2026 SCCL Challenge 100 Finals Day Preview
By League Secretary, Matt Porter
The Challenge 100 (Formally the Junior Slam) is now in its 11th year, however this is the first year where we have limited it to 1st XIs from Divisions 2 to 4, meaning that the competitiveness is greater than it ever has been. This year has provided some excellent KO quick format cricket, and it now culminates in finals day at Shifnal CC from 10.30am on Sunday 16/08/26.
The first semi-final is set to begin at 10:30 am, where Chirk CC will be playing Wheaton Aston CC.
The second semi-final is planned for around 1:30 pm, featuring Llanidloes CC against Condover CC.
In this article, I will examine each club, evaluating their form, key players, and potential threats as we approach finals day.
Chirk CC
Chrik CC currently sit 5th in SCCL Division 2, making them the 2nd highest place team of our finals day. As with all SCCL KO cups, the initial rounds are regionalised, Chirk CC were drawn in the “North” group (Iscoyd, Ellesmere and Wroxeter) where in Round 1 (last 16) they were up against fellow Division 2 side, Wroxeter and Uppington CC. Home advantage was clearly helpful here, as Chirk batted first scoring 150/4 from their 100 balls, key contributions from Shaun Walker (61) and Andrew Swarbrick (59). The Wroxeter chase never really got close with them finishing on 121/9 to give Chirk the victory.
In the ¼ finals stage, they travelled to Ellesmere (who had beaten Iscoyd), they batted first and scored 128/7 courtesy of 26 from Andrew Swarbrick and 25 from Daniel Graham. With the ball, they bowled Ellesmere out for 97 in 95 balls, with Harry Lunt taking 3/24 and former Overton on Dee player, Matt Lawrenson taking 2/4 from 10 balls to book their spot at finals day.
I have spoken to 1st XI Captain, Liam Walker who reported, “we are looking strong for Sunday, and should be at full strength. We have named a travelling squad of 12 to offer us more flexibility on the day, best of all we are not missing any players through injury or availability.”
So what do you think are your chances? “We have a settled side that have played a lot of cricket together, and we have experience of Division 1 cricket. I feel this experience will be key to us lifting the trophy.”
Who is your danger player? “Gareth Partridge our opening batsman can be a right handful on his day.”
Who is your consistent player? “Andrew Swarbrick has been so good upon his return this year, he is our consistent performer with both the bat and ball”. The stats do not lie, with Andrew in the top 10 batters for the club, and currently 6th in the bowling stats for Division 2.
Porter’s prediction
They have a tough task against Wheaton Aston, the Staffs based team are currently ahead in the divisional table and have some great cricketers, however, I think Chirk with Nick Flack, Andrew Swarbrick and skipper Liam Walker will just edge them and will make the final.
Wheaton Aston CC
Unlike any other team on finals day, they have one trump card, they were our first ever Challenge champions, having won it in 2015!
This team is a great mix of experience and youth and have some established and promising cricketers in their ranks. They are our highest placed team on finals day, currently sitting 4th in Division 2. They may even argue that they have had the hardest route to finals day as they were placed in the Telford and East group where there were more entrants than any other regional group.
In the last 16 stage, they were drawn at home to 2025 champions, Forton CC, where it was a bit of a turgid and attritional match for both teams. The champions batted first and scored 95/8 with Oliver Meredith making 31* from 35, for Wheaton Aston the first 4 bowlers all shared 2 wickets a piece. The chase was a steady one, but Andy Nichol put his hand up and answered the call where he scored 42* from 34 to get his side over the line with 5 balls and 3 wickets to spare.
In the ¼ finals they faced off against division 3 side Albrighton (who had already defeated Willey CC and Harpers CC), where they opted to bat first. The standout performer was Joe Marson, who scored an unbeaten half century to help anchor the innings and set Albrighton 146 to win. With the ball the Marson brothers (Ben and Joe), alongside Josh Capper were the stars and managed to restrict Albrighton to 114/6 and book their spot at Finals day.
Wheaton Aston Captain, Nathan Whittingham told me “This is my 21st season as captain and I am delighted to make another Finals day, I hope to go one better as we head into our 2nd finals day in 3 seasons. Hopefully we can recreate the success of 2015.”
How is your team looking? “We are at full strength for the clash against Chirk, and the team an I are really excited to face them once more. Fingers crossed our league fixture with Wroxeter on Sunday does not give us any last minute injury changes.”
Who is going to be your danger man? “We have quite a potent bowling attack, but our standout performer has been Josh Capper, where he is currently leading the bowling stats for the team”
Who is your proven performer? “Joe Marson, our leading run scorer, is in excellent form, especially now he has scored 2 x centuries in the last 2 league games. Hopefully he can recreate this and help us set/chase well on the day.”
Porter’s Prediction
I have already stated that I think the Welsh team will defeat the Staffs team, however, I think it will be really close. Both these teams ply their trade in Division 2 so face strong opposition every week. The Marson brothers are key, and I think there is still life in the old dog of skipper Whittingham! We know that Nathan has done it for his team, year in and year out. Can Wheaton Aston upset my prediction?
