FRINTON Cricket Club skipper Mike Comber believes his players will have extra fire in their bellies when they return to action on Saturday.

The coastal side were left kicking their heels in anger after the disappointment of last week’s cancelled Read Brothers Ltd East Anglian Premier League match at Bury St Edmunds.

Comber felt it was a “premature” decision and one that caused “massive shock” among his players, when the contest was called off at 3pm on Friday.

However, he has urged them to convert that disappointment into positivity heading into this weekend’s match against Mildenhall, at Ashlyns Road (11am start).

“We just have to move on, put last week behind us and focus on Saturday,” said the all-rounder, whose side are second in the table and breathing down the necks of leaders Swardeston.

“Hopefully we can use the disappointment to our advantage.

“It gives us more reason to play well and keep our momentum going and we’ll use what happened as a motivational spur, because I’m certain the players will be hungry to get back out there and crack on.

“They were gutted not to play and, as you can imagine, there was a sense of massive shock when I sent the message out on Friday afternoon.

“My phone was red-hot all weekend with people asking what on earth was going on.

“It wasn’t just people from our club – I had loads of messages from cricket friends across East Anglia.”

Premier League matches can start as late as 3pm on Saturdays so Comber was disappointed by the early call-off and pointed to the fact Bury’s Victory Ground hosts Suffolk Minor Counties matches.

In the end, both sides were awarded seven points apiece.

“It wasn’t ideal, to say the least, and I’d describe it as an unfortunate decision,” said Comber, who pointed out that earlier in the week the England and Wales Cricket Board had sent a circular urging clubs to 'get the game on' despite the weather.

“I know we had a lot of wet weather but the weekend turned out to be gorgeous, as forecast.

“It seemed strange to call the game off at 3pm on Friday, considering Premier League games can start as late as 3pm on the Saturday, and especially when Bury have a county ground and host Suffolk matches.

“To rub salt in the wound, Swardeston only drew their match against Sudbury.

“They only got nine points so had we played and won, it would have leapfrogged us back to the top of the table.

“It was so frustrating and horrible to feel powerless, because it was a situation beyond our control.

“It was a missed opportunity but through no fault of our own.

“To make it worse, we had a very good side available, too, including Adam Wheater.”

Essex’s Wheater may be available again this weekend, given the early ending to this week’s County Championship match against Hampshire.

Jaik Mickleburgh misses out, though.

“Mildenhall are a strong side that tend to have winning spells and then go off the boil a bit,” added Comber.

“They’ve got very good players who are capable of taking the game away from you, so we know we’ll have to be on our toes.”