James Kettleborough admitted that there was plenty of pain in the Staffordshire camp following their NCCA Knockout Trophy defeat by Shropshire.
Staffs tumbled to a six-wicket loss in Sunday’s 50-over encounter at Shifnal to leave them facing the prospect of another early exit from the competition.
A second setback in three Group Two outings has left Staffs needing a remarkable turn of events to clinch the second qualification spot.
They need to win at Norfolk on Sunday, while also hoping that already-qualified Shropshire can prevail at Suffolk.
Even then, it would need a huge swing in run rate for Staffordshire to avoid falling at the group stage for a third successive summer.
There have been positive signs in this year’s white-ball campaign, which saw Staffs open up with victory over Herefordshire.
They were then beaten by Suffolk, but Sunday’s loss at Shropshire was a step back in time, according to Kettleborough.
‘Familiar story’
“It was very frustrating. There was a lot hurt in the dressing room after the game and quite a bit was discussed,” he said.
“It felt like a familiar story from last year and the year before and it’s left us in a precarious position. Going into the last game we’ve got plenty to reflect on. I’m just really frustrated with the performance.
“There was a lack of execution of our skills. We’re not a million miles away from our strongest XI and the team we picked was good enough to win.
Staffordshire facing NCCA Knockout Trophy exit after Shropshire defeat
“But it was executing our plans on the day. As a captain, not being able to get the best out of your players, it’s frustrating and really disappointing not to get a performance out of them.
“It’s not a case of being underprepared. We focused over the winter on 50-over cricket and had conversations into early season especially about our batting.
“We’ve done all the work and preparation we could have done and we didn’t perform. I have to find a way to get better displays out of our players.”
‘Tricky wicket’
Staffordshire struggled to get to grips with the hybrid pitch which offered plenty of assistance for the bowlers, especially the spinners.
Michael Hill and Liam Hurt both made 48, with Matthew Morris adding 35, but Staffs limped to 213-9 from their 50 overs.
Shropshire then saw Tom Fell and Jacques Banton make 81 and 78 respectively to steer the home side to their target – and a place in the knockout stages.
“The wicket was probably the trickiest one out of the three Knockout Trophy games we’ve played. But we’ve all played a lot of cricket and we should have been able to adapt better than we did,” conceded Kettleborough.
“It would be great to play on belting wickets all of the time, but we know that’s never going to be the case. It was very similar to the Suffolk game in that we did well in patches, but we need more of that.
‘Big scores needed’
“People getting 30s and 40s isn’t going to win you many games of cricket. We need players to take responsibility. In the three matches so far, the sides that have won have had a batter who has scored 75 or above, that’s not a coincidence.
“We needed early wickets and we got one which was promising. If we had got two or three in the first 10 overs it might have been different. They had senior batters who played well and managed the pressure we tried to put on.
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“Once they saw off Bretty (Tom Brett), who bowled brilliantly, it felt like a bit of a slow death. We didn’t put enough runs on the board and then didn’t build enough consistent pressure on them.
“Fell and Banton played really well. On a different day the luck might have gone a different way and we could have got both of them for low scores if a chance goes to hand.”
‘Bouncing back’
Staffordshire now conclude their group commitments with a long trip to Sprowston to play Norfolk.
Kettleborough says that regardless of what happens on the qualification front, Staffs have to deliver a response.
“There’s quite a lot of emotion, but when Sunday comes around we’ve got a job to do,” he stated.
“We have nothing to lose. I want us to go down there and play positive, entertaining cricket. There’s a bit of a mountain to climb, but players have the opportunity to prove people wrong.”
Main image: James Kettleborough was left hugely disappointed by Staffordshire’s performance in the NCCA Knockout Trophy loss to Shropshire. Picture: David Peters