The Crabs lost their round one encounter to Hawkesdale and Buchanan is keen for his team to bounce back this weekend. They take on Grassmere on Saturday and Woolsthorpe on Sunday in a double-header.

“It showed last week with Yambuk beating Purnim that the competition is going to even up this season,” Buchanan said.

“Last week we bowled 20 extras and dropped eight catches. We only had one decent training run leading into that game so we were a bit rusty. But we can’t afford to drop too many games early in the season. we don’t want to fall behind.”

Buchanan praised the work of young fast bowler Oscar Sanderson who grabbed 2-28 from his seven-over spell.

“He bowled well, he could have had five wickets if we held our catches,” Buchanan said.

Reigning premiers Panmure has a tough weekend ahead with games against Purnim and Yambuk.

On Saturday, Yambuk takes on Woolsthorpe while Wangoom will be on the road to tackle Hawkesdale.