Llanidloes CC
The Mid Welsh team were unsurprisingly put in the “Welsh” regional group consisting of Alberbury (Div 2), Welshpool (Div 3) and Guilsfield (Div 3) and it is the Division 4 side that has prevailed to make it to Finals Day. Several years ago the club was in a sorry state where they got rid of their 2nd XI and their 1st XI were in the lower echelons of the SCCL structure. However, a huge rebuilding effort has been implemented and the club is really back on the up. As previously mentioned, their 1st XI now play in Division 4 and are currently in 2nd place, just 1 point off divisional leaders, Newtown CC 2nd XI. In addition the reformation of their 2nd XI has meant that new cricketers can work their way through the club structure.
In the last 16, they were drawn at home to Welshpool CC where Llani batted first, the mainstay of the innings was Adrian Foulkes 48* and Andrew Jones 30 who both helped their side to score 137/5. Clearly Adrian and Andrew were having a great day, as they were the main men with the ball, Foulkes taking 3/33 and Jones 3/16, to restrict Welshpool to 120/9 from their 100 balls.
Once again they were drawn at home in the ¼ finals, where they were up against Alberbury CC. They may have regretted their decision to bowl first, especially when Alberbury veteran Mark Jones hit 49*, with support from Kurt Finnegan 36 to score a solid 147/6 from 100. However, Llani and in particular Eoghan Jones, were not intimidated with the bat, as the opener hit an impressive 103* from 51, in combination with fellow opener Will Denham 41* from 34 to get Llani comfortably over the line by 10 wickets and head to finals day.
I spoke with skipper Dan Lewis, he stated “The team is looking OK for Sunday and we have plenty of players available for selection Thankfully we have Josh Hugo returning from injury, he was great against Alberbury taking 3/38. We are all really looking forward to the day.”
Are any key players missing “Sadly yes, Harry Turner is missing and I feel that will be a bit of a loss.”
Who is your danger man? “Rob Jones is in great form at the moment coming off the back of a 100 from last weekend’s game”
Who is your consistent performer? “We seem to have lots of lads stepping up and doing a great job, but the standouts are James Denham with the ball, and of course Eoghan Jones with the bat.”
Porter’s Prediction
Llani are definitely the underdogs at Finals day, but that may work in their favour as they can play with complete freedom. As Dan mentioned, Eoghan Jones will be one of the key performers on the day if they’re to overcome Condover. I suspect that the current momentum behind Condover will be hard to stop and I struggle to see them making the final, however, they may well prove me wrong!
Condover CC
Like their opponents Llani, this team is really on the ascension through the SCCL, having gained promotion from Division 4 in 2025 and now they are currently top of Division 3 by 19 points. Niall Salisbury has been the skipper for those promotion years and his experience in the Premier Division with Sentinel is really helping to build something special. In addition their 2nd XI is really starting to fire on all cylinders and are ably supporting the 1st XI.
They were drawn in the central section and faced Division 4 side Church Stretton CC at home in the last 16. This match was pretty 1 sided, with Condover bowling first and containing Stretton to 81/7 from their 100 balls with Sam Rogers the pick of the bowlers getting 2/8 from 20. The run chase was simple as they chased the score in 47 balls, and with 9 wickets to spare. Keeper Jordan Barker was the main man with 30, supported with Andrew Mottam 24* and Ewan Elliott 21*.
With the odds firmly stacked against them In the ¼ final stage they hosted the current Division 2 leaders, Frankwell CC. However, they defied these odds and won by 9 wickets! Condover once again bowled first and there were 2 wickets apiece for James Bradshaw, Niall Salisbury and Oliver Upton to restrict Frankwell to 109/8 from their 100 balls. It was rinse and repeat with the chase, the loss of 1 wicket and 11 runs acquired in quick time (66 balls), courtesy of 52* from Charlie Rogers and 45* from Ben Brooks.
I caught up with Niall recently and I asked him about finals day. “The team for finals day is looking really strong and I have good selection options. We are a team that have played together for 3 years now and we have played alot of short over format in the SDECL. This has been very advantageous for us in this KO.”
Are you missing any players? “Thankfully not, and I have got Charlie Rogers back for the day, he has been out for 4 weeks owing to a bad back, but now is bowling again at full strength.”
Who is your danger man? “Jordan Barker, if he gets going for 30+ balls, it could be a very difficult day for the opposition bowlers.”
Who is your consistent player? “His brother Robbie Barker is always impactful with the ball, and contributes very useful runs. However, his fielding makes such a difference and will save us 20+ runs.”
Porter’s Prediction
Having seen this team in action at Wellington this year as a spectator, they look like a great team that are arguably too low in the current SCCL structure and should test Division 2 teams if they go up this season (looking very likely). With this in mind, I think they will be tested by Llanidloes, but ultimately they will overcome them to make the final. The question is who are they going to play, I have gone with Chirk, but whoever it is will have a hard challenge against Condover
Summary
Once again it has been great to have the Challenge 100, and it is even more competitive now that we have only included teams from Division 2 to 4. My fellow SCCL committee Member Jamie Dowley always states that he thinks that Divison 2 is our most competitive division and I think we will see this on the day with Chirk and Wheaton Aston, as well as division 2 elect contenders, Condover in the mix.
I have managed to successfully predict the Premier and Village 100 winners this year, but I am not so sure with the Challenge. I have already said, for me it is going to be a Chirk vs Condover Final, and I think the winner on the day will be the Welsh contingent.
Good luck to all, if you can get along to Shifnal, please come and support the event and the clubs.,
