2026 SCCL Premier Division Round Up Week 15
By Jamie Dowley
Cohen shows his mettle as Wem keep up the chase on Quatt
Shrewsbury 2nds are enjoying the WDL format and gave a very good account of themselves against Wem at London Rd before being edged out by 2 wickets. Batting first the hosts were looking good at 86-2 but Wems spinners, who had a rare off day last week, turned the contest around as they rattled through their overs bowling 40 in less than 2 hours. Ralph Davies is now up to 30 league wickets for the season and his 4-51, combined with Abhishek Reddy’s 4-68 pegged back the scoring somewhat, but with Rob Foster making 59, Wilf Peers 41 and 28 each from Will Jenkins and Fin Lo, Shrewsbury reached a handy 234ao with one ball to spare.
Wem's reply was a stuttering affair, they lost 3 early wickets and at 38-3 a lot would seem to depend on Abhishek Reddy . The Indian maestro received support from Steve Blenkinsop (28) but when Ryan Fernando had Reddy caught behind for 33 the score was 118-5 and Shrewsbury were in the driving seat. It was then over to Matty Cohen and Harry Astley to join forces, the pair put together a match winning 91 run partnership, Astley with 42 and Cohen with 62, taking the score to 209, and even a late flurry of wickets could not prevent Wem. It was left to Martyn Davies to finish the job, the veteran in unfamiliar territory at number 9 hitting the winning run.
A delighted captain Abhishek Reddy “I’m really pleased with the team effort, they are such a good group here at Wem, and everyone contributed and built in those crucial partnerships which won us the game. However I must give a special mention to Matty, he hung on when we were 5 down and played a top knock under pressure”
Leaders Quatt were untroubled by Madeley in a pretty one sided game at the QCG as they ran out 151 run winners. As always electing to bat first, overseas Nipun scored a seasons best 77 and with the ultra consistent Tom Whitney making 46, and Alex Biddle 35, that set it up for Todd Henderson to play one of his more attacking knocks with a fluent 54no as they totalled 285-5 off the full 50 overs. With Madeley perhaps holding back their better batters for the middle order, they found themselves 29-4, as Henderson steamed in for 3-35, but at least the visitors made the defeat respectable with Joseph Buttery scoring 44 quick runs and Salim Ahmed ending on 41no. Quatt skipper Jamie Lunn continued his fine season with 3-19 while Alex Biddle wrapped up the game with 2-0.
Jamie Lunn “We have to keep doing it ourselves and not worry about anyone else, it was good to get valuable time at the crease for the batters and all the bowlers had a good run out”
St Georges now have 7 straight wins in this format but they were made to work really hard for the win by a Ludlow side who can take tremendous heart from this performance. The Dragons made a solid start to get to 63-0 but Kate Brazier and Josh Bowen then joined forces to rip through the top and middle order to leave them 118-6. However with Ashish Ashish and Zab Safi in at a lowly 7 and 8 there was plenty of time for a recovery and they both showed willing with 56 and 44 respectively as St Georges reached the relative serenity of 235ao. For Ludlow, Bowen ended with 4-44, Brazier 3-96 from a mammoth 15 overs and Luke Miles in excellent form with 2-32. The run chase would have 59 overs at its disposal, something that Ludlow may not have wanted to utilise, but when Mike Green (47) and Nathan Engelbrecht (30) took the score to 101-1 all bets were off. Shah Fiaz then took charge and his 4-46 and Asish’s 3-39 together with Faisal Khan taking 2-28 meant that Ludlow were dismissed 2 balls into the extra overs (should they be optional?) for 200 with extras top scoring with 48.
