Time for top order to set the example

Having seen his side miss the chance to extend their winning Home Counties Premier Cricket League run, Sabin knows Banbury must get back on track at Aston Rowant.

Banbury travel to the division one basement boys on the back of Saturday’s defeat against champions Henley.

Once again, the top order failed to fire and Sabin knows the recognised batsmen need to start producing the runs.

He said: “We need to put the batting side together now and then we’ll be a difficult side to beat. It starts with the senior players, including myself, who need to start scoring runs and hopefully that will rub off on the others.

“There were positives to take from the game with Henley and we need to take that approach into Saturday’s game at Aston Rowant.

“Joe White should be back in three weeks but there is an opportunity there for others to come in and prove themselves before then.”

Sabin was quick to dispel any club versus county issues surrounding Ollie Clarke’s absence against Henley. Clarke pulled out on Friday morning as he is preparing for exams at university.

Clarke also missed Oxon’s Minor Counties fixture with Buckinghamshire on Sunday but Sabin had no issues with him being unavailable. Sabin said Clarke kept him informed as the week went on as to his availability.

He added: “In the end Ollie [Clarke] didn’t play at all at the weekend, for us or Oxon, but he kept me updated all week about the situation. Jonny Cater [Oxon captain]obviously wanted to get his strongest team out as well, but I’ve got no issue with that.”