STOURBRIDGE captain Matt Bradley says a “calamitous hour” costs his side against rivals Halesowen.

Stour slipped to defeat by six wickets at Seth Somers Park last Saturday to make it back-to-back losses so far this term in Division Two of the Birmingham and District Premier League.

Despite a solid start from their top order after Bradley had won the toss and decided to bat, a middle order collapse saw the visitors fall well short of a competitive total.

They fell from 100-2 at one stage to 150 all out.

Bradley said: “It was disappointing because we’d made a steady-enough start.

“But some of us didn’t go on and make a big score after getting in and others were out cheaply.

“It was a calamitous hour that really hurt us. We had a spell where we just kept losing wicket after wicket.

“They bowled well but we maybe didn’t concentrate as much as we should have and made individual errors.”

Youngster Zain Hassan, who came in at number three, top scored for Stour before he was bowled for 42.

“Zain did really well but we can’t get to a position where we rely on him. He is 15 years old and anything he does should be a bonus for us.

“Others need to step up as well,” added the skipper.

However, any plans by Halesowen to romp to a quick victory did not materialise. Stour bowlers captured the wickets of opener Mark Fisher (1) and number three Kester Moseley (3).

Stour were still in the game when Ed Kilbee was joined at the crease by Jack Myers. The Hales duo played their side back into the contest by putting on 89 runs as the gameh drifted away from the visitors.

“I thought we were solid enough with the ball. I think we bowled quite well but just ran out of runs,” said Bradley.

He is now targeting a first win this Saturday when Coventry and North Warwickshire visit the War Memorial Ground (noon start).

“It’s important that we bounce back,” he said. “It is a big game for us because they haven’t started too well either.

“We want to make the War Memorial Ground a bit of a fortress.”

One change could see Matt’s brother Richard Bradley pushed to the top of the order.

“I am opening the batting, captaining and wicketkeeping,” explained the captain. “The change would help me concentrate on other areas but also challenge Rich, as one of our senior players, to step up and play a bigger part.”