HIMLEY CC skipper Greg Wright says his side will be taking the positives from their agonising last over defeat at Kenilworth Wardens.

Wright’s side were denied a fifth straight positive result when Daniel Smith was run out on the penultimate ball, with the visitors four short of victory.

The result dropped Himley back to sixth in the Birmingham Premier League but the skipper is eager for his side to bounce back quickly when they travel to Smethwick this Saturday.

He said: “I think it’s very easy to over-analyse when a game is so close.

“You think about what you could have done differently but the bottom line is we should have won the game.

“We made mistakes but there are plenty of positives for us to take. It was another tough game of league cricket.

“Smethwick will be no different, they are playing a lot better than they were at the start of the season.

“They have some excellent cricketers and an experienced leader in David Banks. They will be tough opposition.”

Daniel Smith took 5-68 last Saturday as Himley dismissed Kenilworth for 200 from 54.5 overs, yet Wright believes this total should have been considerably less. Sitansu Kotak was the home side’s top scorer with 52, while Jason Young got 36.

Young then dismissed the Himley top three as TP Singh (9), Chris Tranter (22) and Harshad Patel (4) failed to make an impact.

From a difficult position it was the skipper himself who led the fightback, striking 69 as he returned to form with the bat.

However, from 147-4 Himley lost wicket regularly and Andrew Mackleworth was also run out in a chaotic finale.

Wright said: “We knew their total was gettable but it should have been less.

“We didn’t bowl particularly well, we dropped catches and there were missed opportunities in the field.

“Then we made a poor start to our innings but managed to turn it around only to lose at the end. It was pretty agonising to be honest.

“It’s vital we cut out the errors which let us down.”

While Wright was pleased with his own batting performance, he also expressed frustration at getting out when he did.

He added: “It was pleasing, you always want to be scoring runs regularly.

“It was nice to get them on a difficult wicket but it’s frustrating because had I been there at the end we would have won the game.”