RADCLIFFE Cricket Club captain Chris Berry is calling for his side to improve and be more professional following their poor batting display in back-to-back defeats last weekend.

The Central Lancashire League team lost their unbeaten start to the campaign and slipped to third place in the Championship table following a shock seven-wicket loss at home to Crompton on Saturday, before also going down by 46 runs against Norden in a Twenty20 contest on Sunday.

"It wasn't a great weekend for us," said Berry.

"The wheels appeared to come off and we just didn't bat well at all.

"Some rash shots saw players getting themselves out far too easily.

"We need to improve and regain the consistency we had.

"We need to be more professional both on and off the field."

A half-century from professional Raheel Majeed was the only score of note for the hosts against Crompton.

Having lost Martyn Coates for nine and Usman Malik for a duck, Majeed's 50 appeared to steady the hosts' innings.

But with no other batsman reaching double figures and a further eight wickets falling for just 26 runs, the Homer Street men were easily despatched for a dismal total of 85.

Denis Louis top-scored with an unbeaten 62 as Crompton knocked off the total with the loss of three wickets.

"We won the toss and were playing on a good batting track but we just couldn't score the runs," said Berry.

"In the end our pro found himself out there on his own.

"It was typical of our recent games against Crompton.

"We either knock a big score against them, bowl them out and win handsomely or they roll us all out for next to nothing and win, which is exactly what happened on Saturday."

Radcliffe's weekend failed to get any better on Sunday when they lost to defending champions Norden at the Racecourse Ground.

Professional Daniel Salpietro top-scored with 77 not out and Ashley Gowers added 42 as the visitors totalled 159-2.

Despite losing opener Coates for two, Radcliffe recovered with Malik and Berry hitting 22 and 27 respectively as the hosts' batting improved slightly.

But their total of 113-6 still saw them fall well short of the target.

"Between the two of them (Salpietro and Gowers) they put on a partnership of more than 100 and we couldn't deal with them," said Berry.

"They probably only hit half a dozen boundaries and just ran between the wickets.

"We could do nothing about it. It was unbelievable and good to watch but we couldn't stop it."

Radcliffe will be looking to get back to winning ways when they host Elton in the first local derby of the season on Saturday, before a Twenty20 contest at Ashton on Sunday.

"Elton have had a couple of good wins lately so they've got themselves on a run," said Berry.

"I'm expecting it to be a tight game but I'm confident we can come out on top."