Faisal Khan “we made a super start but then Kate (Brazier) bowled an amazing spell and we were in real trouble at 118-6. However our superstar pro and Zabi played class innings and got us a score on the board. Ludlow had a great partnership and at 101-1 we were up against it but Shah Fiaz had other ideas and changed the game and Ashish, Babar and myself all did well with the ball, we are ready for the finals day now and can’t wait”
Newtown’s woes continued with another heavy defeat this time at home to Shelton, who themselves have been on a sticky patch. Former captain Simon Jones is really running hot at present and here he bowled 15 overs unchanged and took 4-40. With Sam Griffiths also striking 4 times in taking 4-26, it was a struggle for the Welshmen and only Sam Cooke (26), John Anthony (23) and Nathan Smith (24) made meaningful contributions in a home total of 121ao. With the Shelton batting being inconsistent at best in recent weeks, the early loss of Will Savage and Dan Walker would have started the Collywobbles on the away benches at 2-2, but they had no need to reach for the Alka-Seltzer, as Pabel Saha with 25 and then an unbroken 77 run partnership between Saleh Ahmed (27no) who supported overseas pro Navindu Vithanage (61no), enabled Jack Morris side to return back over the border with a very useful 20 points and a 7 wicket victory.
Jack Morris “It’s a massive win for us as it's so congested in the bottom half. Simon bowled very well and Sam finished off the innings nicely. No it wasn’t a great start 2-2, but Nav batted superbly and calmed it all down with two good partnerships with Pabel and Saleh”
Next we go to Orleton Park where once again Whitchurch’s batting frailties were on show as they were inserted by hosts Wellington and dismissed for 124. With captain Mike Robinson out with the 2nd ball of the game, the pressure was on the visiting batting line up and despite a frenetic 43 from Raheel Khattak, the rest of the order wilted in the face of an outstanding bowling performance from Josh McDonald. The young all rounder has had to bide his time in the last couple of seasons, but once again took his opportunity with a career best 6-29, while Stephen Brooks on his first appearance in 2026 in the 1sts took 2-10. The home run chase was not without failings, Matt Simmonds fell first ball, but a 61 run partnership between Dan Vaughan and Jason Oakes (both 23) set them up and with Whitchurch conceding 37 extras in less than 24 overs, they could afford to still lose 5 wickets and cruise home with that man McDonald ending a fine personal match with 21no. Kash Hussain as ever plugged away for 2-46, while Shabbir Khan, brought on surprisingly late in the day, took 2-14.
Dan Vaughan “Josh has had to be patient so far this year as we have so many good bowlers with the likes of Laird, Ollie Smith and the Morris brothers, but he was outstanding at Wem last week and backed it up here again with a top spell. The pitch had a bit in it and he exploited it excellently”
Finally, it’s over to Albert Road where Allscott Heath maintained their run of winning form against a Sentinel side, who will once again feel this is a game they perhaps should have won. Batting first, Maz Hasnain and Kuldeep Devatwal both made it into the 20s but no further, being victims to Ozzie pro Nick Bateup. At 91-6 the visitors were in trouble, but Austin Rowley and Matthew Hutchings put together a crucial 73 run partnership although when the latter fell for 30 the innings quickly subsided with Rowley left stranded on 55no as Allscott were dismissed for 177. Bateup was the pick of the attack with 3-48 while Shane Gwilt and Matty Cliffe took a brace each. The Sentinel reply got off to a poor start with both openers back in the hutch for 0 before Craig Williams (28), Connor Cheshire (33) and Jacob Binnersley (22) rebuilt the innings somewhat, but with nobody able to go and play that major innings it was left to Kuldeep Devatwal to put in an inspired spell of 10.2-4-15 that sealed the win for Allscott. Earlier Callum Starling and Hutchings had taken 2 wickets apiece, but that’s 4 on the trot now for Allscott who are very much still in this title race.
Callum Starling “Great result for us as we dug deep with holidays affecting our availability today but all those who stepped up did a job. To win 4/4 again is very nice and those 24 pointers are always extra special. Austin played a superb knock although he ran 3 players out! KD was superb with he ball and big shout to Matt Hutch who was quality with bat and ball. We will keep going and aim to be at the right end of the table”
