Clarke wary of meeting with basement boys

Harold Wood face Essex Premier Division’s basement boys Shenfield tomorrow, but skipper Tom Clarke knows his side can ill afford to let complacency creep in at this stage of the season.

Wood go into the match on the back of a disappointing weekend, losing by five wickets to Wanstead on Saturday, before being knocked out for the third time in a quarter-final this year when losing by 21 runs to Reigate Priory in the Conference Cup the next day.

And although they are facing the bottom club tomorrow, Clarke knows Shenfield’s capabilities all too well.

“They are in a good bit of form at the moment and they are fighting for their lives,” said Clarke.

“It will be a battle and they beat Brentwood last weekend, but if we can form good partnerships with both bat and ball then hopefully we can come away with the victory, as the league is getting quite tight at the moment.”

Clarke missed the Wanstead defeat, but after hearing reports, wasn’t too disappointed with the showing against the reigning champions.

“Apparently the pitch was a bit of a beauty to bat on and our score of 244 was probably only par and it was disappointing to not reach 250 and get the extra bonus point.

“There was a couple of half chances with the ball missed, but the performance wasn’t too bad against a top side.”

On Sunday’s Cup defeat, Clarke added: “That’s our third quarter-final loss and the third one we should have won.

“Wickets just fell at the wrong time and though we got close we unfortunately missed out again.”