Sunshine coach Mark Brown could barely hide his frustration as the Crows were dismissed for 95 in the two-day Sub-District clash with Box Hill on Saturday.
Box Hill ended the opening at 1-23 in reply, needing just 73 more for victory when play resumes this weekend.
Brown opened the innings for Sunshine and scored 28 from 114 balls in a two-and-a-half-hour stint.
Troy Stone was the only other Crows batsman to reach double figures, with 38 from 135 deliveries in a marathon three-hour effort.
Box Hill bowled tightly and accurately all afternoon, wearing down Sunshine in 65.4 overs. Aaron Walter finished with 4-11 from 18 overs.
Kapelan Kulendranathan struck early for Sunshine when Box Hill replied, having Sebastian Mather lbw for a duck, but the visitors will be confident of taking the points this Saturday.
Brown had strong words following his team’s poor showing.
“It’s frustrating, I’m pissed off, I’m frothing at the mouth,” he said.
“What I’m seeing is guys aren’t mentally prepared to go out and do their job for the team. People are batting for themselves.
“They bowled to a seven-two field all day, stump-to-stump. It was boring cricket and we couldn’t handle it.
“They have a quality attack and the wicket was a little slow but there are no excuses. We weren’t up to it.”
Brown said frank discussions were needed to get the team into a more competitive position.
“We need everyone to be honest with each other and not be afraid to say something negative,” he said.
“We wanted to bowl like they did but we didn’t attack the stumps and they were able to score more freely.
“The scoreboard doesn’t lie. We weren’t good enough but we have to stay positive.”
