2025 Premier Division Roundup - Week 1

It was an enthralling opening day of action in the SCCL, with Allscott Heath taking the headlines for a superb 2 wicket away victory over champions Whitchurch at the newly renamed Bridgewater Construction Oval (formerly Heath Road). Batting first the hosts produced a fairly insipid display with the bat, no batsman making more than Adan Hussain who scored 23, but all 5 of the visitors attack impressed, Jason Summers with 3-22 the pick, while there were 2 wickets each for Brad Thornton, Kuldeep Devatwal and new captain Callum Starling, as the bowlers kept it tight. 

Dan Bowen struck in the first over of the reply  dismissing Max Ferrington for 0, and with Devatwal going cheaply for 1 to the outstanding Shabbir (1-5 off 10 overs) , the pressure was heaped on Jason Summers. Last year's SCCL POY showed his class in making 42, and with debutant Austin Rowley really impressing with his composure, Allscott crept towards a winning total. Young paceman Alex Heath was then reintroduced , and when he dismissed Rowley for 38 and Brad Thornton for 9, the game was heading to a dramatic conclusion.  However with 10 needed, the captain at no10 saw it home to give Allscott a fantastic start to their campaign , and leave Whitchurch with an opening home defeat for the 2nd year running . “It’s a huge win and what a team performance to a man it was”  said a delighted captain. “Particular praise to Austin and Matt Hutch who really steadied the ship and played mature knocks, we aren’t going to get carried away but it’s a great start”

Shelton captain Simon Jones was left wondering how they came away from Orleton Park on the losing side, particularly after they made the most perfect start by any side in any season, dismissing the Wellington Test pro Brian Mudzinganyama to the first legitimate ball of the match. With Dan Lloyd also gone cheaply, home captain Dan Vaughan led the recovery by example with a fine 77, receiving assistance from young keeper-bat Morgan Ward who chipped in with 30 on debut as the hosts reached 177ao. Jones picked up where he left off last season with 3-28  as did Ross Griffiths the canny off spinner took 3 good middle order wickets for 38. For most of the reply Shelton were cruising, Ben Matthews (40) and Saleh Ahmed (52) took the visitors to 127-2, but just like he did so many times in 2023, Dan Lloyd stepped back into the fray, his outstanding 2nd spell saw him rip through the middle order taking 5-38 and with Matt Simmonds wrapping things up quickly hence with 4-29, Wellington were victors by 27 runs. A disappointed Jones spoke afterwards, “it’s a real shame as it would have been an unbelievable start for us, with us missing our pro who arrives next week and poor availability. We played  a lot of excellent cricket in this game that augurs well, give credit to Dan and Matt Simmonds they are very good cricketers, but we really should have won this one” 

St Georges (pictured below) have been the talk of pre-season, and their brand new side has already started to offer a good return, as they overwhelmed last year's runners up Quatt by 7 wickets at Church Street. Electing to bat first, Quatt lost South African pro Joshua Greef early to Faisal Khan, who also picked up the big wicket of Chris Miller on his old stomping ground. That set the scene for marque signing Sunny Singh, the former Warwickshire man taking 3-15 off 10 overs, as Quatt limped to 112ao, only Jed Edwards (23), Luke Daly and Ben Byram (21 apiece) offering much resistance. The Dragon run chase was never in doubt, Ibrahim Jiva with 38, Harjivan Dhinsey 29, and a quick unbeaten 27 from another ex first class man Simon Khomeri saw them home. A delighted club captain Faisal Khan was full of praise for his debutants Singh and Khomeri “Simon and Sunny bowled beautifully, ,and Simon really showed his class with the bat also as did Adil and Harj, all in all a really good first day for us”

Another new captain off to a winning start is James Astley at Wem as his charges enjoyed the better of a high scoring encounter at Soulton Road with Bridgnorth. Sam Peate struck the first century of the season, his 113 was the chief contribution in a total of 297-3, while new overseas pro Karabi Magotsi really caught the eye with 97no off 90 balls. Harry Chandler also made 41, while for the visitors, Fazl Ur Rahman plugged away for 3-46. In reply Raja Ateeq famed for his high strike rate, tucked into Alex Ollerenshaw on his 2nd debut for Wem early on, hitting 70 off 41 balls, but when Tyler Ibbotson caught and bowled Raja, one of three wickets for the ex Shrewsbury spinner on debut, the hosts took charge. Smart captaincy by Astley then saw Ollerenshaw reintroduced and his 2nd spell helped to wrap up the game, the pacemen also taking 3 wickets as Bridgnorth were bowled out for a credible 206. 

Sentinel battled back from a poor start in Mid-Wales, as they overcame hosts Newtown by 49 runs. The top 5 in the Engines order all failed to reach double figures as they succumbed to 47-6, but that set the scene perfectly for captain Ed Ashlin to play a dogged rearguard, and he found a willing partner in Jonny Evans. Both batted for 108 balls, Evans made 55, while Ashlin was 3 short of a deserved half century, and it  all meant that they were able to get a score on the board of 194-8. Tom Anderson was excellent with the ball for the Welshmen his 3-24  was assisted by captain David Laird also picking up 3 victims. In reply the hosts were in the contest for large parts, debutant Ben Price up from the Kent Premier League looked solid for 33, Tom Foulkes made 29, but with Cameron Watson on debut finding the edge for the big wicket of Laird for 19, it was left to fellow former Dragon, Alex Johnson to wrap things up, his 4-15 ensured a winning start for Sentinel from what looked a tricky opening fixture.  

Finally, Ludlow will be very pleased with their afternoon’s work at the Burway as they produced a 105 run victory against visitors Madeley. Contributions from Luke Miles (27), Deon Patel (40) and Sam Alford (30no) ensured a score of 202. With the ball Salim Ahmed  took 3-47, and Nadeen Ahmad struck twice, but conceding 45 extras in the field will no doubt be of concern to skipper Martin Boyle. The reply from Madeley never really got going once debutant Salahuddin Malik and Luke Miles had reduced them to 10-2.  Joe Williams then entered the stage, the left arm spinner really showed his class as he took 6-28 off 9 overs to rip the heart out of the away middle order , and ensure the 20 pts for Jason Oakes’ side.