AMERSHAM CC are on a slippery slope and desperate for a result to change the momentum of their summer.

They have lost three in a row and four in five and are now just three off the bottom of Division Two of the Home Counties League after defeat to Finchampstead last weekend.

They made 171-8 in a rain-reduced innings, which Finchampstead chased down with four balls and four wickets remaining.

Amersham captain Luke Jackson said: “We need a win to change momentum.

“We’ve lost five games, three of those we felt we should have won and the other one was on Saturday, which was close.

“We’re bowling and fielding quite well, but some batsmen are out of form and we just haven’t batted well enough to get over the line.”

Amersham won the toss and opted to bat on Saturday, but they were quickly in trouble at 29-3 as Robert Viney (5), Bruce Friderichs (14) and Stephano Joubert (2) all failed to get on top of the Finchampstead attack.

Paul Langley and Andrew Viney sparked a recovery with knocks of 38 in the middle order, before Alexander Lines added 23 late on to make the score competitive.

However, three rain breaks disrupted Amersham’s flow and and made it difficult to pace their innings.

Jackson said: “We lost a few early wickets, which didn’t help, and were unlucky with the rain too.

“We had to come off three times and each time we lost a few overs.

“We started late too and it became a 45-over match, but we didn’t lost those six overs until we’d played 35 overs.

“But I don’t know if that made much difference. We had to go slowly because we lost those early wickets so I’m not sure we could have accelerated much anyway.”

Finchampstead made a brisk start to their reply as they reached 70 before Amersham broke through, and although Stuart Rogers (2-39) and Joubert (2-44) slowed them down, they were always in control of the chase.

Jackson said: “We got them needing six an over, but they had a few partnerships.

“They got home with four balls to spare but actually won quite comfortably.”

Amersham need to bounce back on Saturday at Cove.