as strong, thankfully. some sunshine around, probably not as many showers. quite a chill in the air, 13—14 fairly typical. high pressure on the scene in the week, but not likely to hang around. getting squeezed out by this low pressure, bringing wind and rain

back to the north—west. hello, this is breakfast, with rachel burden and roger johnson. good morning, it's sunday first october. also ahead: a lifeline for monarch airlines. its licence to sell package holidays is extended for another 24 hours. the spanish government tries to put a stop to catalonia's independence referendum as voters in the region head to the polls.