BROMYARD Cricket Club captain Ashley Bullock believes the lack of batting depth is a key reason why the club are in the low position they are in the league.

They are currently bottom of the Worcestershire County League Division One after yet another defeat, this time at the hands of Belbroughton.

Their latest defeat has left them on 54 points, 23 behind third-from-bottom Evesham with the season one game into its second half.

Bullock said: “Everything is going wrong this season.

“We’ve got no batting depth this year nobody is getting runs.

“I’m the only person to score 50s in the league this year and that tells you how bad our batting has been.”

Last season Bromyard finished second in the table and they were expected to challenge for promotion to the Birmingham League, but that has not materialised.

Bullock said: “We’ve lost a few players and confidence is gone.

“The plan going into this season was promotion but now it is survival.”

He also said should Bromyard achieve a decent second half of the season and survive relegation they would be looking to re-build.

Bullock said: “This team’s in transition now so it’s very important for the future that the younger players come through.

“The team of last year is pretty much finished, having lost four or five of the players.

“It’s a case of starting all over again.”

Bullock has had to take over as captain for the rest of the season as previous captain Eral Anderson and his vice-captain have left to play their cricket elsewhere.

“There’s so much going on at the club, I’m chairman as well so I’m trying to sort out the problems at the club as well as play,” Bullock said.

Ahmed Jamal is the overseas player for Bromyard this season and is the leading wicket taker in the division.

Bullock said: “Ahmed is the leading wicket taker in the competition – we’re pleased with that.”

He also said that Jamal was recommended to them by a Pakistani Test player Yasir Hameed.

Edd Oliver, Bromyard's club secretary, said: “Ahmed’s bowled very well this season, his batting is very aggressive so he can take the game away from teams.

“The wickets have been a bit slow really, we could do with them being a bit quicker but he has taken a lot of wickets already.”

Bromyard had three players who have come through their junior sides with Ian Bullock, Will Yarnold and Greg Leighton all having come through the ranks.

Oliver said: “About half the team today has come through the juniors, we only started 10 years ago but the second team is three-quarters juniors now.”

Oliver himself is disappointed where Bromyard find themselves and also believes it comes down to one or two players leaving.

He said: “We’ve had problems with two or three players that have left.

“It been a bad year, we’ve bowled and fielded ok, but only got two 50s all year."

He also said finishing second last season was great and that they had a great second half of the season, having not lost in the last seven or eight games.

He said: “It would be nice to repeat that this year, we could definitely do with four or five wins and hopefully finish mid-table.”

Bromyard's next game is away at Worcester Nomads who are currently fifth in the table.