Oswestry

OSWESTRY wrapped up their season in the Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League GWT Group One with a defeat away at Wem.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, opening pairing Josh Darley (21) and Alex Roberts (26) got the visitors off to a steady start, but the remaining batsmen, aside from Warrick Fynn (20) failed to make a big enough impact.

With a target set by Oswestry of 118 all out, Wem’s response began with Harry Astley patiently adding runs while wickets proceeded to fall around him.

Alex Davidson took three wickets for Oswestry but it was not enough as Wem reached the target after losing seven wickets.

Oswestry finish their season fifth in the table.

It was a disappointing afternoon for Oswestry seconds who suffered a seven wicket loss at home to Montgomery.

Jonathan Davies (54) and Nick Williams (44) performed well with the bat but Montgomery’s Andrew Barker (49) and Aaron Ruff-Cock (68no) helped the visitors to victory.

Oswestry face Ellesmere firsts away on Saturday.

Chirk

CHIRK cruised to a five wicket victory at home against Alberbury on Saturday.

Mike Crawshaw battled in vain for Alberbury as wickets fell cheaply around him with Jordan Zaza snared LBW by Andrew Swarbrick for nine before James Wynne caught by Shaun Walker off Luke Gardner for a duck.

Billy Swarbrick removed James Hearle (1) before Crawshaw was caught by Gardner for a top scoring 20 to leave the visitors just 45-4.

Lara Jones (8) and Ed Kneale (13) looked to revive the innings with a 23 run stand before both fell in quick succession as Mark Shaw (1-21) struck and Billy Swarbrick completed his 3-25.

Wickets continued to fall with Sam Morris (7) falling to Gardner (2-22) before Ieaun Griffiths (10) completed Andrew Swarbrick’s 2-22 to leave Alberbury on just 88-8.

Mark Jones (19no) was joined by Tom Haigh in offering tail end resistance to push Alberbury along before the latter was trapped LBW by Nick Flack for 13 to leave the visitors to defend 133-9.

Sam Morris (1-23) struck early in reply, bowling Walker for a duck before James Bird (1-27) topped Gareth Partridge for 20.

James Carter was joined by Flack in a 55 run third wicket stand before the latter was caught by Crawshaw off Kneale (1-19) for a top scoring 34.

Carter pushed his side along before his own departure, caught by Hearle off Haigh (1-19) for 25 to leave Chirk 92-4.

Tom King (31no) formed an unbroken sixth wicket stand with Andrew Swarbrick (9no) to guide Chirk to 137-5 and victory in the 22nd over.

Chirk remain second in the Shropshire County League John Rees Division One table take on Pontesbury in their final game of the season on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Chirk seconds suffered a three wicket defeat at Alberbury seconds.

Chirk sit fifth in the Shropshire County Border division table and travel to Cae Glas on Saturday.

Frankton

A STANDOUT batting display from Whitchurch proved to be a problem for Frankton in their season finale as they suffered a 73 run loss.

After deciding to bat first, Whitchurch top order Iftikhar Khan put on a stunning century scoring 106 off 99 balls, supported ably by Andy Jones who hit 67.

The duo did the bulk of the work for Whitchurch who finished on 231-5.

In reply, it was a strong start from Frankton openers Sam Todd (41) and Scott Hale (38) as the pair tried to launch a comeback.

But after both were dismissed, Frankton lost wickets in quick succession, and found themselves 112-6 shortly afterwards.

Archie Dickin provided some resistance with 15 runs, before Stuart Lammie was left on 20 not out at the end of the innings.

Frankton finish the season at the foot of the Shropshire County Cricket League Premier Division Mike Robinson Group.

Meanwhile, Frankton seconds lost by 143 runs to Whitchurch seconds and Frankton thirds beat Ellesmere thirds XI by 135 runs.

Ellesmere

IT WAS an entertaining afternoon for cricket fans in Ellesmere on Saturday as the hosts won a nail-biting contest against Shelton seconds by just three runs.

A match of fine margins saw Ellesmere put in to bat first and sent on their way by some patient batting by top order Jonathan Mitchell.

Mitchell (20) was dismissed with 28 runs on the board, before two wickets in quick succession saw Ellesmere on 36-3.

