Suffolk suffered a heavy defeat in their opening Minor Counties Championship fixture of the season, beaten by 185 runs at the hands of Staffordshire today.

Trailing by 127 runs on first innings, Suffolk were up against it at the end of day two, with their hosts a big 340 runs ahead with four second innings wickets still in tact.

Staffordshire were bowled out for 248 this morning, having added only 35 to their overnight score, to leave Suffolk requiring an unlikely 376 for victory.

Josh Cantrell was the pick of the bowlers, taking three of the last four wickets to fall to finish with 17.2-3-56-4.

Adam Mansfield’s men were duly dismissed for 190, with only skipper Mansfield offering any real resistance.

Batting at No. 8, Mansfield top-scored with 49, but with the exception of Mildenhall’s Ben Shepperson (29), no other visiting batsman advanced past 20.

Openers Jack Beaumont and Alex Oxley, plus Frinton skipper Kyran Young, were all back in the pavilion with just 34 on the board.

Opening bowler Brinder Phagura capped a good individual performance with figures of 12-3-22-3, while Paul Byrne also took three wickets. The innings was wrapped up after just 51.5 overs.

Mansfield struck seven boundaries in his 65-ball stay for 49, while Shepperson hit five fours in his knock. The biggest stand was only 44.