2025 Premier Division Round Up Week 7

The match of the day on paper looked to be at Soulton Rd where in-form Wem welcomed “6 from 6” Wellington and the two sides combined to produce a fantastic game of cricket that was a credit to all participants. The hosts lost key man Harry Chandler in the first over but that allowed Sam Peate to be joined by Karabo Mogotsi, the two men combining for a 96 run partnership in 30 overs. When Peate departed for 37 and the South African a technically gifted 73, the innings required more impetus and Matt Cohen, making his highest score in six years, looked back to his best as he took apart the bowling with a lively 67no. Like last week, he was joined by Martyn Davies, the hard hitting former Shropshire player struck a rapid 30 that realised a team score of 249, more than looked likely at any stage, with 93 coming in the last 9 overs. The Wellington bowlers stuck at the task well although in truth their fielding was perhaps below par, Dan Lloyd with 2-35 being the pick of the attack. In reply, the joint league leaders lost both openers with just 7 on the board and if Dan Lloyd had been caught in the deep early in his innings the eventual outcome may have been different. As it was, he combined with the outstanding Matt Simmonds in a 136 run partnership that seemed to be taking the game away from the hosts. When youngster Ralph Davies, who once again bowled flawlessly, dismissed Simmonds with the penultimate ball of his spell, the door was sightly ajar for Wem although Wellington were still strong favourites. However a tight few overs from Alex Ollerenshaw and Mogotsi all meant that 14 were required from the final over, Lloyd still there on 87 but new bat Josh McDonald on strike, and the young allrounder duly held his nerve against left armer Tyler Ibbotson to see his side home with a ball to spare. A brilliant game to watch ,(credit to players and umpires Dave Nock and Craig Massey for getting through 100 overs for a 6.30pm finish) but one that left the captains with differing feelings when I caught up with them after the game.

Jim Astley “I’m feeling frustrated, we played very well but we are just carrying a few too many injuries and its hampering us in the field. Credit to them they are a top side and it could have gone either way. Mattie played a quality knock  to get us a score and we very nearly defended it so there are a lot of positives out of today but right now its hard to take“

Dan Vaughan “even with 14 needed off the last over I still fancied us because Josh is a top order player in most sides and will move up the order for us soon. Simmonds played a brilliant knock and Lloydy just bats and bats nothing really fazes him. 7 wins from 7 is as good as it gets but we still have room for improvement and will keep working hard at our skills”

Sentinel stay in 3rd place after a thrilling 7 run win over Allscott Heath, thanks in large part to an outstanding new ball spell from Shane Gwilt. Earlier in the day the home batting line up lost Tom Griffiths to the first ball of the match and despite a rapid 53 from Aaryan Dixit ,allied to more modest contributions from Malcolm Serplet and Alex Johnson (23 and 25), they were only able to muster 136ao. Returning skipper Callum Starling took 3 wickets while the pick of the Allscott attack was probably Kuldeep Devatwal whose 10 overs only released just 13 runs. Over to the veteran in-swinger and Gwilt accounted for all the visiting top 4 that reduced them to 35-4 but in fairness to Allscott they dug deep and with previously unsung Ben Harrington contributing 33no, the game was always in the balance. A run out of number ten Matthew Hutchings proved crucial however, and when Jacob Binnersley snuck through the defences of last man Connor Starling the match was won for the Engines

Sentinel skipper Ed Ashlin “Shane has bowled superbly all season for us and I am delighted he got his reward today. Our batting wasn’t great  today but they are a good side, and we always fight hard in the field and managed to find a way through”

The great and the good of Shropshire League cricket were in attendance for Ludlow’s Presidents day game versus Quatt at the Burway (my invite having been lost in the post?!), and the patrons witnessed a dramatic if short game, where Ludlow found a way to win that they had no right to for large parts of the contest. The visitors recent signing, James Lunn from Himley has impressed so far and today he really shone with the new ball as he single-handedly reduced the hosts to 32-5. Whilst Deon Patel (41) and Oliver King (21) were able to recover somewhat, from 92-5 the league leaders then lost 5 wickets for 1 run, as Dan Handley (3-33) and Scott Furber (2-21) closed the innings swiftly. Lunn the headline performer overall though with an outstanding  5-10 off 10 overs. The Quatt reply survived the early loss of Joshua Greef to reach the relative safety of 47-2, but with Joe Williams and Jason Oakes bowling well in tandem, wickets started to go. Even so, at 68-4 there was little sign of a collapse from the visitors of such mesmeric proportions that they lost 6 wickets for 10 runs, with Kate Brazier picking up the final wicket as last man Jed Edwards was caught at long on. Another incredible win for Ludlow but this one will be really hard to swallow for Quatt who are having a very inconsistent season so far.

