CHRIS Froud admits that his Basingstoke and North Hants team face a big challenge as they look to bounce back from a heavy defeat, having been skittled out for just 50 by local rivals Hook and Newnham Basics last weekend and going down to a 151-run defeat that saw them slip to third in the Southern Electric Premier Division One table.
They face another top-of-the-table clash this weekend, when they to travel to leaders New Milton, who have won all six of their games so far this season and lead the table by 11 points, writes John Boyman of the Basingstoke Gazette. It is BBC Radio Solent’s feature match on 999Mw from 2 o’clock onwards.
In addition to being in great form, New Milton have some excellent bowlers, while their Fernhill pitch can be a tricky one to play on, hardly an ideal combination for a Basingstoke team bound to be low on confidence with the bat.
Captain Froud said: "We batted abysmally on Saturday, so it will be a massive challenge to face New Milton off the back of that. They are a good all-round side, but bowling is their strength and low scores are fairly common at their ground. We will have to dig in and really work for our runs.
"We will have to play considerably better than we did last week. Everyone has got to take responsibility for scoring runs rather than giving their wickets away.
"A result like last week's has been on the cards for a while because we have not been batting brilliantly. We have to treat last week as a wake-up call and hope it is the kick up the backside that we need."
It's a big game for a number of reasons, but Froud insists that the result will not necessarily make or break his side's season.
"I think it's too early in the season to say this is a must-win game for us," the Basingstoke skipper added. "Whatever the result, we will not be out of the title race. Losing would make it difficult for us, but as the season goes on, I think we will start to see more surprise results."
Despite last weekend's defeat, Froud plans to keep faith with the side who won their first five games of the season.
He will be without Graham Porter for a second week, while Patrick Joseph will be missing for the trip to the New Forest, with Craig Williamson set to replace him after hitting 104 for the second team.
New Milton skipper James Park, who once again names an unchanged side, acknowledged: “We’re a target now.
“The team is full of confidence and we can’t do anything wrong as far as the game goes.
“But this is another week and another game.
“People will want to come to New Milton and put one over us because we have played six and won six but we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“I think it’s going to be a tricky test against Basingstoke but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. We don’t mind playing the tougher teams when we are playing well.”
New Milton: Haggaty, House, J Park, N Park, Lawes, Edwards, L Beck, Elliott, Loader, Gargaro, Watts.
Basingstoke: Froud, Stokes, Bucksey, Williamson, Oliver, Nurse, James, Parera, Thankachan, Benge, Chandler.
They face another top-of-the-table clash this weekend, when they to travel to leaders New Milton, who have won all six of their games so far this season and lead the table by 11 points, writes John Boyman of the Basingstoke Gazette. It is BBC Radio Solent’s feature match on 999Mw from 2 o’clock onwards.
In addition to being in great form, New Milton have some excellent bowlers, while their Fernhill pitch can be a tricky one to play on, hardly an ideal combination for a Basingstoke team bound to be low on confidence with the bat.
Captain Froud said: "We batted abysmally on Saturday, so it will be a massive challenge to face New Milton off the back of that. They are a good all-round side, but bowling is their strength and low scores are fairly common at their ground. We will have to dig in and really work for our runs.
"We will have to play considerably better than we did last week. Everyone has got to take responsibility for scoring runs rather than giving their wickets away.
"A result like last week's has been on the cards for a while because we have not been batting brilliantly. We have to treat last week as a wake-up call and hope it is the kick up the backside that we need."
It's a big game for a number of reasons, but Froud insists that the result will not necessarily make or break his side's season.
"I think it's too early in the season to say this is a must-win game for us," the Basingstoke skipper added. "Whatever the result, we will not be out of the title race. Losing would make it difficult for us, but as the season goes on, I think we will start to see more surprise results."
Despite last weekend's defeat, Froud plans to keep faith with the side who won their first five games of the season.
He will be without Graham Porter for a second week, while Patrick Joseph will be missing for the trip to the New Forest, with Craig Williamson set to replace him after hitting 104 for the second team.
New Milton skipper James Park, who once again names an unchanged side, acknowledged: “We’re a target now.
“The team is full of confidence and we can’t do anything wrong as far as the game goes.
“But this is another week and another game.
“People will want to come to New Milton and put one over us because we have played six and won six but we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“I think it’s going to be a tricky test against Basingstoke but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. We don’t mind playing the tougher teams when we are playing well.”
New Milton: Haggaty, House, J Park, N Park, Lawes, Edwards, L Beck, Elliott, Loader, Gargaro, Watts.
Basingstoke: Froud, Stokes, Bucksey, Williamson, Oliver, Nurse, James, Parera, Thankachan, Benge, Chandler.