LUDLOW will be anxious to draw a line under last weekend’s bizarre defeat when they host lowly Trysull & Seisdon in the Marston’s Shropshire Premier League tomorrow.
A rain-hit affair saw the Burway men go down by 10 wickets to Reman Services last Saturday after skipper David Gadsby erred over his declaration time.
But the south Shropshire side will be out to put that behind them tomorrow to ensure they stay well clear of the basement pack.
“In hindsight I admit I made a mistake by declaring two minutes too early, but I’ll learn from that,” said Gadsby. “The one good thing was that none of the teams below us won. But we now need to bounce back and, having not won for five games, it’s important we get a win tomorrow.”
Ludlow will be boosted by the return of allrounder Richard Moolman and batsmen Matt Hawes and Jack Griffiths. Former skipper Will Sparrow is still unavailable.
Last week’s encounter at Reman appeared to be drifting towards a tame draw as several rain breaks meant just 27 overs were possible in the entire game.
A young Ludlow side had struggled to 52-8 in 23 overs, Tim Goldthorp making 22 not out, when play resumed for the final time at 6.05pm, 25 minutes before the scheduled cut-off point.
Gadsby took everybody by surprise by declaring, giving Reman four overs to bat. Reman’s Darren Bullock had no thoughts of a draw, savaging the Ludlow attack in pursuit of victory, smashing an unbeaten 44 off just 12 balls to see his side home with three balls to spare.
Gadsby said: “We were 52-8 when we started again and I thought that if we had lost our last two wickets in the first over back, then they may have had up to seven overs to get the runs. I felt declaring would take time out of the game but I did it two minutes early and that gave Reman the fourth over.
“The other thought was that we could pick up an extra bonus point or two by taking some wickets. We didn’t bowl that badly, but wherever you bowled, he (Bullock) hit the ball.”