2026 SCCL Premier Division Round Up Week 13
By Jamie Dowley
Quatt surrender title lead as chasing pack close in in “2 tier table”
On a day where the county sweltered, all 5 teams below the leaders secured maximum points to blow the title race open. And with a huge gap now separating the top half and bottom half as many predicted, we potentially have a race for the ages at both ends in the final 9 weeks.
First, we start at the QCG where Quatt were hoping to get revenge on a Wem side who narrowly turned them over on the opening day of the season. With captain Alex Ollerenshaw pulling up after one over it meant added pressure on the rest of the attack, but with Tom Astley (pictured in action below) in imperious form at present and recent signing Dan Bowen to call upon, Quatt were still in early trouble at 24-2. Todd Henderson built patient partnerships with both Nipun and Alex Biddle before falling for 51 as Wem’s 3 spinners controlled proceedings nicely getting through 21 overs for just 70 runs. Bowen (3-56) and that man Astley (5-61) came back to close out the innings, with Biddle top scoring with 53, but a team score of 207-9 would have left the visitors the happier of the 2 sides at the interval. Quatt are not a team who will ever consider themselves out of a game and when both Wem openers were back in the pavvy at 18-2, the burden switched to Abhishek Reddy to repeat his April heroics. Reddy received excellent support from Josh Gough (19), Matt Cohen (25) and Steve Blenkinsop (25), but when the pro departed for 76 the door was slightly ajar for Quatt at 162-5. As Jamie Lunn rotated his bowlers desperate for a further breakthrough, Wem lost another wicket at 176, however the Astley brothers Harry and Tom were able to see their side home without further loss, Harry with 27no hitting the winning runs.
A team in dire need of a victory were Sentinel, but they came off second best at Albert Rd versus Whitchurch in a game they will surely consider they should have won. With Sentinel the sole team on the day to decide to field first, that decision looked to be wholly vindicated as Mike Robinson's side were reduced to 106-8. Muhammed Fahim (37) then found a willing partner in Kash Hussain (20), and that pair and last man Shab Khan were able to add a crucial 49 for the last 2 wickets. Aussie Nick Bateup was the key performer with the ball as he took 5-50, and with Cam Watson and Alex Johnson also taking 2 wickets apiece, they would have settled for a chase of 155 at the start albeit conceding 41 extras did seem relevant. The 67 overs Sentinel had to utilise was unlikely to come into play and a difficult start reduced them to 19-4 as Kash Hussain and Shab Khan carried on their good work with the ball. A recovery ensued with Bateup (36) and Connor Cheshire not so much digging in but taking the attack to Whitchurch, and it was only the introduction of Ollie Dyson who got both out caught and followed it up with 2 more wickets that dragged the game back in Whitchurch’s favour. Dyson finished with 4-48, Shab Khan 3-16 and despite Sentinel attacking to the death with Jacob Binnersley (22) and last man Matt Cliffe (13no) the game ended at 128 ao with a comical run out that just about summed up their season and meant they are very much in a relegation dogfight for the rest of the campaign. For Whitchurch they can consider themselves back in the title race.
As can St Georges who are absolutely flying right now and they produced a powerhouse performance at London Rd against Shrewsbury 2nds. Batting first, Charitha Kumarasinghe and Amritpal Singh with 35 and 56 were the Hors d’oeuvres before the main course from Ashish Ashish who played a monster of an innings striking at 187 for an incredible 161 as the home attack took some heavy punishment. In the later stages of his knock he was joined by the box office Zab Safi, the big hitter struck 47 off 23 balls, as the visitors declared on 337-7 off 45 overs, a total that included 18 sixes. Shrewsbury surprisingly only used 5 bowlers, as George Jenkins and Ed Prideaux took 2 wickets apiece at a heavy cost. Shrewsbury have power hitters of their own in Dan Humes and Prideaux, but although the latter made 25, a victory was never likely against the Dragons quality bowling attack. Shah Fiaz with 3-37, Ali Mustafa 2-50, and Babar Khan with 2-34 asserted control, although an excellent 63 from former Whitchurch youngster Wilf Peers and 25 from Rob Foster made the scorecard respectable before that man Ashish wrapped up the innings at 192, taking 3-22.
Allscott Heath made it back to back wins with a 5 wicket triumph at old rivals Shelton. Electing to bat first the hosts lost early wickets to opening bowlers Luke Thornton and Callum Starling, and while Pabel Saha made 20 and Ben Matthews 31, no one else could build a partnership as they were shot out for 90 in just 30 overs. Thornton (pictured below) was the pick of the attack with 3-39, bowling 15 overs straight through in the heat, while captain Starling (3-29) and Kuldeep Devatwal (3-17) will be more than happy with their efforts. The Allscott reply did see Jason Summers fall early, but with Max Ferrington playing freely for 34, and Devatwal a 9 ball 29, the game was wrapped up inside 13 overs, although a few late wickets perhaps camouflaged the size of the Allscott victory. Ryan Cumming can certainly hold his head high with 3-27 but Shelton were well beaten in this one.
Wellington’s players would have been happy with their short afternoon's activity as they annihilated Ludlow by 9 wickets in a game that was all done by 2pm. Losing star batsman Nathan Engelbrecht for a duck was a bad omen for Luke Miles’ team, and with David Laird in imperious form with the ball, the rest of the visiting line up also failed to contribute, with only Sam Edwards in double figures with 19. As well as Laird taking 5-31, Ollie Smith also continued his excellent season with 3-14, while Hugh Morris joined the party with 2-6. Despite losing captain Dan Vaughan for a duck in the 2nd over, Morgan Ward (21no) and Jason Oakes (29no) ensured a relaxing afternoon and evening for their team and a long awaited first 24 points of the season.
Finally, it’s over to mid Wales where Newtown and Madeley faced off in a game of huge importance at the bottom of the table. Batting first, the visitors were indebted to solid contributions from several players as they totalled an impressive 257 all out. Oli Davis top scored with 54, Mithun was good for 43, while Salim Ahmed and Joseph Buttery made 33 and 31 respectively. Nathan Smith with 4-85 and Jordan Baijnath 4-81 both plugged away bowling long spells for the Welshmen, who were soon under the pump at 4-2 in the 2nd innings. A recovery of sorts ensued from Baijnath (29), and Ben Price (47), but Martin Boyle impressed with 4-35 and Mithun with 4-48 closed the game out for a 106 run win and a massive 24 points. Those perennial survivors from Park Street are doing it once again and now have real breathing space to the relegation places.
So, we have just 34 points separating the top 6 (and 2 teams have a game in hand), with 2 huge games in North Shropshire next Saturday - Wem face Wellington while Quatt will be keen to arrest their recent stumbles at Whitchurch HQ.
