2026 SCCL Premier Division Round Up Week 14
By Jamie Dowley
Johnson’s 5 star spell gives Sentinel season lift off
Sentinel have had a wretched season so far with only 1 win in their first 13 games and travelled to Madeley for what many were calling a “must win” game. Batting first the North Shrewsbury side made a solid start with a century opening stand from Muhammad Zaheer (39) and Tom Griffiths (45), albeit aided by the hosts conceding their usual high number of extras. 104-0 became 114-3 however, and it was then down to Craig Williams and Ed Ashlin to regain momentum on a tricky pitch for scoring, something they managed to do as they totalled 222-6 off 50 with Williams making 23, Ed Ashlin 42no and Connor Cheshire a quickfire 20. The hosts reply never really took off with 2 wickets going down early, and despite 42 from Salim Ahmed and 21 from Mithun they came up against an inspired Alex Johnson (pictured batting). The off spinner, who is proving to be Sentinel's star performer this campaign took 5-35, assisted by Nick Bateup with 2-35 all meant Madeley were dismissed for 149, with Steve Maden unable to bat due to a nasty clonk in the face in the Sentinel innings. So a big 24 points for the Engines but both teams still have plenty to do to secure their status for 2027.
The players and officials at the Whitchurch v Quatt game observed a minute's silence before play as a mark of respect to the sudden passing of Richard Sanders, the father of Quatt and League Chairman Howard Sanders.
Batting first, the hosts lost star batsman Mike Robinson early on but when Iftikhar Khan joined forces with Kunal Dabas the pair rebuilt the innings. At 107-2 they were well set, however both fell LBW to Quatt skipper Jamie Lunn for 35 and 37 respectively and the game shifted decisively, as Whitchurch lost 7 wickets for 28 runs. Lunn with 4-44 was the chief protagonist while Gareth Jones bowled an excellent spell of 2-31 after earlier in the piece Todd Henderson had taken 2-26. Only a 10th wicket stand of 33 got the score up to 168ao, and a run chase that would still require some navigation. Overseas pro Nipun got the innings off to a flyer with 26, and the consistent Tom Whitney made 28 but Kash Hussain and Shabir Khan dragged it back and at 81-4 Quatt still had plenty to do. That brought former Shropshire captain James Ralph to the crease to join Henderson and the pair of experienced heads batted sensibly in a crucial match winning partnership of 71. Ralph eventually departed for 37, but Henderson was still there at the end, anchoring the innings as he has on several occasions this season for 34no and a vital 24 points for the league leaders.
Wem were joint leaders going into their match with champions Wellington but had something of a fast bowling crisis, with Alex Ollerenshaw and Tom Astley missing and Dan Bowen unable to bowl due to a hamstring injury. That fact meant they needed a decent total to defend, and captain for the day Abhishek Reddy held things together with 63, after Harry Chandler had opened up with 20. But when the pro departed, one of 2 victims of Josh McDonald (2-47), who made the most of a rare opportunity to turn his arm over, Wem needed something from their middle and lower order. Matt Cohen with 34 and Bobby Langton who made 24, helped eke the total up to 222-9, as Oliver Smith came back to take 4-66 and Matt Simmonds, 2-47. The Wellington run chase was a controlled and temperate affair. Dan Vaughan and Simmonds put on 47 for the first wicket and when the latter fell for 24, Jason Oakes joined his captain in a fine partnership of 111 that went a long way to ensuring victory. Wem’s slow bowlers kept going, but for little reward, only Reddy with 2-65 off his 15 overs made any real impression as after Vaughan departed for 65, Oakes cruised home on 90no for a 6 wicket win. The champions, despite losing 4 points to Quatt on the day, are very much back in it, and still have that game in hand, while for Wem it’s a major setback.
St Georges kept up their 100% record in this format with their 6th straight win as they put Shelton to the sword, winning by 198 runs. The Dragons had runs all the way down the order but it was overseas star Ashish Ashish who once again took the headlines with 72, while Waqas Ahmad (44), KJ Sullivan (32), Amritpal Singh (21), Ali Mustafa (32no) and crowd favourite Zab Safi (34) allowed captain Mohammed Aqeeb to declare on 291-9 on 49 overs. For Shelton their bowling leaders Sam Griffiths and Simon Jones stuck to the task as always, Griffiths with 3-81, and Jones who really put a fine shift in here with 4-64. It seemed improbable that the extra over Shelton had at their disposal would come into play but after a fine start by openers Will Savage and Pabel Saha, at 62-0 they dared to dream. But when they both fell quickly for 23 and 31 respectively the innings imploded as Georges turned the screw. Babar Khan picked up 2-18 before a frankly ridiculous spell from Ashish, the Indian all-rounder taking 5 wickets in just 2.2 overs as Shelton, a side who have a habit of collapsing were shot out for 93, with Viv John unable to take his place in the order.
Allscott Heath are repeating their start to the season as they picked up a third straight win over bottom side Newtown, who just cannot find a result in the WDL format. Winter signing Maz Hasnain has had an injury ravaged season but his class has never been in doubt, and here he carried his bat for 50 overs as he compiled a superb 147no. With Kuldeep Devatwal having a rare off day with the bat, it was left to Carl Starling making a reappearance in the first team to strike an entertaining 66 that enabled an impressive total for 298-5. For the Welshmen, Harry Aldridge took 3-41 and Jordan Baijnath plugged away for 15 overs 2-79. But with their recent batting frailties, a successful run chase always looked unlikely. With Tom Leslie (20), Griff Davies (20) and Ryan Davies (28) all making contributions, only Baijnath threatened to do some serious damage as he composed 72 in a team score of 162 as Callum Starling (3-49) and the Thornton Brothers, Luke 2-33 and Bradley wrapping up the game with 4-38, ensured another 24 points for Allscott.
Finally, we head to the Burway where Ludlow are starting to look over their shoulder as their opponents, Shrewsbury 2nds, did their own survival hopes a world of good. Batting first, the visitors were in trouble for 35-3 before Wilf Peers with 47 and a half century for Harry Cooke built a recovery, with Captain Rob Foster adding 21 to make a competitive total of 193ao. Home skipper Luke Miles led from the front with 5-57 while the ever reliable Joe Williams took 2-48 from 14 overs. Ludlow’s batting has relied heavily this season on Nathan Engelbrecht and the South African once again delivered with 63 at the top of the order. But with no one other than Joe Williams with 22no able to support him, Ludlow fell away to 147ao. Ryan Fernando with 4-36 and William Jenkins with 3-34 performed admirably for Shrewsbury as they took their third 24 point win in this format.
