Stratford skipper Brown left to rue a poor batting display

STRATFORD skipper Mike Brown was left to rue a poor batting performance as his side slumped to a six-wicket defeat against Old Elizabethans on Saturday.

Just three Stratford batsmen reached double figures as Brown’s men were skittled out for 131, before Pakistan international Nasir Jamshaid blasted 62 from 63 balls to ensure an easy victory for the visitors.

Ed Cunynghame fought a lone hand in Stratford’s effort, cracking an unbeaten 64, but the lack of any support proved costly.

“We’re just not putting that complete batting performance in,” said Brown.

“If we’re not putting partnerships together then we aren’t going to win games.

“Ed did really well and he showed everyone else how to do it. He ran singles well and also looked for boundaries.

“As a team we need to be hitting gaps and running singles and that will immediately put pressure back on the bowlers.”

The defeat sees Stratford sink to third bottom in Birmingham League Division Two and with the league’s current top three next up on the fixture list, the season is unlikely to get any easier.

Brown added: “The teams all around us won and the fixture list for the next few weeks isn’t looking great.

“It’s all coming thick and fast, but if we can get a couple of positive results then we’ll have played all the top teams and got them out of the way.

“We played against those top teams at the start of the season and we competed against them. We weren’t a million miles away.”

Stratford will be boosted by the return of John Price and Aidy Witts for this weekend’s match at second-placed Tamworth on Saturday.

Although the Panthers will be without the services of opening bowler Tom Grundy, who is out with a shoulder injury and Cunynghame, who is unavailable.

Stratford: Harry Adams, Rob West, David Bailey, John Price, Jake Salmon, Perry Derrick, Aidy Witts, Sam Douthwaite, James Urquhart, Chris Calcott, Mike Brown (c).