Ashley Thomas’ 18 was the next best contribution from the Ellesmere batsmen who posted a target of 106 all out.

It was the bowlers who took the plaudits for Ellesmere, with George Duncan taking four wickets during Shelton’s reply.

Duncan and Ashley Thomas took two wickets apiece early on to put Shelton on 14-4.

Consistent bowling continued and left Shelton all out with three runs fewer than required.

The Mere men are third in the Shropshire County Cricket League Shrewsbury and West Division Two and host Oswestry seconds on Saturday.

Cae Glas

CAE Glas followed up last week’s win at Fenns Bank with a magnificent home win against Calverhall at Gatacre.

Calverhall won the toss and elected to bat on what looked like an excellent batting track.

That proved to be the case as despite the early loss of Ian Millard, Ben Oakley and Andy Green put on 195 for the second wicket.

Oakley finished on 103 and Green 86, after both made cautious starts.

Nathan Bartram and Ruchira Nimantha kept things tight to start, with Nick Broadbent and Matt Coulson also bowling well for the hosts.

However excellent batting from Green and Oakley meant that the visitors posted a creditable 213 from their 40 overs for the loss of seven wickets.

Bartram was the pick of the Cae Glas bowlers taking 4-43 with Ruch Nimantha taking 2-29 in his spell.

In reply, Ben Hipkiss and Andy Griffiths made a solid start to post 67 for the first wicket scoring at five-an-over for the first 10 overs before Hipkiss fell for 41.

This brought Nimantha to the crease who carried on where he left off after his superb 82 at Fenns Bank the previous week with a well struck 92.

When he was bowled with seven runs still required, quickly followed by skipper Pete Bowyer, a shock recovery seemed possible, but Elliot Coulson and Bobby Phillips held their nerve to see Cae Glas home to a great victory.

Cae Glas remain bottom of the Shropshire County Cricket League North division and finish their season away at Whitchurch on Saturday.

Cae Glas seconds were also in action as they suffered defeat against Welshpool seconds.

After Cae Glas won the toss and asked Welshpool to bat, tight bowling and fielding kept Welshpool to a modest 60-1 at drinks.

But after that they accelerated with Matt Sherwood hitting 50, David Whitehouse (38), Ryan Preston (44) and Pieter Van Jaarsveld a hard hitting 39 not out to end on 209-5.

In reply Cae Glas struggled against the opening pairing of Harry Bowen (2-11) and Tom Bowen (2-6), but a good partnership between Gavin Porritt (30) including a huge six into the canal and Alex Carter (21) gave the score some respectability.

That was before Rupert Redway (4-10) mopped up the tail to end the innings on 96 all out.

Next week Cae Glas seconds host Chirk seconds in their last chance of victory this season.

Knockin & Kinnerley

KNOCKIN & Kinnerley fell to a two wicket defeat at Pontesbury on Saturday.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Knockin’s Andy Beckett got his side off to a good start as he fell just short of a half century with 46.

He was helped by George Lloyd (28), but the side lost Luke Beckett (2) and Paul Holyoake (0) early on.

Robert Ford’s 38 and Daniel Morris’ 32 pushed Knockin further towards their eventual total of 215-9.

It was set to be a difficult target for Pontesbury to reach, but Mark Lewis’ 62 and Allister Corfield’s 38 proved to be vital.

Some good bowling by Knockin saw Matthew Tunnadine take a hat-trick of wickets, but his good performance was not enough to stop the hosts from patiently reaching 219-7 to take the game by two wickets.

With one game remaining, Knockin remain bottom of the Shropshire County Cricket League John Rees Division One table, and host champions Newtown in their season finale on Saturday.

Things were even closer in the match between Knockin and Pontesbury seconds with the latter snatching a win by one wicket.

Regardless of the result, Knockin’s Ryan Darlington stole the show as he took seven Pontesbury wickets during the afternoon as he put on an excellent display of bowling.

Defeat for Knockin means they are third in the Shropshire County Cricket League Border table.

They will play Welshpool seconds away on Saturday.

Knockin’s third XI lost by 24 runs away to Frankton thirds on Sunday and they will host Oswestry third XI this Sunday.

And Knockin fourth XI lost by six wickets at home to Ellesmere thirds.