SKIPPER Stuart Dickenson says Himbleton lying in the Worcestershire County League Division Two drop zone at this early stage does not worry him.
The Meadow Boys suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since 2016 as they went down by 81 runs to big-hitting Kempsey.
Having put the visitors in to bat Himbleton were in good form, taking regular wickets as they carved their way through a belligerent but brittle Kempsey batting order.
At 171-7 off 40 overs the game looked to be Himbleton’s for the taking, however, they did not account for a stubborn Sam O’Neill.
As he seemed to play his way into form, he found a couple of surprising allies down the order and he farmed the strike superbly in a one man assault in the final ten overs, scoring 70 out of the next 90.
O’Neill finished undefeated on 118 as no other batsmen topped 20, with 48 extras the main other contributor.
Mike Rogers (3-73) was the pick of the bowlers.
Himbleton’s reply never got out of second gear as wickets fell with alarming regularity and despite always been up with the run rate, no two batsmen could form a noteworthy partnership.
Jamie Alford (26) and Sean Jenkins (25) top scored for the Meadow Boys but the Kempsey bowlers stuck to their task as they dismissed their hosts for 182.
Dickenson said: “I’m not worried at this stage.
“We’ve had four good, competitive games of cricket and we’re stronger for that.
“Our batting is on the verge of clicking into gear and when it does we’ll start putting together the types of scores that won us the league last year.”
Rob Perrins and Rich Pretty return to the squad forSaturday’s trip to Old Vigornians.
