James Kettleborough says Staffordshire’s players must take a long, hard look at themselves as they prepare for their next block of NCCA fixtures.
Staffs kick off their Twenty20 Cup campaign this weekend with a Group One double header against Northumberland at Allendale.
The T20 format has provided some rich pickings for the county over the past couple of seasons.
They won the competition for the first time in their history in 2023 and reached finals day last summer.
However, Staffordshire will head into this season’s short format on the back of a hugely disappointing Knockout Trophy programme.
Staffordshire end NCCA Knockout Trophy campaign with heavy defeat
A run of three successive defeats – after an opening round victory over Herefordshire – saw them eliminated from the group stage for the third straight campaign.
That’s hardly the ideal preparation ahead of a long trip north this weekend – and captain Kettleborough insists there has to be plenty of self-reflection from the squad as they look to recover from a confidence-sapping Trophy experience.
He hammered home that point to his players after Sunday’s eight-wicket thumping at Norfolk, which ensured their 50-over season ended in dismal fashion.
‘Time to reflect’
“We spoke after the match and said that individually we need to reflect on our performances and attitude and ask questions of ourselves,” said Kettleborough.
“It’s important that the players self reflect, but we can’t change what has happened, even if we wanted to. We now have to refocus on Sunday for the start of the T20s.
“We can’t take baggage with us and it has to be a clean slate moving forward into the different format.”
Kettleborough insists it has been a painful experience for him as he has watched their bid for Knockout Trophy success fall flat again.
James Kettleborough feels the pain after Staffordshire’s Trophy slump
Staffordshire put in a huge amount of winter work on their 50-over cricket, but it hasn’t paid off as those three defeats by Suffolk, Shropshire and then Norfolk left them in fourth place in the five-team group.
“I can only speak for myself and I hope it is reflected in the squad, but it does hurt when we lose,” added the county captain.
“I look back to the Bank Holiday game at Bignall End (against Suffolk) and the support we had. People have turned up to support us because they care.
“I hope that is recognised by the players and that they are hurting that they’re not performing.
“We want to reward the people who come to watch us with success and wins. And it’s not happened. I am hurting a lot and frustrated – and I want the players to feel the same.”
‘Poor display’
Staffs needed to beat Norfolk at the weekend and hope Shropshire defeated Suffolk – as well as there being a huge shift in run rate.
Shropshire did their bit, but Staffordshire couldn’t find the victory they needed to keep up their end of the bargain.
Staffordshire were bowled out for 194 at Sprowston on Sunday as their batting failed to fire once again to prevent them from posting a competitive total.
And the bowling attack largely looked pretty impotent as Norfolk cantered to the target on the back of Sam Arthurton’s century.
“It was the same sort of frustration. You are scratching your head about what to say to the players.
Repeating yourself makes it difficult because it doesn’t have any value,” added Kettleborough.
Winter move provides Matthew Morris with fresh Staffordshire impetus
“The wicket did more than we probably expected. And they did bowl well and took early wickets.
“When you lose early ones, it’s tough to drag that back because you don’t have the safety net of wickets in the bank.
“You’re then relying on two or three batters to carry you through to the last five or 10 overs.
“We rebuilt a bit and then lost wickets again. That makes it difficult to give us a platform to go on and get the score we really want.
‘Under par’
“If we had got 250 we would have been able to build some sort of pressure on their main players. But we bowled too many bad deliveries.
“I didn’t feel as though we had a lot of potency and when their openers negotiated the opening overs it did seem to get easier.
“When they only needed another 50 or 60 runs to win it was fairly obvious which way the result was heading.”
Main image: Staffordshire captain James Kettleborough says he was hurt by his side’s performance at Norfolk. Picture: David Peters