Burnham Sports will be missing a number of key personnel when they play Little Baddow in their crucial T Rippon Mid-Essex League Premier Division match at Millfields on Saturday.

The season is still in its infancy but the clash already looks like going a long way to determining which of the clubs will be favourites for relegation.

Burnham or Baddow have both lost their opening four fixtures and an unwelcome gap is already opening up between them and the club who are third bottom.

“It’s early to be thinking of must-win games but this game comes pretty close to being in that category,” said Jamie Hamilton, the Sports captain.

Unfortunately, Burnham will be badly depleted.

Robin Whittaker, their outstanding bowler in recent seasons, and his brother Joel along with while batsmen Paul Green, Nick Gosling, Neil Wade and Rob Layzell are all unavailable.

Sports lost by five wickets away to Hatfield Peverel last Saturday - the writing being on the wall for them after they were dismissed for only 152.

Put into bat on a green pitch of uneven bounce, they got off to a shaky start for a third successive week and never really recovered.

Fuad Ahmed (34) and Jack Silvester (26), playing against his former club, threatened to turn things around before the former was trapped LBW - undone by a short ball that barely got above ankle height.

Burnham ended up squandering seven of their allotted 45 overs, giving Hatfield Peverel the luxury of 52 overs to reach their target.

The home side eventually got home in the 41st over, being made to work hard by a Sports side who bowled and fielded with great spirit.

Off-spinner Hamilton, who finished with two for 22 for ten overs, extracted bounce and turn. He was the pick of the attack and might easily have claimed more victims.

Robin Whittaker, Andy Stephens and Ahmed also toiled hard but none of them could get past the solid Matt Wild, who mixed solid defence with fluent attack.

His 66 not out was a lesson in how to Sports in how to compile a match-winning innings.