2026 SCCL Premier Division Round Up Week 21
Madeley safe, Newtown have hope, Shrewsbury relegated….
While Wellington are on the brink of glory
By Jamie Dowley
The penultimate week of the season saw things become much clearer as a day of pure cricketing theatre played out with Play Cricket problems frustrating followers across the county.
*see end of report for a resume of where we stand heading into the final day.
Super Newtown team display sends Shrewsbury 2nds back to Division 1
We start at London Rd where a huge contest for survival between the bottom 2 went the way of the visitors who produced an excellent all round team performance. The stakes were high as Newtown batted first and Tom Leslie (44) and Rhys Jones (29) got them on their way before further scoring from Jordan Baijnath (30) and Ben Price (46) kept the scoreboard moving. But with Reuban Kundu (3-59) and George Jenkins (3-44), chipping away for Shrewsbury , at 185-8 with 8.3 overs remaining, the innings was drifting away for the Welshmen. That it didn’t was due to an outstanding 68 run partnership between Nathan Smith (55no) and captain David Anthony (23no), as they manoeuvred the score up to 253-8 off 50 overs. How crucial that partnership would turn out to be was only evident later, as despite losing captain Josh Anders first ball of the reply, Will Parton and Kieran Gill quickly put together a 64 run partnership in the powerplay. Gill departed for 32, but Will Jenkins then added 63 with Parton and at 127-2 inside 18 overs the hosts were flying. The Newtown spinners then put a squeeze on the scoring, and slowly wickets began to fall. Jenkins for 43, Parton for 48 and although a series of players after that got to double figures, no one could seize the game. Baijnath starred with 4-26, and Smith and Anthony carried on their great day with 2-35 and 2-37 respectively as the hosts stumbled to 212 ao. So a game that epitomised Shrewsbury season, one they probably should have won, but once again fell short in, to end their latest spell in the Premier Division.
Ludlow collapse hands Madeley survival
Well they have done it again. Written off pre-season by many, those escapologists Madeley have confirmed their Premier Division future after a crucial 5 wicket win at the Burway, a result that leaves Ludlow on the brink of ending the last remaining original membership of the top flight of Shropshire cricket. Batting first it was all going swimmingly for the hosts at 92-1, but when Luke Miles fell for 26, quickly followed by Sam Edwards for 51, the wheels came off in dramatic fashion as Madeley ripped through the rest of the order. Martin Boyle (3-17), and Bas Ahmad (3-10) were the chief operatives as Ludlow lost 9 wickets for 36 runs to be rolled over for 128. The visitors batted carefully in reply but a series of steady contributions, Alex Holland (34), Salim Ahmed (22), Imran Yousef (21), all pushed Madeley to their target with Oli Davis finishing the job with 22no for a 5 wicket win.
Champions Walk in the (Orleton) Park
Sentinel travelled down the A5 in the knowledge that they were already pretty safe after a recent upturn in results, and gave a reasonable account of themselves in a game that ultimately was one sided. Batting first the Engines had plenty of starts, but only Muhammad Zaheer who has had an excellent run of scores with 39, managed to get the scoreboard moving. Wickets fell regularly throughout and only 22 from Jonny Evans enabled a 2nd batting bonus point as they ended 151ao. Matt Simmonds is bowling well right now and he was pick of the attack with 3-31 while Oliver Smith (2-24) and Matthew Morris (2-22) backed him up. Any thought of a Wellington stutter in the chase was put to bed by captain Dan Vaughan (42) and overseas Avijay Maharaj (41) adding 77 for the first wicket, and then Jason Oakes (25no) and some clean hitting from Morgan Ward (35no) saw the champions home by 8 wickets with half the overs left.
Nipun and Biddle star as Quatt keep up pressure
A maiden league hundred for Sri Lankan pro Nipun Karunanayake, and a quality all round show by Alex Biddle were the stand out performances in a comfortable home win for Quatt against Shelton. The pro has improved as the season has gone on and his unbeaten century here will certainly give the home hierarchy food for thought before they decide on their pro for 2027. His 104no and a free flowing 83 from Biddle enabled a total of 254-5, as Simon Jones with 3-41 did his best to keep a lid on the scoring. The visitors needed something special to chase down that score, and a 104 run partnership between Greg Smith and Saleh Ahmed threatened just that. But when the latter fell for 54 and the former for 44, proceedings were swiftly wrapped up at 160ao with 17 overs left to bat, as Biddle (3-27), Jamie Lunn (3-25) and Gareth Jones (2-28) all performed admirably. This result changes very little, Quatt are still in the title hunt going into the last game, while Shelton's task is simple; beat Madeley at home next week and they are safe.
