Hampstead captain Steve Clark admits complacency has been a factor as the reigning champions find themselves in the bottom three in the Premier Division of the Middlesex County Cricket League.

However, the skipper says his squad remains full of confidence and believes they can push their way back into the top four spots in the next 10 games.

Hampstead’s match at Finchley was abandoned after just eight overs on Saturday, leaving the title holders with just one win from eight games - 29 points off the top and two points above the relegation zone.

“We didn’t get off to as smooth a start as we’d have liked,” Clark told Ham&High Sport. “Last season we got a winning draw against Ealing in our first game and that really set us on our way.

“The weather hasn’t helped, it’s been stop-start in the first half of the season. Just about every game’s been rain-affected or the wicket’s been affected in some way during the week.

“Some umpiring decisions have gone against us as well, but everyone has that so we can’t really use that as an excuse.

“We’ve just struggled to build momentum and maybe that’s affected our confidence a bit. It’s possible a bit of complacency’s crept in - we’ve spoken about that. We kind of noticed it in the first couple of games. Maybe we should have spotted it earlier but we’ve nipped it in the bud now.

“We’ve still got a squad of good cricketers, we haven’t turned into bad players overnight. The confidence is still high in the dressing room and if our luck changes a bit and we can build some momentum then we’ll be back.

“Once everything comes together we know we’re good enough to be finishing in the ‘Champions League spots’.

“We’re going to be struggling to win the title again from here, we’re about 30 points behind now – but you can’t write it off at this stage, we’re not even half way through the season yet.”