Shropshire Cricket League Division One

KNOCKIN and Kinnerley’s first XI took on local rivals Alberbury on Saturday and were rewarded with a big victory in the Shropshire Cricket League Division One.

Batting first after winning the toss, the Nursery Ground men were set for a huge total as Shaun Davis top-scored with 67, and Rhys Williams with 40 to give the hosts an excellent platform.

Opener Lawrence Hitchen also scored a fine 35 at the top of the innings, from 50 balls before he was caught by James Brid off A Holloway’s bowling.

The loss of Davis then saw a collapse, as the last eight wickets added just 38, but Knockin had scored a competitive 197 all out in the 45th over, with Myles Thomas the pick of the Alberbury bowlers, with 3-32 off his nine overs.

In reply, Knockin chipped away at the visitors batting line-up, and took steady wickets throughout the innings as Alberbury were dismissed for 151.

Sam Morris top scored with 44, while Lloyd Edwards took 4-38, and Deon Biggs took 2-21.

Knockin therefore took a big step towards survival with the 20 points, and take on Cound next week in another crucial game.

Knockin second XI made the long journey to Broseley on Saturday, and managed to drop nine catches as Broseley posted 224-7 off their 40 overs.

Aaron Templeman took 3-43 in his first appearance at this level.

In reply, the visitors were dismissed for 75, with only Dave Jones making double figures with 21.

Next week, Knockin take on Wem.

Knockin third XI entertained Madeley thirds, and were grateful to Mac Davies (30) and Jules Gallimore (56) as they posted a total of 184 from their 40 overs.

Despite two early wickets from Matt Tunnadine, Madeley reached their target with seven overs to spare. Alex Holland and Charlie Rudge both posted half centuries for the visitors.

Knockin fourths travelled to their Madeley counterparts, and were set a target of 192.

Jo Gittins took her first wicket of the season, but the Knockin team conceded an eye-watering 75 extras.

Opener Dave Smith rolled back the years with an unbeaten 85, and was supported by Gary Darlington who remained undefeated on 80, as Knockin won by six wickets.

Frankton remain firmly in the hunt for promotion to the Shropshire Premier Division after they dispatched Cound easily on Saturday.

Batting first, a fine Thomas Wilkie century inspired the Hardwick Park side to victory as they racked up a huge 312-5 from their 45 overs.

Wilkie scored a superb 152 as he and opener Brent Doubell shared a huge stand to set up the victory, before the latter was dismissed by Gabriel Williams for 75.

However, the two batters were largely responsible for the home side’s score as they put the second-to-bottom side’s attack to the sword, making hay while the sun shone.

Doubell’s fellow opener Jason Brookes was trapped lbw by Darren Moody for 18 while Sam Todd was caught by Tom Quraishi for 20 off the bowling of Iwan Morgan.

Quaraishi was also in the game when he caught Tom Cockayne off the bowling of Jack Case for two, with the bowler – who actually started the clash with the wicketkeeper’s gloves and pads on – also responsible for the dismissal of Jordan Parry when he bowled him for 19.

Cound used seven bowlers as they tried everything to stem the runs but Frankton were ruthless with the willow.

In reply, Frankton proved they had to be patient as Cound scored regular runs but Mark Lammie’s men picked up wickets at regular intervals.

Visiting skipper Case opened up and he was caught by Cockayne off James Wigley’s bowling for 17 while fellow opener Farrell Waters was caught behind by Y Pugh for six off Felix Jebb’s bowling.

Pabel Kumar Saha top-scored for 27 but Cound were bowled out for 146 to give Frankton the win.

Ellesmere are giving themselves hope of survival in the Shropshire Cricket League Division One after they beat fifth-placed Shrewsbury’s second XI at home on Saturday.

They are now just 12 points behind Cound and 23 behind Knockin who are third from bottom.

The visitors batted first after winning the toss and despite Ellesmere making an early breakthrough, Shrewsbury’s top order all contributed with scores, but none went on to post a half-century.

Jon Anders scored 41 and Adam Keen scored 42 but they were soon bowled out for 198 at the end of the 45 overs with three for Felix Ashley and two apiece for Scott Lawrenson and Sam Budd.

In reply, skipper Jonathan Mitchell’s 23 at the top of the order helped set the platform but the rest of the top order failed to fire, with just nine runs between three batsmen.

Graeme Cowey’s 27 helped pick up their recovery before he was trapped lbw by Tom Somerville.

But it was down to Laurence Ashley’s fine 51 to help take Ellesmere to victory and he was given able support from Felix Ashley who saw the Meresiders over the line with 31 not out as Ellesmere reached 201-9.

The second XI were beaten at Shifnal’s fourth XI by seven wickets.

Batting first after being inserted by their hosts, Ellesmere were skittled out for just 113 in the 35th over.

Aaron Clegg top-scored with 26 and opener and skipper Troy Newton with 19 as Ellesmere struggled to accumulate runs.

