THE batting experience brought by Keanu Cooper and Will Gough to Ludlow CC helped the club snap a four-game losing streak on Saturday, and skipper Ruel Brathwaite says there is still reason to show ambition at the halfway stage of the season.

“It’s always good to break losing habits and turn the season around,” said Brathwaite. “I’ve been looking at the table and we’re not that far off, a couple of wins would put us up there with the top four or five in the league.”

Brathwaite won the toss at second-from-bottom Frankton in Saturday’s Shropshire League Premier Division encounter at Hardwick Park, and the returning Cooper hit 84 alongside a steady innings from the experienced Gough, as the visitors reached 265 eight balls short of their allotted 50 overs.

“We had a couple of players available who weren’t available all season and may not be available for the rest of the season,” said the Ludlow skipper. “They are going to try and be more available but some of the [other] lads have got work and other commitments.

“We had an 84 from Keanu, which showed the calibre of his batting and we also had a couple of strong partnerships, which we haven’t been doing too well. [Gough] didn’t really score many runs but it was just good to have his experience.”

The visitors were also helped by a generous 53 extras from their struggling hosts, with Brathwaite adding, “there’s nothing we as batsmen can control with the extras, it’s all down to the opposition, but it gives you the extra balls to face, which is as important as the extras themselves”.

With a target to defend, in a season which has seen Ludlow frequently fall short with the bat, the visitors bowled Frankton for 233 to put Brathwaite’s men in good spirits for Saturday’s trip to a fourth-placed Sentinel side 49 points above them in the table.

“This win will hopefully be a turning point for us,” said the skipper, before adding he expects Saturday’s line-up to be “mainly unchanged”, depending on the turnout at training this week.

There was good news also for Ludlow 2nds, who posted a win at home to Willey, in the Division Two 2nd XI competition on Saturday.

The hosts posted 199 for 5 off their 40 overs, Stuart Jardine weighing in with 52 and David Northwood hitting an unbeaten 46 before the visitors were bowled ten runs short, with the wickets shared.

With the 3rds without a fixture, the 4ths hoisted themselves off the foot of Sunday Division Two with a six-wicket win at home to Alderbury 3rds. Charlie Webb took 3 for 19 as the visitors posted 194 for 8 before the hosts knocked them off to finish 196 for 4, Phil Lewis enjoying an unbeaten knock of 74. Victory lifted Ludlow to third from bottom, seven points clear of basement side Oswestry.