CAPTAIN Martin Miller is backing his young Lions to come through a difficult start to the campaign following a third successive defeat for Bournemouth.

New Zealand all-rounder Dewayne Bowden was their chief tormentor as Alton recorded a comprehensive seven-wicket win at Chapel Gate.

Only Luke Matthews (19), Gurpreet Singh (15), Curtis Watton (14) and Jonny Coombs (10) reached double figures as Bournemouth were shot out for just 94 – the total boosted by 18 wides.

And although the visitors lurched to an uneasy 12 for three in reply, Bowden (5-28) followed up his exploits with the ball by sharing an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 86 to see Alton home.

Although Aussie Alex Keath (2-27) briefly had Alton on the rack, Bowden (42) and Scott Myers (40) combined to knock off the target inside 13 overs.

Miller said: “It was a case of déjà vu from the previous week at Havant. Alton decided they were just going to attack the ball rather than play properly and it was exactly the same as what Havant had done to us. At one point, you thought it was game on and then they just got the job done in quick time.

“We haven’t batted our 50 overs in any of the three games we have played.

“As captain, you reflect on the game afterwards and think, maybe, we should have batted second. When I won the toss, the sun was out and, by the time we came out to bat, it had clouded over.

“Fair play to the Alton bowlers because they made life extremely difficult for us. They bowled in the right areas and made it difficult to score.

“But I can’t fault the attitude of our batsmen. We tried to guts it out but were all victims of some really good bowling and excellent catching. I can’t criticise our batsmen for that but we aren’t going to win games scoring 94.”

Miller, who returned to the club this season following two years in the Dorset League with Poole, is at the helm of a young and new-look team which has so far found the going tough in the top flight of the Southern Premier League.

“The spirit is really good,” added Miller. “Coming into the season, we always knew that we were going to have a change of personnel. Dom Hand and Luke Matthews did really well with the bat and the gloves, respectively, and Curtis Watton, who is playing at this level for the first time, did well again.

“We always knew that this was the season we could give the young players an opportunity because they are the future of the club. They are just going to have to bear with us while the rest of us try to find our feet as well.

“We are not firing as a batting unit but there are definitely runs in the team.

“We haven’t had much luck yet so, hopefully, that will change. It is all part of the game and you have to go through some heavy defeats in order to progress as a team.

“It is a big step for players coming from the Dorset League and from the seconds. It is going to take a while for them adapt. We will take it game by game, try to take the positives and look to move forward.”