2025 SCCL Premier Division Round Up - Week 15
By Jamie Dowley
Relegation battle hots up as Newtown and Whitchurch get dragged in..
We start todays report with the abandonment after 5 overs of the Allscott v Quatt match where the umpires deemed that the pitch was too dangerous to continue, with the hosts at 18-1. The league executive will be meeting today to determine the match outcome, and the allocation of points.
The rest of the days action was full of drama where the big match at the bottom end of the table saw Madeley lock horns with visitors Newtown in a huge game for both sides but particularly the hosts. And it was Martin Boyle who struck with the first ball of the match to dismiss the Newtown captain Ben Price, and when he quickly followed up with another wicket in his 2nd over his side were already well on top. Despite 30 from Nick Mumby, no other visiting batsman could get into the game and with overseas pro Mithun (5-48) on top form the Welshmen could only muster 127ao, Boyle ending with 3-42. The hosts lost a wicket in the first over too and soon stumbled to 53-4 but Anil Kumar batted with flair in making 70no and the men from Park Street were able to get home in the 22nd over for the loss of 5 wickets. Those 20 points really help in the relegation battle and drag Newtown very much back into it.
Martin Boyle “It’s a massive win for us and hopefully we can get some momentum into the back end of the season. Great knock from Anil, and Joe and Alex supported him through. Another huge game for us next week at Whitchurch”
The gloriously inconsistent St Georges recorded one of the best run chases of the season against Sentinel as they ran down 280 with 11 balls to spare in a thrilling game at Albert Rd. Earlier in proceedings Tom Griffiths made his maiden league century as he scored exactly 100, while Jonny Evans, a player who moves up and down the order at will scored 71 and Aaryan Dixit 43. There was little joy for the Dragons bowlers, but they have arguably the most dangerous batting order in the league despite missing the banned Zab Saifi, and would have been confident of getting close in the 2nd half. At 35-3 it looked difficult but when Suhayl Iqbal joined Ibrahim Java, the two forged a fine partnership of 121. With Java departing for 59, Iqbal who joined recently from Old Hill, really showed his class powering on to an unbeaten century and finishing on 131no. It was a tough day for the home bowlers only Shane Gwilt kept things tight with 1-23 off only the 8 overs he was employed for. Both these teams will look to kick on to good top half finishes although neither can find any real consistency right now.
There was also high drama across town as Shelton somehow secured a win against visitors Whitchurch who for long spells looked nailed on for the win. A score of 240-8 was one that would have satisfied Simon Jones, as the Bangladeshi pair of Jamilul Chowdhury and Saleh Ahmed made 60 and 44 respectively while the skipper himself, not renowned for his batting, struck a rapid 28 at the death. Alex Heath, called up for his full Shropshire debut this weekend with 3-28 and Kash Hussain 3-52 were the pick of the away bowlers. The reply was off to a dramatic start with Mike Robinson, back for his 2nd debut after a season and a half at Shifnal , out first ball, shouldering arms to Jones, but from then on Maz Hasnain and Iftikhar Khan built a superb partnership of 157. Khan eventually departed for 68 and the door was further ajar when Hasnain was caught behind 6 short of a century. Even so having been 183-2 it was hard to predict the carnage that then ensued. Jones returned for a 2nd spell and when he had taken 4-53 and Jack Morris 3-69, it was over to Ross Griffiths, the canny slow bowler doing it once again when it mattered as he wrapped up proceedings at 219ao with 15 balls to spare. All in all Dan Bowen’s side lost 8 wickets for 36 runs in the process, and a result that leaves them firmly in a scrap at the wrong end of the table.
Simon Jones “Not sure how we managed that, it was so flat!. We knew they could be vulnerable to a collapse so there was always hope but Maz looked fully in control. They kept going for it too rather than shut up shop which surprised me but credit to them for that”
It was bottom vs top at Cricket Meadow and Wellington secured a comfortable 104 run victory over Bridgnorth. Batting first, captain Dan Vaughan continued his fine season with 53 while there were meaningful contributions from Morgan Ward (35), Hugh Morris (31no), Matt Simmonds (30) and Brian Mudzinganyama (27) as they totalled 230-9 off 50 overs. Peter Scott toiled away well for 5-61 while overseas Jed Scwarzbach again made an impression with 3-58. It was always likely to be a challenging total for the hosts to chase as Oliver Smith top and tailed the innings nicely with 4-28, while Morris and Simmonds completed fine all round games with 3-34 and 3-28 respectively, as Bridgnorth were dismissed for 126, although credit to Ian Gregory (45) and Joseph Smallman (40no) who put in decent shifts with the bat.
Dan Vaughan “we were happy with 230 as it was a used pitch although we really should have got more. Ollie Smith was the pick of the bowlers and its another win ticked off for us”
Finally Ludlow travelled north to face a Wem side who were bang in form and at full strength, with 3 players (Sam Peate, Jim Astley and Ralph Davie)s called up for the Shropshire Academy side, and Harry Chandler (Pictured) a deserved fixture in the full county side. And it was Peate and Chandler who put on 55 for the first wicket, after which the innings surprisingly capitulated to 109-8, with Luke Miles (4-40) and Salahuddin Malik (3-24) running through the Wem side. Only Harry Astley with 36 managed to negotiate the back end of the innings, putting on 20 and 32 for the 9th and 10th wickets with tailenders Alex Ollerenshaw and Ralph Davies, to reach a semi- competitive 161ao. It soon became apparent it was way short as that man Miles proved what a top allrounder he is, anchoring the chase with 68no and Syed Tanzeel Nazqi adding 57no to see their side home by 9 wickets.
Ludlow Chair Phil Parker “This was probably our most convincing win of the season against the most in form team in the league, its nice when a game plan that we worked on all week comes to fruition”
Onto August then and what a big match it is at Heath Rd next week as Whitchurch take on Madeley , while big guns Wellington and Wem face off at Orleton Park, can they produce a repeat of the classic earlier in the season.
