The Lochlands side travelled to meet local rivals Forfarshire on Saturday and suffered a 163-run defeat with the home side batting first and finishing on 266-4.

In reply, Arbroath could only manage 103 before being bowled out.
Richardson admits that Forfarshire put in a good batting performance and that ex-Scotland captain Ryan Watson was on form.

He told HeraldSport: "It was a bad loss on the day but when we first stopped for drinks when Forfarshire were in bat we had managed to restrict them to 85-3, but their main batsman, Ryan Watson, batted really well and finished on 140.

"In the last five overs though Forfarshire just accelerated and managed to get 50 runs in that time.

"They batted brilliantly and held it together well and the end of their innings.

"266 was definitely a achievable target for Arbroath and we have been able to chase scores like that in the past."

But, in reply, the team only notched up 103 runs and Richardson says the poor batting performance led to the team's downfall.

He explained: "It was disappointing because we really didn't do as well as we could have when we were in to bat.

"Forfarshire's bowlers were very tight up front and their Australian pro hardly gave away any bad balls.

"Eventually we just fell behind the run rate and lost wickets at bad times.

"We need to start to put partnerships together because we have had some good individual performances in the past but not many good partnerships.

"It was a disappointing weekend but we have got Drumpellier at home tomorrow (Saturday) and I know we always enjoy playing at Lochlands."
In their last encounter Arbroath beat Drumpellier by four wickets and Richardson says the team is optimistic to their next match.

"Everyone is looking forward to the game on Saturday and I think that the more cricket we play the more we will progress and grow as a team", he said.

"Last time we played Drumpellier we did beat them but the conditions could be a lot different tomorrow.