SKIPPER Aaron Lee wants to see more from his batting line-up this weekend as Purton look to distance themselves from the WEPL Wiltshire drop zone.

Purton, who host high-flying Marshfield tomorrow, currently reside in seventh place, 10 points clear of Marlborough, who are fourth from bottom on 121 points.

Batting has proven to be an issue for Purton this term, with only Sam Bull and Sizwe Masondo managing to register a half-century.

Bull hit 53 on the opening day of the season, where Purton overcame table-topping Trowbridge, while Masondo’s knock of 74 against Royal Wootton Bassett last month is the only other innings to surpass 50.

“We aren’t in the position we want to be in and the main reason for that is because our batting hasn’t been good enough,” said the Purton skipper.

“Our better batsmen haven’t applied themselves. Our bowling has been good for the most part and most of the times we have won, is because we’ve bowled well.

“Consistency is massive, our bowling has been consistent and our batting has consistently not been good enough.

“We have no excuses, we’ve got the players who are good enough and should be good enough to contribute more than they have been.

“They know that, they aren’t silly.

“We need a bit of heart to make it through the tough part, I will always back the lads.

“We have some fantastic cricketers in the team, but, for one reason or another, it just hasn’t been going that well for us with the bat this year.”

Last time out, Purton were forced to cancel their game with Calne as the wet weather wiped out the WEPL Wiltshire schedule, much to the frustration of Lee.

“There is supposed to be a bit of weather about which doesn’t make things easy for either team because then it sort of comes down to who wins the toss,” said the Purton captain. “Last week was disappointing for us. We want to make sure, if we are going to stay in the league, we want to control it and playing Calne was a way to do that.

“Marshfield is going to be a tough game and I seem to be saying that a lot, but they will be a real test.

“They’re a great team in great form. We know who their better players are and we will have to work hard if we are going to get a result.”

Elsewhere, Swindon travel to basement side Great Bedwyn while Bassett visit Marlborough.