Form hard to find for Skelmersdale

SKELMERSDALE CC continued to struggle for form on Saturday as they suffered another league defeat to Newton-le-Willows.

Martyn Brierley and his side have won just once in their last five fixtures after gaining promotion to the Liverpool and District First Division last season.

Newton-le-Willows won the toss and elected to field first which proved to be an effective decision as Skem were bowled out for just 109.

Brierley admitted he was disappointed with his side’s performance but he believes it was down to a lack of availability.

He admitted work commitments have taken its toll on the squad at the start of the season but he hopes they can bounce back soon.

“We struggled from the start really and it just didn’t seem to go our way for the entire match,” said Brierley.

“Our opening bowlers were both missing so it wasn’t the best of starts and we knew we were going to struggle from that point.

“We batted okay in the end and even with a few of our key players missing, we did fairly well on the whole.

“We were just lacking numbers and availability really and in the end that seemed to cost us as we had to field a slightly weakened side.

“It just seems like we’re missing a lot of players this season due to work commitments and that can’t really be helped.”

Despite a tough start to the season, Brierley insisted the squad are eager to improve with the bat in training and he hopes things will start to come together soon.

Skem will be bolstered by the return of a few of their young stars this weekend who have been sitting exams at university.

Brierley also hopes he will be able to call upon some of the rising stars from the 2nd XI this weekend when they take on Birkenhead.