Brown calls on Stratford to remain positive despite Streetly hammering
STRATFORD skipper Mike Brown admitted his team were “properly hammered” after they crashed to their biggest defeat of the season at Streetly on Saturday.
The Panthers lost by 179 runs in a result which sees them fall into the Birmingham Premier League Division Three relegation zone.
“It was the first time we walked away from a ground thinking we were properly hammered,” said Brown.
“All the lads know we are good enough, it’s just frustration that it’s not coming across.
“We seem to be making the same mistakes week in and week out and that is frustrating.
“We have to try to keep a positive mindset, put partnerships together with the bat and take some early wickets.”
Due to the size of the ground, with the majority of boundaries under 40 yards, Stratford won the toss and decided to field first, as chasing the total should be easier.
The Panthers made a good start with the ball, making scoring difficult as Streetly reached 28-0 after ten overs.
From here, they slowly began to accelerate, however, the spin duo of Perry Derrick and Ant Pratley bowled very well in restricting the boundaries.
Streetly number four Imran Qadir was looking confident at the crease and supported well by players around him they took the score over 180 in the 45th over.
With wickets in hand, batsmen in the home side put their foot on the accelerator, popping the ball over the tiny boundaries at will and punishing every bowler.
Qadir reached his 100 off 88 balls, including eight sixes, before the lower order had some fun in scoring more quick runs and finally finishing the innings on 304-8.
Stratford knew this was going to be a tough chase, however, in reality a score of 300 on Streetly’s ground is similar to 230-240 elsewhere, so confidence was still there. Despite losing opener West early on, Blake and Bailey found the boundary and took the score to 59-1, well above the required run rate.
A rattled Streetly changed the ends their bowlers were running in from and it paid dividends as both Bailey and new man Salmon fell in the same over.
After this, the momentum shifted as Streetly’s Indian professional Sagar Mangalorkar ripped through the Stratford middle order to record another five for.
Some late order hitting from Fin Hatch got Stratford a batting bonus point, but it was scant consolation for what was a real hammering.
Stratford return to action this Saturday with a home match against struggling Worcester Nomads.
Stratford team v Worcester Nomads: David Bailey, Adam Bayliss, Mike Brown (c), Chris Calcott (wk), Perry Derrick, Anthony Pratley, John Price, Jake Salmon, Rob West, Adrian Witts, Chris Whelan.
THERE was better news for Stratford 2nds, who thrashed Streetly 2nds by 119 runs at Swan’s Nest Lane to move up to fourth in the 2nd XI table.
Dexter Purser (51), Gareth Langman (45) and Will Noble (63) led Stratford to 232, before the home side skittled Streetly out for just 113. Ben Pigott (3-21) was the pick of the bowlers.
“You often hear a performance described as a great team effort, well Saturday’s game was a prime example of that,” said stand-in captain James Urquhart.
“Our top order batsman really set the tone, allowing the middle to low order to try and score quickly at the end of our innings. Will Noble in particular ran hard and put the fielders under pressure.
“Pigott was the pick of our bowlers and Simon Francis was great on his Birmingham League debut, bowling wicket to wicket and forcing the batsman attack good balls.
“Our fielding in particular was a highlight taking almost every catch, including two run outs.”