Ludlow Chairman Phil Parker “I’m gobsmacked that we managed to find a way yet again. There was nothing wrong with the pitch as both umpires attested afterwards, just a fair bit of bad batting from both sides, but we were able to show a lot of character to win it.” 

Newtown picked up a crucial win on the road at bottom placed Bridgnorth, as they chased down 176 to win by 1 wicket. The hosts batted first and received contributions from Raja Atteq (42 from 32 balls) and a fine 71 from Ross Hurdley, but they were perhaps kicking themselves that they left 5 overs unused. For Newtown, David Laird and Marco Malan shared 6 wickets, while Nathan Smith bowled very well to go at 2 an over albeit he went wicketless. The Welshmen’s reply was built on solid foundations from Ben Price (51), but at 97-5, Bridgnorth would have been clear favourites. Tom Anderson was then joined by Griff Davies,  the latter a young player to watch for the future and he gave a glimpse of his potential, hitting 3 sixes in a rapid 32. Anderson was able to play sensibly around him and even when 9 wickets had fallen he kept his head to strike the winning runs and end 45*. Bridgnorth overseas Jed Schwarzbach impressed again with 4-41 but this will be a tough defeat for the men from Cricket Meadow who remain winless. 

A crucial 20 points for Newtown and one that delighted captain David Laird “a good win and very much needed for us with some tough games to come. We bowled and fielded well to keep them under 200, Ben Price started our chase well and despite a dodgy middle period with the bat, Tom and Griff dug in for us to get the win”

It was a very similar game at Park Street where Whitchurch completed an excellent week by chasing down a home score of 184, like Newtown losing 9 wickets in doing so. Madeley opener Anil Kumar made a solid 78 but with no one else getting past 15, it was down to the last home pair to eke out a crucial looking 27 for the final wicket that would have  frustrated captain Dan Bowen. Young fast bowler Alex Heath once again impressed with 4-39, his 2nd spell in particular showing he has a bright future in the game perhaps at a higher level in time. The visitors early season batting wobbles were once again present and with new signing Inam Ul Haq one of 3 early wickets to fall, it was left to Iftikhar Khan (26) and Adan Hussain (24) to rebuild the innings. They passed the baton onto veteran Saad Wasim and the former first class cricketer showed his class to anchor a run chase with 45no . Even so the game was in the balance thanks to Martin Boyle taking 4 wickets, but extras (44) were really hurting the hosts and that enabled last man Shabbir Khan to hit a winning boundary with 3 required. 

Whitchurch chairman Iain Marsh “that’s 3 wins in 6 days and we are starting to move now. I don’t think we would have won this game even 2 weeks ago but winning becomes a habit and I like to think we are over the worst. A really good innings by Saad and Alex’s 2nd spell was fast and accurate” 

St Georges put in an excellent all round performance at Shelton to produce the most emphatic result of the day. Faizan Khan led the way for the Dragons with 86 while Sunny Singh (56), Mo Khattak (50) and Faisal Khan (31) all helped post an imposing total of 258. Simon Jones was impressive again in taking 4-40 while there was also 4 wickets for canny slow bowler Ross Griffiths. The home reply was a “curates egg” of an innings with Saleh Ahmed playing a lone hand in making 80, no other player got past 10, as the hosts were dismissed for 123, albeit could have been a lot worse at 46-7. 

Winning club captain Faisal Khan “great to get another win on the road, delighted that Sunny showed the quality we know he possesses with the bat, and Faizan is the rock of this batting line up and played another gem while Raheel and myself played good cameos. With the ball Shah has been a real find (2-23) and Waqar has now found his feet (4-24)….Time for us to go on a little run……”