Bushmen captain Ryan Yates said this.

The Bushmen played their last game until January 13 on Saturday when beaten by Wingham at Gloucester.

Batting again proved the Bushmen's downfall as they only made 80. Yates won the toss and elected to bat. However, Gloucester's bowlers struck back, with Wingham losing seven wickets in the run chase.

Yates said Gloucester has given a number of players still eligible for under 17s a run in T1 this season.

"They've probably been the highlight so far,'' he said.

He said if the club can keep those players it will auger well for the future although he said the Bushmen haven't give up on this season yet.

"We'll be a stronger side in the years to come,'' he said.

"We'll look to keep improving and hope to be playing better cricket at the end of the season. We'll back ourselves, with just four teams involved we can't miss the finals.''

Yates top scored with 21 against Wingham. Tailender Josh Startin, with 11, was the only other batter to make double figures

"We got ourselves in trouble with poor shot selection,'' Yates said. "That's been a problem all season.

"Just 20 more runs against would have been handy. It was the same the previous week against Great Lakes.

"If we could have made it to 100 that might have been enough.''

Wingham looked to be cruising to a comfortable win at 2/42. However, they slumped from 3/61 to 7/77 before scrambling to get the required runs. Skipper Dave Rees held the innings together with a top score of 35 before he fell to Sam Pickworth.

Startin and Pickworth did the damage for the Bushmen. Startin, who returned to Gloucester cricket this season, finished with 2/8 while Pickworth claimed 3/13.

Yates said the pitch looked in good order at the toss.

"It played a bit slow,'' he said.

However, he added that poor application to the conditions was the chief concern.

Gloucester will host Taree United when the competition resumes on January 13.