2025 SCCL Premier Division Round Up - Week 16
By Jamie Dowley
Boy Wonder Ralph in 6 wicket “Sensation”
Ralph Davies (pictured after the game), the 14 year old off-spinner son of former Shropshire batsman Martyn, showed at Orleton Park why he is being talked up as one of the most promising bowlers to ever come out of Shropshire with a stunning 6 wicket haul that cut league leaders Wellington down to size and gave his Wem side an excellent 40 run win. On a traditional slow and low home wicket, Tyler Ibbotson played a gem of an innings for the visitors, his 79 along with 37 from Sam Peate were the chief contributions in a score of 199ao, a total that failed to utilise 7 overs. That was mainly down to 4-53 from Oliver Smith while Matt Simmonds bowled to his usual high standard with 4-51. Alex Ollerenshaw struck twice early but the home reply was going well at 89-2 when captain Jim Astley introduced his young off-spinner. His initial dismissal of overseas pro Brian Mudzinganyama (28) was useful and he quickly followed it up with a smart caught and bowled of Morgan Ward to reduce the hosts to 114-5. Wickets continued to fall but it wasn’t until Davies induced Simmonds (33) into being stumped by Harry Chandler that the game was up for Wellington, the youngster finishing the job off to end with a stunning 6-20 off 13 overs.
Jim Astley “Ralph was absolutely sensational, he’s such a great little bowler and rarely if ever bowls a bad ball, but Tylers knock in the first half was equally impressive. It wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on like so many at this time of year and his 79 was worth 130!. It’s really nice to get the win we feel we perhaps should have got against them at our place”.
Wellingtons lead at the top remains intact due to Ludlow coming unstuck at the Quatt Oval as Alex Biddle’s side put in their best performance of the season to emerge narrow 3 wicket winners with just 10 balls to spare. Earlier in the piece it was another masterful knock from away skipper Jason Oakes, his 117 was supported by 61 from Syed Tanzeel Ur Rehman, his 4th half century in just 8 knocks at the club, as Ludlow reached 238-8 off 50 overs. Scott Furber took 3-71 while the rest of the home attack kept things pretty tight. That set it up for a run chase from Quatt that required 44 at the top of the order from Chris Miller, ditto from Alex Starr while James Lunn made 26. All the while the visitors chipped away in the wicket column with Joe Williams in outstanding form taking 4-36. However with Williams surprisingly not introduced until the 26th over it meant he could only bowl 12 overs and with 2 overs to go and 9 needed for the win, Alfie Oakes stepped forward to become the hero of the hour as he went 6, 4 to see his side home, with Ryan Weldon’s part not to be understated, the young allrounder undefeated at the end on 35no.
Bridgnorth travelled to Mid Wales really needing a win to stop themselves getting cut adrift at the bottom, but suffered a disastrous start with Newtown talisman David Laird dismissing all the away top 3 for ducks. Jed Schwarzbach (29) and Peter Scott (44) led a recovery but they were again checked back by their former player Sam Baugh who took 4-45, while Laird finished with 3-11 in what looked a below par score of 132ao in 28 overs. However, Newtown’s batting has been questionable all season and from the moment they lost captain Ben Price for a third duck in four games and were reduced to 11-3, Mark Mcpherson-Lees side were right in the contest. Marco Malan struck a rapid 44 off 28 balls but wickets fell regularly with Fazl Ur Rahman impressing again with 4-59. At 121-8 only 11 runs were needed but that wily veteran Scott, father of Shropshire opener Seb completed a fine all round game with 3-3 at the death as Bridgnorth took a massive 24 points.
Sentinel leapfrogged Allscott after a 36 run win in the TF postcode but in truth it perhaps should have been a lot more comfortable for them. Batting first the Engines openers Tom Griffiths (61) and Alex Johnson (75) put on 132 for the first wicket and they were on course for a big number until Allscott pro Kuldeep Devatwal was introduced into the attack. His 6-42 really pegged back the visitors as they could only muster 68 runs in the last 22 overs for the loss of 9 wickets and at halfway the hosts were very much back in the game. Sentinel then bounced back with the ball themselves as after Shane Gwilt had bowled another solid opening spell of 2-22 off 9 overs. James Shaw, who has been badly missed by his side again this season showed why, as his 3-30 off 11 helped reduce Allscott to 88-8 and seemingly a straightforward win from there. Home skipper Callum Starling, such a dangerous lower order player, had other ideas as he farmed 76 runs with the tail, making 46 himself before they eventually ran out of steam at 164 all out. A strange game with some great batting at the top and bottom of this match with the ball dominating the majority.
Whitchurch were under pressure coming into the home fixture with Madeley but have now given themselves real breathing space in the bottom echelons of the table after a comfortable 7 wicket win that owed a great deal to a 56th “play cricket” century from the little master Maz Hasnain. The visitors were missing several players but still managed to put a creditable total of 189 on the board thanks to Martin Boyle top scoring with 56 and Mithun making 43. The spin twins of Shabbir Khan and Shafiq Ahmed were in fine form for the hosts taking 4-45 and 3-30 respectively. Sri Lankan pro Mithun then opened up for Madeley and he struck early to dismiss Mike Robinson cheaply on his home return, but from then on Hasnain took centre stage as he rolled back the years for his first century of the season. His 103no off just 112 balls no doubt entertained the home patrons at Heath Road, as they got home with 12 overs to spare and a useful 24 points for Dan Bowen side as they attempt to end the season on a high.
Finally, it was all done and dusted inside 27 overs at Church Street as St Georges defeated Shelton in a real “lickety-split” win. Electing to bat first the visitors reached 32-1 before the innings completely imploded as they lost 5 wickets without further addition to the score, with Shah Fiaz running amok. From their Saleh Ahmed (37) did well to guide them to 81 as he put on 31 for the last wicket with Ross Griffiths. Fiaz finished with 6-56 off 10 overs while Sunny Singh helped himself to 3-25 also off 10. Zab Saifi is as dangerous a batsman as anyone around and he hit a blistering 74no off just 24 balls, striking at 300 to see his side home inside 7 overs. A chastening defeat for the West Shrewsbury side after their great victory last week, while the Dragons are a match for anyone when they are in this mood.
So Wellington maintain a 39 point lead and travel to 2nd place Ludlow next week knowing that a win will almost certainly secure another league title. A Ludlow win however and it could be game on with just 6 games to go. At the bottom its getting tight, it looks almost certain that a maximum of 2 sides will be relegated, so Newtown, Madeley and Bridgnorth need to keep picking up wins.
