Diss Cricket Club facing key battle in fight to avoid relegation against Thetford Town
The significance of tomorrow’s home clash with Thetford Town (12pm) is not lost on Diss captain Lewis Taylor.
The Rectory Meadow-based outfit head into the encounter rooted to the foot of the Cecil Amey Norfolk Cricket Alliance Premier Division standings with a 30-point gap between themselves and safety.
Like Diss, opponents Thetford have mustered just one win all term and also find themselves in the relegation zone – 10 points better off than their hosts.
And with up to 25 points on offer for the side that is victorious, Taylor has conceded that it is a ‘must-win fixture’ for his men.
He said: “If you look at the table it’s definitely a must-win game for us and them.
“We’ve had a tough season so far with just the one win, but so have Thetford.
“Hopefully we can get that second win and it gives us some momentum to kick on from there.”
Having lost a handful of players during the winter – and only added a couple – Taylor was well aware that a tough 2022 campaign may have laid ahead.
That has certainly come to fruition, although he has been buoyed by what he has seen during recent defeats.
“We lost four or five key players for various reasons like work, injury or moving away,” he added.
“We knew it was going to be tough and I think that showed during the first half of the season in the results. We were struggling to put out a competitive side each week and that showed.
“But in the last couple of games we’ve fought hard and it’s been a case of the sides we’ve come up against being strong.
“We lost by five wickets at the weekend to Fakenham but some decisions that should have gone our away didn’t.
“It would have been much closer had they gone for us and if we can play like that on Saturday we’ve got a good chance of winning.”
Bowler Jody Sparrow (unavailable) is set to miss the game.