DIRECTOR of Cricket Phil Toogood says Halstead Cricket Club's players must wear the club's badge with honour if they are to put a tough start to the season firmly behind them.

A 64-run defeat at Haverhill last weekend was a fourth loss in a row for Halstead and left them only out of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division one relegation zone on net run rate ahead of a home game against Worlington at Star Stile on Saturday that will wrap up the first half of the campaign.

It certainly isn't an opening spell that has gone to plan, with Halstead's first team picking up just two wins from their ten games, but Toogood knows those who have pulled on the shirt so far this year have too much quality for their current position to be a fair reflection of them as a team.

He said: "Being a winner, I'm concerned about our position in the league and we must all now be honest with ourselves and just get out there and do what we need to do.

"Halstead Cricket Club is a club with 130-odd years of history and every player must wear that badge with honour.

"I know it sounds like a cliché but it is true.

"There is talent there (in the squad) without a doubt.

"When we evaluated the squad at the start of the season we saw there was enough talent for Halstead to have a really successful season.

"I'm not saying we are at a level where we can be running away with the league, but there is more than enough talent.

"Form is the key, though.

"We've using 22 players so far, which is far from ideal and while is not an excuse, it is a fact and it doesn't help.

"We do have the skill sets there to have won games that we have lost and I've found myself repeating myself as I have continually seen games that we should have won but haven't.

"That is where the key players need to step up and they need to find their form.

"We've had players who have had a good game one weekend, but that has to happen more often; they can't be once in five games performances and these guys have to step up now."

Toogood knows that the talent is there, but it is unlocking that that is the key and he said three vital values must be employed by every Halstead player if they are to get themselves out of their current situation in the top flight.

"We have used 22 players in the first team," he added.

"I remember we had this situation a couple of seasons ago and I remember talking then about how I captained a championship-winning team when we used just 13 through the entire season.

"I know when you are not fielding the same side week-in week-out then that can have a dramatic effect.

"It's not just one or two players - we've had 22 so far and that has had a major impact.

"At the end of the day, the results speak for themselves, though.

"All we can do now is say 'this where we are' and see where we want to be and then work backwards.

"I'm asking senior players to step up now, to say to themselves as a team 'this is where we want to be' and look at the journey that's needed to reach that goal.

"I know the players have had a get together this week to discuss exactly that and that's encouraging.

"They have already upped their training so rather than having one net, they are now having three and I think that's a very good response.

"It is a practical response and one that has come from them as they haven't been told to do that.

"I really like that and it shows commitment, which is one of three values that they need to have.

"There has to be total commitment from every single player who crosses the line and they have to give everything.

"Those values are trust, honesty and total commitment.

"Trust comes from knowing where you want to go and you have to trust the process to get you there.

"You then have to look in the mirror and be completely honest with yourself by looking at what you have produced and you then have to have total commitment to what you are going to do.

"If everyone gives that then you can succeed as a team."