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Search forBurcher 'gutted' as Cheltenham relegated
Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 08:00
The Victoria Ground team have been relegated from West of England Premier One just four years after they ran away with the league title.
Saturday's defeat to local rivals Frocester was the final nail in the coffin for Cheltenham after a season which has included just three wins in 17 games.
"It's been absolutely shocking this season and we're dead and buried now," said Burcher.
"I think we've used something like 30 players this season while clubs like (leaders) Bath and Frocester have probably only used 15 or 16.
"We had quite a youthful team and a lot of the lads were at university so it never really came together for us.
"I don't think Cheltenham have ever been out of the West of England Premier League's top flight, so we're really gutted."
While Cheltenham have been fighting out an unsuccessful relegation battle with fellow strugglers Bridgwater, Downed and Ilminster, some of their key players have been impressing on a bigger stage.
Indian off-spinner Vikrant Yeligeti was playing alongside the legendary Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians in the controversial IPL.
And wicket-keeper Steve Snell has been starring for Gloucestershire, where he holds the county's second highest average this season with 48.4.
"Vikrant wasn't available because he was playing in the IPL and he's now on tour with India A so that didn't help either," added Burcher.
"And of course we want the Gloucestershire players on our books to do well, but their success hasn't done us any favours.
"Steve Snell's been doing really with the county set-up and we've also missed Grant Hodnett, who we could always rely on for runs."
Cheltenham, whose last Premier One game is away at Corsham on Saturday, will now join last season's relegated pair Thornbury and Keynsham in the league below.
Both those clubs are struggling in the bottom half of the 2008 table after making the drop and Thornbury could yet suffer a second successive demotion so Burcher knows a tough test lies ahead.
"Premier Two will be difficult to get out of," he said. "The standard's not much different from Premier One.
"Our batting will have to improve drastically because it's been so weak this season. We've probably only scored more than 200 on two or three occasions. That's not good enough."
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