Sudbury captain Paddy Sadler has insisted that his side must ‘stay positive’ despite remaining winless in the East Anglian Premier League, after a high-scoring draw with fellow strugglers Frinton-on-Sea.

Sudbury produced their most complete batting display of the season to post a score of 336-6 declared, recovering superbly from 84-3, thanks to a series of standout contributions.

And Sadler believes that the innings finally reflected the blueprint he wants his side to follow.

“Our batters did well to get a big score,” he said.

“After a slow start to the season, it was great to see Oliver Da Costa get 100, and hopefully he can kick on from this and use it as a springboard for the rest of the season.

“We laid a platform at the start and then kicked on with the middle order. Saturday was the blueprint to use moving forward.”

Da Costa’s 104 from 118 balls was the centrepiece of Sudbury’s innings, but he was well supported.

Darren Batch struck 88 in a 130-run fourth-wicket stand that put Sudbury firmly in control, while Madhuka Liyanapathiranage added late acceleration with an unbeaten 71 from just 52 balls, including three sixes.

Despite the imposing total, Sudbury were unable to force victory.

Frinton’s reply was anchored by a blistering century from Hanu Viljoen, who smashed 107 from 91 balls with 10 fours and five sixes.

He shared key partnerships with Kyran Young and Danny Edwards to steer the visitors towards safety.

Sudbury’s bowlers kept chipping away – Liyanapathiranage delivered a miserly 18-over spell for 1-45, and Ned Overbury struck three times late on, including the crucial wicket of Viljoen, but Frinton closed on 252-8 from 62 overs.

Sadler acknowledged the frustration of not converting dominance into a first win.

“On the day, we weren’t quite able to do it, but it was good to get more points than Frinton,” he said.

“We’ve had a fair player turnover from last season, and it’s quite an inexperienced side, and momentum has been against us.”

Even so, he stressed that the overall level of performance has been better than the results suggest.

“We’ve only had one poor performance so far, against Copdock,” he said.

“We still have a good level of talent at the club and Freddy Cloud and Bobby East are showing real signs of promise.”

With a derby against Bury St Edmunds next on Saturday (11am), Sadler said belief will be crucial.

“We need to stay positive,” he added. “We are good enough to beat any team on our day – we mustn’t get down about how the season has started.

“They’re always competitive games with Bury. We know a lot of their players very well, so we know their strengths and weaknesses.”

Bury go into this weekend’s encounter sitting sixth in the Premier League standings after winning four of their opening seven fixtures, although they were beaten last time out by Swardeston.