LUDLOW suffered a surprise three-wicket defeat at Broseley in the Premier Division of the Shropshire League.

And captain Will Sparrow admits his side needs to return to winning ways with high-fliers Sentinel looming on the horizon.

The decision to bat first looked to have back-fired when opener Keanu Cooper was trapped lbw off just his second ball with Richard Taylor following soon after with the score still on one.

Sparrow (25) and Glen Whittaker (14) steadied the innings and there was an impressive contribution from Luke Miles whose 40 included the only six of the Ludlow innings. Last man Louis Watkins was left stranded after hitting a vital 21 off 29 deliveries.

But some decent bowling, particularly from South African Charl Cyster (5-25) had the visitors all out for 141.

A disappointed Sparrow said: “We were chasing the game from the fifth over. They had a couple of good bowlers but we made them look better than they were.

“It was a slow track but we still managed to get ourselves out – we always seem to be relying on the lower order to get us out of trouble. You cannot expect to win a game when you can only score 141.”

And that was the case as Broseley reached their target with three wickets in hand and with nearly seven overs to spare.

A lively opening spell from Sparrow saw off both openers with just 12 on the board, wicket-keeper Cooper taking the catches.

But a useful 31 from Gavin Jones, who had earlier taken 3-19, brought some stability before all-rounder Cyster added a quickfire 30 off 35 balls. Nadeem Ahmad (13no) and Jonathan Lloyd (10no) then steered Broseley home.

Of the bowlers, Sparrow finished with 3-31with Harry Martin (2-27) and Luke Miles (2-48) also among the wickets.

“It’s frustrating because we know we can bowl teams out for 100,” Sparrow added.

“It didn’t help that Louis [Watkins] was unable to bowl because of an ankle injury and I bowled far too many wides – I hold my hand up to that one.

“We’ve not lost any places but it’s disappointing to lose the last couple of games particularly after the good start we made to the season.”

Ludlow will be missing Watkins when they take on bottom club Forton at The Burway on Saturday but welcome back Jack Griffiths.

The captain added: “Forton are the new boys having been promoted last season. They have a couple of handy bowlers but it seems as though they’re struggling with the step up.

“With back-to-back defeats we need to get something out of the weekend to get us out of this rut before we go to Sentinel the following week.”