In reply, Newton, Matty Harrington and Bradley Chapman all took one wicket apiece but Shifnal reached 115-3 in the 27th over.

Shropshire Cricket League Division Two

Chirk’s promotion hopes were dented on Saturday when they suffered a three-wicket defeat by Sentinel’s second XI at Holyhead Road, leaving them 15 points behind leaders Wellington.

The surprise result came as Sentinel’s second string occupy a spot in the league’s lower mid-table and skipper Andrew Swarbrick will be concerned by the nature of his side’s defeat.

Batting first after winning the toss, skipper Swarbrick’s men looked to post a dominating total which would keep them on Wellington’s coat-tails, but it was not to be.

After a slow but solid start, Ollie Gough was the first man out after he was trapped lbw by David Ashlin for just three from 20 balls.

Fellow opener Shaun Walker followed immediately without Chirk adding to their total when he was caught behind by Connor Cheshire off the bowling of Marc Lovelock for 15, cracking two fours off 20 balls.

From there, Chirk rebuilt through Chris Martin and Nicholas Flack, reaching 42-3 before the latter was caught by David Burnside off the bowling of Peter Ezard for 16 from 22 balls with one four and two sixes.

Chirk were in a hurry when they needed to be patient and build a score and Flack’s dismissal sparked a mini-collapse as Chirk slumped to 47-6 from 42-3.

Andrew Swarbrick, so usually one to rely on for Chirk, was dismissed for a three-ball duck, caught by Marc Lovelock off Ezard’s bowling while next man out Luke Gardner was dismissed for one off just eight balls.

The number six batter was tempted out of his crease by Russell Morris only to be deceived and stumped by Cheshire while Martin was also caught behind by Cheshire to be Ezard’s third victim.

Mark Shaw and Billy Swarbrick started another revival for Chirk but the former was given out lbw with Russell Morris the bowler.

Billy Swarbrick was joined by Frank Macdonald-Brown and they both scored 24 before the former was caught by Ralph Bishop off Morris’ bowling with three fours and one six with a 100 per cent strike rate.

Macdonald-Brown’s 24 not out was a slower affair, taking 45 balls with just two fours and he was starting to run out of partners as Liam Walker was caught by the Bishop and Russell Morris combination for four off eight balls.

Last man standing Jonathan Phillips chipped in with a vital nine as he and Macdonald-Brown added 34 for the last wicket before Chirk were bowled out for just 121 in the 41st over.

The Sentinel bowling remained disciplined throughout, conceding just 12 extras.

Russell Morris was the pick of the bowling as he finished with 4-14 from nine overs.

In reply, Sentinel made a solid start before Bishop was bowled by Macdonald-Brown for nine but opener Philip Caudle and Owen Morris put on 44 for the second wicket before Caudle was stumped by Shaw off Gardner’s bowling for 18 from 48 balls.

Cheshire was quickly out when he was caught and bowled by Flack for one off four balls.

Chirk continued to chip away and take wickets with Owen Morris out for 32 from 55 balls, with scoring proving to be slow, taking 55 balls to accumulate his runs.

Gardner was the man responsible as Chirk still held out hope of claiming the win, with Flack and Macdonald-Brown adding wickets, but Ezard and Russell Morris saw them over the line with a three-wicket win.

Meanwhile, the second XI picked up a fine win against their counterparts at Welshpool in a low-scoring affair at Maes-Yr-Dre.

Batting first, Chirk were bowled out for just 84 in the 27th over.

Skipper and opener Ian Skinner was out for four but his fellow opener Dale Randall set the platform for the win when he scored a fine 40 before he was caught by Finlay Hunter off the bowling of William Gannon.

He was supported by Rhys Evans’s 21, with those two batters the only two to reach double figures.

In reply, home opener Dale Whitehouse made 23 but fine bowling from Connor Bailey’s 4-21 from seven overs and Mark Roberts’ 3-10 skittled Welshpool out for just 51 in the 28th over.

Shropshire Cricket League Division Four

Cae Glas looked to have turned the corner in their disappointing season with a much-improved batting performance as they entertained Trysull and Seisdon at Gatacre on Saturday.

Invited to bat, Ben Hipkiss and Ian Holgate got the home side off to a solid start as Cae Glas made a creditable 159-7 from their 45 overs.

Hipkiss top scored with 28, but Andy Griffiths (24), Gareth Edgerton (20) and Nigel Evans (28) all made good contributions in a much-improved batting performance.

For the visitors Mohammed Asim was the most successful bowler with 3-28 from his five overs.

In reply, early wickets from Gaz Edgerton and Ian Holgate showed promise from the home side, but a stand of 120 between Imram (56 not out) and Steve Cross (55), saw the visitors home with two overs to spare for the loss of four wickets.

Cae Glas were left to rue a couple of dropped catches which could have made all the difference. Pick of the bowling was Ian Holgate who bowled with great control taking 2-19 from his nine overs.

Meanwhile, the second XI were unable to fulfill their fixture at Iscoyd & Fenns Bank and conceding their clash, giving the home side 20 points.