Dragons bulldoze Allscott to stay in the hunt
St Georges had too much in the locker for Allscott Heath as they ran out easy winners at Church Rd. Batting first the visitors made a decent start but ideally needed one of Maz Hasnain (28), Kuldeep Devatwal (25) or Luke Thornton (23) to go on but from 89-3 they subsided to 125 ao with the home bowlers all proving their worth. Ali Mustafa with 3-40 was expensive, but Shaf Fiaz 3-27, Babar Khan, 2-24 and the underrated Faisal Khan with 2-13 kept things under control as Allscott were nipped out for 125. Faisal carried on his good work by opening up in the absence of Mohammed Aqeeb and his 31 got things off to a controlled start, before Charitha Kumarasinghe (38no) and Amritpal Singh (36no) saw it home in very short order with 8 wickets and 30 overs remaining.
Wem rearguard proves crucial in tight contest
Finally there is no such thing as a dead rubber when North Shropshire heavyweights Wem and Whitchurch face off and the two sides produced a competitive game at Soulton Rd that went down to the final over. The hosts batted first minus Abhishek Reddy who flew home in the week (having made 1230 runs @ 102.3 average in league and cup ), and were in huge trouble at 101-7 with Shabbir Khan running riot in taking 4-22, to become the first man to 50 Premier League wickets this season, with only Sam Peate (25) making a decent contribution. The veteran legspinner was unplayable on a surface highly conducive to spin but when Matt Cohen joined forces with ex Whitchurch captain Dan Bowen, the pair were able to put on 66 for the 8th wicket. When Bowen departed for 34, Cohen was joined by Alex Ollerenshaw, the paceman showed he is also more than capable of useful tail end runs and his excellent 45no enabled Wem to total 240-8, a score that would have been unthinkable earlier, with Cohen unbeaten on 66.
With Mike Robinson having taken a break from captaincy, the armband has fallen to Iftikhar Khan and the pair came together to add 47 for the 2nd wicket before Robinson chopped on to Ralph Davies for 29. With the youngster combining with fellow off spinner Harry Astley to place a stranglehold on the away batting, the innings wasn’t going anywhere fast until Muhammad Fahim entered proceedings and the lefthander showed what he was capable of by dragging his side back into the contest. With Khan falling to Davies (2-35) for a fairly tepid 38, Fahim cut loose and with 7 overs left they needed 53. The combined experience of Bowen, Ollerenshaw and Tom Astley were enough however for Wem to close out the game, Fahim (74no) unable to farm the strike and a late Alex Heath cameo was in vain as Wem won by 10 runs for local bragging rights again for 2026.
So where do we all stand with 1 week of this fantastic 2026 Premier Division renewal. Remember, with Worfield relegation confirmed from the Birmingham League, it's definitely 2 down, and possibly 3.
Wellington: Beat relegated Shrewsbury at home and they are confirmed champions for the 3rd time in 4 seasons. Lose and they definitely finish 2nd
St Georges and Quatt, they play each other and the winners will finish 2nd if Wellington win, if Wellington lose then the winners will be champions.
Madeley : can travel to Shelton knowing they are safe for another year after a fine end to the campaign
Sentinel: It's been a struggle, but they are also finally safe.
Shelton: It's absolutely simple, beat Madeley at home and they are guaranteed premier division cricket for 2027. Lose and they are dependent on other results
Ludlow: Their nightmare run means they have to win at Sentinel and hope Shelton loses to guarantee survival, other than that they are 3rd bottom at best. Lose and they could even finish 2nd bottom if…..
Newtown can pick up a win over a Wem side they turned over at home in 2025. If the Welshmen lose then they are down.
While for Shrewsbury 2nds the game is up and they head back to Division 1 even if they win at Wellington
