Wimbledon CC skipper Chris Benham admitted his side let the club down after a batting collapse ended in a 93-run defeat at home to Spencer.

The reverse continues Wimbledon’s stop-start opening to the defence of their Premier Division title, having now won one, lost one and seen two matches abandoned due to rain.

However, despite the below par performance against the unbeaten Spencer, Benham insisted there is plenty of time to get the results they need.

Having elected to bowl, Wimbledon had Spencer where they wanted them at 42-6 – but a seventh wicket stand of 79 guided the visitors to 191-9 off their 50 overs.

Spencer replied in devastating form with Steven Lewis getting a hat-trick (5-16) and Edwards (4-20) blowing the Wimbledon line-up away for 98 inside 26 overs.

Benham said: “There are no excuses, Spencer played well.

“We had a long chat after the game as a team and it was clear that some players just were not up for it.

“We will address that with some good training this week and then we’ll be out next weekend to put things right.

“We let the club down, yes, but the worst thing we could do is dwell on it.

“There are 14 games left, which is plenty of time, for us to put a string of results together and bounce back.”

He added: “We got off to a fantastic start, getting them to 42-6, but they had a good partnership that we just could not break down.

“But I still thought chasing 190 was in our hands, but we just did not perform as a group. All the lads know they did not perform anywhere near our best.”

Wimbledon, sixth in the table, travel to eighth-placed Weybridge this weekend.

Joel Pope’s side pushed Wimbledon all the way in the race to the title last year, but they are struggling in the early stages of this term – their 20-run win at Guildford on Saturday was their first.