2025 SCCL Premier Division Round Up Week 18
By Jamie Dowley
Madeley in 1 wicket “Déjà vu” win as they breathe life into relegation battle
A tense encounter at the ACG saw Madeley repeat their one wicket win of 2024 and give themselves renewed hope of climbing out of the relegation places. Batting first, the hosts innings stopped and started and when star man Kuldeep Devatwal went for 26, Allscott Heath were in a spot of bother at 112-6. Overseas Mithun was in fine form, the Sri Lankan is enjoying a much better 2nd season and his 2-37 off 15 together with 3-30 from Salim Ahmed meant wickets kept falling but Matthew Hutchings (30no) and last man Callum Rigby then produced a sting in the tail as they produced an unbroken 39 run partnership for the last wicket. That was frustrating for Martin Boyle’s side, the seamer ended with 3-40 himself but would still have a part to play in the game. The away run chase started off steadily with Nadeem Ahmad digging in for 30 but at 85-4 there was plenty of work to do. Joseph Buttery then “teed off”, hitting a swashbuckling 41 off 28 balls and when the Davis brothers carried on his good work they were on the verge of victory at 191-6. Devatwal then dismissed both LBW, and when Rodney Dunn was run out it was suddenly 194-9. Out strode number 11 Boyle, and he and Sam Gill (who survived yet another huge LBW appeal) managed to keep calm and guide their side home for huge relief in the away changing room.
Martin Boyle ”It’s a massive win for us and gives us a chance of getting out of the bottom 2, it must have been a good game for a neutral but not so much for a number 11 coming in with 6 needed after a mini collapse!. I thought Mithun and Salim bowled really well and in the chase, Buttery’s knock was crucial taking the game to Allscott and we managed to get over the line with the Oli, Sam and the tail.
That win for Madeley means the likes of Whitchurch still have some work to do and they were trounced in the North Shropshire derby against Wem. The home side were missing Mike Robinson whose wife went into labour in the early hours, but batting first had reached 85-2 with half the overs gone. That was as good as it got as Ralph Davies was introduced and the youngster produced another incredible display of spin bowling that tore the guts out of the Whitchurch batting . His spell of 11-4-18-6 with 5 clean bowled’s and an LBW meant that Tom Astley was able to wrap up proceedings on 102ao. Astley looked back to his best in taking 2-21 off 13 overs while Harry Astley also bowled well with 2-30 off 12. The Wem reply was as easy as it gets, Sam Peate with 29no and the game finished with an astonishing display of hitting from Tyler Ibbottson. With 26 needed for the win he went 4,4,4,6,4,6 to give Jim Astley’s side bragging rights once again.
Jim Astley “ It’s always nice to beat the local rivals, a brilliant performance from the bowling attack Ralph, Tom and Harry and then Tyler with the bat hitting bombs!”
Whitchurch Chairman Iain Marsh “ it was a very friendly game and it was nice to present the match ball to young Ralph Davies. I had been hearing about how good he is and he’s possibly the best bowler in the entire league right now which at 14 is remarkable. As for us it’s a worrying time, we need at least another win and we have 4 difficult games to go (Ludlow, Wellington, St Georges, Quatt) . Its not been a great defence of our title and we need to take stock in the winter and regroup once we have secured our safety”
Newtown picked up a more than useful winning draw against Ludlow, a result that drops Jason Oakes side down to a season low 4th. Some observers, myself included, have been critical of the batting performances of the Welsh side this season but in recent weeks they have really played sensibly and once again it was captain Ben Price who led by example. His 63 from 95 balls enabled others to play around him and David Laird with 47 and other smaller contributions from the lower middle order meant a score of 228-9 off 50 overs was posted. That was always going to be a challenge for Ludlow especially against the spin twins of Sam Baugh and Nathan Smith, the pair have been outstanding in the red ball format and here was no different. Baugh with 2-38 off 15, and Smith with 3-51 from 14 cut the away order down to size as they ended on 183-8, with Deon Patel (44no) and Luke Miles (40) the only real bright lights in the unsuccessful chase. A 13-9 points split in Newtown’s favour means they maintain a 19 point gap over Madeley.
Quatt are the form team in the division right now so perhaps it wasn’t a big surprise that they got the better of a drawn game against Champions Elect Wellington at the Oval. Despite missing Tom Whitney, the top 3 all stepped up to the plate with Alex Starr impressing most with 59 while Joshua Greef made 46 as they totalled 226-9 in their 50 overs. That Dan Vaughans side weren’t chasing more was partly down to Harrison Vaughan who took 4-50 while Matthew Morris, younger brother of Hugh is starting to make a name for himself, and he chipped in with 2-19. The away reply never really got going once the impressive James Lunn (3-32 from 15) had struck with the new ball and with Scott Furber also taking wickets (3-48), it was left to Matt Simmonds to hold the innings together. Simmonds can lay claim to being the best non-overseas all rounder in the league and he looked like seeing his side to a losing draw but when Furber bowled him for 77 with 4 overs to go Quatt sniffed victory. Alas for them it wasn’t to be as last pair Matthew Morris and Ollie Smith dug in, the young pair ensuring a 17-8 point split and it’s another game ticked off for Wellington with little damage done.
St Georges are up to a seasons best 3rd place after a comprehensive win against Bridgnorth who suffered a double whammy on hearing of Madeley’s win at Allscott. Batting first, Ibrahim Java with 70 and Sunny Singh with 51set it up for a late flurry from Zab Safi (40 from 23 balls ) and Mo Raheel Khattak (52 from 31) as the Dragons posted 283-7 off 50 overs. Ian Gregory toiled away for 3-97 while Peter Scott continued his fine all round season with 4-77. A total like that was always likely to prove formidable particularly with Ex Warwickshire man Singh in such outstanding form and his 5-38 from 15 overs ensured the match was over as a contest. Only Jed Schwarzbach with 28 and 26 from Mo Momen Khan were able to take any real credit with the bat as the bottom side were dismissed for 136.
Finally, after a poor home performance last time out Sentinel made amends as they came out of the county town derby with Shelton on the right side of a draw. Tom Griffiths is enjoying something of a renaissance in the red ball format and his 65 together with a destructive 54 from Aaryan Dixit helped lay a platform for James Shaw to produce his best knock of the season as he struck 106no. A late 33no from Connor Cheshire just took the Engines past the 300 mark and like last week versus Allscott the Shelton attack found things difficult although Ross Griffiths stuck at the task for 3-71. The away reply was built around 59 from Viv John, while 30 from Ben Matthews and 42 from Harry Webster all meant they could bat out the final over 8 down with 225 on the board and be content with an 8 point haul, whereas Ed Ashlin’s side will perhaps be a tad frustrated that they only took 13 from what was a pretty dominant display.
