HARVEER Gandam has slammed his side after another poor performance saw Burnham suffer a fourth consecutive defeat in Home Counties Division One.

Burnham slumped to an 87-run loss at Horspath on Saturday to leave them seventh in the league table and six points above the relegation places.

Speaking to the Observer, captain Gandam lamented: “We will have to chop and change but are not the deepest in terms of strength. It’s a good opportunity for the guys to say we’re the ones that got us in this situation so we will do our best to get out of it.

“It’s like we are having a mid-life, mid-season crisis. We had strong words in the week but I know I need to lead by example.

“I’ve not flourished myself at the moment and need to come to the party. I need to show the younger guys what they need to do and hopefully get the players to follow my example.”

Commenting on the defeat at Horspath, Gandam said: “It was just another poor performance. To be honest we started off really badly as the first two balls of the game went for five wides.

“We had them at 150 for three or four after 50 overs so we really fought hard and bowled well.

“Our fielding was okay but we dropped a catch and James Fitzjohn went on to make 69.

“We knew they had a few wickets in hand but it was not an easy track to score runs on, but the outfield was very quick.

“The last 10 overs went for 80 runs and that really cost us in the end.”

He added: “Our batting performance was poor and we keep on doing that.

“In this format, sometimes if you’re out of the game in terms of runs, wickets or the conditions, there’s always the option of the draw, but we don’t seem to understand that.

“We struggle to bowl teams out because they show more grit and determination and prize their wickets more.

“If we put on 250 batting first or chase it batting second we will win more games than we lose, but the inability to bat sensibly is costing us.

“You will get poor balls to score from later down the line when bowlers get tired or run out of ideas, but we don’t seem to realise that at the moment.”

Burnham welcome league leaders Henley to the Memorial Ground this Saturday.

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