SLOUGH captain Bobby Sher was left scratching his head after an ‘embarrassing’ nine-wicket defeat to Harefield on Saturday.

Sher had challenged his team to work harder with bat and ball after a hammering at the hands of Banbury two weeks ago.

However, another hopeless batting performance saw Slough skittled for 126 and well beaten by second-from-bottom Harefield at Upton Court Road.

Sher believes that the poor run of form – now winless in four matches – could be down to his players’ application.

Speaking to <em>The Observer</em>, he admitted: “It was another embarrassing defeat and another dismal display to be honest with you.

“There are no excuses, it was just another dismal display with the bat. For some reason we just didn’t bat well.

“It’s very rare for Slough and I really have no answers. None of the batsman are firing when we normally bat all the way down and I really can’t explain it.

“It’s not down to the players not training or a lack of effort, we’re still trying to give 100 per cent.

“We tried something different by batting first but we just capitulated.

“Harefield had a spin bowler but he didn’t turn the ball, he bowled straight. We just played across the line and got bowled out or trapped lbw.

“We need to learn how to bat time and then the runs will flow. There were too many rash shots early on and guys need to work on their application, bat more and spend time at the wicket.

“To be bowled out for 126 on that wicket was a dismal performance by us. Harefield chased it down quite easily, which you would expect because it was a good track.

“I hope it’s just one of those things. We need to step our game up and turn it around because if we end up like this we will find ourselves in a relegation battle.” Opener Nabil Shah topscored with 35 on Saturday, with Shaan Khan (26), Osman Ilyas (16) and Daniyal Akhtar (14) the only other batsmen to reach double figures.

Sejil Ramniclal ripped through the batting line-up with figures of 7-28 as Slough were bowled out after 39.5 overs.

In reply, Harefield recorded a total of 128-1 from 37 overs for victory with captain Simon Macey (53*) and Scott Friend (34*) the unbeaten batsman.

Jalpesh Vijay made 37 before he was cleaned bowled by Ali Raja (1-41).

Things do not get any easier for Slough with their next assignment a trip to defending champions and top-of-the-table Henley this Saturday (11am start).

Sher said: “Hopefully we can work hard during the week and perform a lot better against Henley.

“It will be a good match to turn it around as we’ve both lost two and Henley need to step up their game as well.

“Putting in a good performance that we can be proud of will be the aim this Saturday.

“We will go out with our heads held high, but the last two weeks have not been the Slough that I know.” SLOUGH captain Bobby Sher was left scratching his head after an ‘embarrassing’ nine-wicket defeat to Harefield on Saturday.

Sher had challenged his team to work harder with bat and ball after a hammering at the hands of Banbury two weeks ago.

However, another hopeless batting performance saw Slough skittled for 126 and well beaten by second-from-bottom Harefield at Upton Court Road.

Sher believes that the poor run of form – now winless in four matches – could be down to his players’ application.

Speaking to <em>The Observer</em>, he admitted: “It was another embarrassing defeat and another dismal display to be honest with you.

“There are no excuses, it was just another dismal display with the bat. For some reason we just didn’t bat well.

“It’s very rare for Slough and I really have no answers. None of the batsman are firing when we normally bat all the way down and I really can’t explain it.

“It’s not down to the players not training or a lack of effort, we’re still trying to give 100 per cent.

“We tried something different by batting first but we just capitulated.

“Harefield had a spin bowler but he didn’t turn the ball, he bowled straight. We just played across the line and got bowled out or trapped lbw.

“We need to learn how to bat time and then the runs will flow. There were too many rash shots early on and guys need to work on their application, bat more and spend time at the wicket.

“To be bowled out for 126 on that wicket was a dismal performance by us. Harefield chased it down quite easily, which you would expect because it was a good track.

“I hope it’s just one of those things. We need to step our game up and turn it around because if we end up like this we will find ourselves in a relegation battle.” Opener Nabil Shah topscored with 35 on Saturday, with Shaan Khan (26), Osman Ilyas (16) and Daniyal Akhtar (14) the only other batsmen to reach double figures.

Sejil Ramniclal ripped through the batting line-up with figures of 7-28 as Slough were bowled out after 39.5 overs.

In reply, Harefield recorded a total of 128-1 from 37 overs for victory with captain Simon Macey (53*) and Scott Friend (34*) the unbeaten batsman.

Jalpesh Vijay made 37 before he was cleaned bowled by Ali Raja (1-41).

Things do not get any easier for Slough with their next assignment a trip to defending champions and top-of-the-table Henley this Saturday (11am start).

Sher said: “Hopefully we can work hard during the week and perform a lot better against Henley.

“It will be a good match to turn it around as we’ve both lost two and Henley need to step up their game as well.

“Putting in a good performance that we can be proud of will be the aim this Saturday.

“We will go out with our heads held high, but the last two weeks have not been the Slough that I know.” PICK up a copy of The Observer, out now, for all the latest sports news and action including our complete cricket round-up.

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PICTURE: Daniyal Akhtar (14) gets plenty of power behind a shot against Harefield on Saturday.