LECKFORD'S batting frailties were once again exposed in last Saturday's 40-run defeat at the hands of Bashley (Rydal) 2nd XI in Southern Premier Division Three.

Leckford's groundsman John Wood worked wonders throughout the morning to get the ground match fit, and skipper Simon Reeves was not too disappointed to lose the toss and be askd to bowl first on the damp track.

Unfortunately, Leckford's bowlers made little use of the conditions with the exception of Miles Bulpitt (2-19).

He made the initial breakthrough with two wickets in two balls, including that of Australian Academy batsman Luke Ronchi with his first ball - the Bashley overseas player appearing with the New Forest club's 1st XI fixture being cancelled.

At 12 -2, Leckford should really have applied severe presure to the visitors, but they were let off the hook with some indifferent ground fielding, which was not helped by the sometimes slippery outfield.

Andy Cattle (1-47) was unlucky not to claim more than the one wicket, and the home attack badly missed the in-form Chris White.

Bashley's Steve Lattimore (56) and Graham Pardey (19) both batted with great patience to steer their side to 106 before the partnership was broken by Nigel Marriott (4-54), who removed both batsmen in quick succession to finally get back amongst the wickets.

However, thanks to some lusty blows from Chris Gates (35) and Brian Vibert (25no) and yet more lethargy from the Leckford side, Bashley progressed well to 184-7, which given the conditions was an excellent score.

With two overs lost to earlier rain, Leckford were set a revised total of 178. However, it proved to be too many as the home middle order again failed to turn up.

With Mark Tomlinson and Nick Bolshaw also absent from the side, Simon Reeves (14) promoted himself to the top of the order along with Martyn Isherwood. This looked to be a wise decision, as Reeves struck three short balls to the boundary in the second over and the score raced to 29.

However, one shot too many was the captain's downfall at the beginning of the third as he holed out to mid-on. Mike Howard (14) and Isherwood (23) appeared to have things under control, until a furious Howard struck a full toss straight down the throat of deep square leg.

Isherwood's dismissal at 71-3 almost certainly spelled the end for Leckford as the next four batsmen could only musster 13 runs betwen them. Yet again, it was left to the tail to bring some semblance of respectability to the total.

Carl Whatley (26) produced his best batting performance for some time on a wicket that was becoming more and more bowler friendly. Whatley's efforts at least brought much needed bonus points for the village side as Marriot's dismissal in the final over brought to a close the Leckford reply.