PAUL TERRY blamed a lack of runs from Hampshire's big three for a forgettable first 24 hours of Twenty20 Cup action.

Successive defeats on consecutive days at Essex and Surrey have left Hampshire struggling to qualify for the latter stages of the tournament.

John Crawley, Michael Clarke and Shane Watson, who was twice out first ball against Essex and Surrey, managed only 52 runs between them in the 40-run and 31-run defeats at Chelmsford on Friday and The Brit Oval the following day.

And Hampshire manager Terry said: "We need our top batters to play to their full potential and score runs so that we can compete.

"We've got three of the best players around in Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and John Crawley and we need at least one of them to do well in each game.

"Watto has got two first ballers, that's not a criticism of him, that's just happened but we've seen that he's a fantastic player so it's frustrating.

"We played on fantastic wickets in both games and if one of those three doesn't get a big score, the contributions from the likes Dimi Mascarenhas and Shaggy (Shaun Udal) become more important - but we can't rely on the other players to get the runs."

Mascarenhas and Udal ensured that Hampshire were not disgraced against the Twenty20 champions but Mark Ramprakash and Adam Hollioake were the difference between the sides.

Terry added: "We kept up with the run rate but they had two very experienced players in at the end of their innings.

"Adam hits the ball a long way, he must eat a lot of steak, and I can't understand why Ramps hasn't played 100 Test matches, and at least 150 one-day internationals, he's as good as most guys around.

"We knew that we had to go at ten an over but once we lost three quick wickets it was always going to be very difficult."

Terry reckons the performance of James Bruce, who was recalled in place of Alan Mullally for the two games in 24 hours, as Hampshire's only plus at The Brit Oval.

Bruce recorded 3-21 from his four overs, an excellent effort in the face of some big hitting.

Terry added: "Generally we've been pretty happy with the bowling and James did pretty well.

"He was hit for 23 off one over against Essex, but it's not easy for a bowler in this format - if you go for under seven an over you've done okay so he was a positive.

"He bowled pretty well for us last year and did okay."

Former England seamer Alan Mullally was left out of the squad so that Terry, pictured above, could run the rule over Bruce.

"It's nothing personal against Alan, it's just an opportunity to have a look at someone else," added Terry.

"I don't think Alan would have done any better than James has done in these two games, and James was excellent in the field - he took a fantastic catch."