Hewell beat MBS Newland by 10 wickets

MBS elected to bat on their first visit to Hewell.

They struggled to come to terms with a patch still a little damp from the mid-week rain. Billy Gill, five wickets, Mark Allcock, three, and Nigel Boswell, two, dismissed the team that were lying second in the league.

Any doubts about the pitch were allayed by Hewell's openers, Ian Williams, 39no, and Neil Sutton, 34no, who had little difficulty in guiding their team to an emphatic 10-wicket victory, leaving Hewell in a comfortable mid-table position.

Alcester & Ragley 1sts lost to Shipston-on-Stour by 68 runs

IN a rain-affected game against Shipston, one of the league's stronger sides, Alcester were never overwhelmed but again finished second!

Shipston won the toss and batted. Accurate bowling from Stuart Prince and Andy Newton kept them down to 13 runs off the first 10 overs, but aggressive batting by Walker, supported by Murphy, took the score rapidly from 72-2 to 171-2 before Walker was brilliantly run out by Stuart Prince for 90.

Thereafter wickets fell and Shipston finished on 223-7 off 45 overs.

Because of rain stoppages, Alcester's target was reduced to 204 off 41 overs.

Despite a 50 from Shaun Quirke and middle order batting resistance, they never overcame losing three top batsmen in the first six overs and were all out for 155. Walker, along with Bentham and Murphy, were Shipston's bowling stars.

Broadway beat

Alcester & Ragley 2nds by 53 runs

ALCESTER won the toss and put the home team into bat on a difficult wicket.

They batted cautiously and were 57 without loss after 20 overs. Alcester then began to take wickets, principally through John King, 4-60, and at the 40-over stage Broadway were 152-7. A late flurry from the tail-end batsmen pushed the total to 196.

In reply, Alcester made a disastrous start, with the top three batsmen all dismissed without scoring. The one bright spot in the innings was a fine 43 from S Vadgama. Despite this, Alcester were eventually dismissed for 143.

STUDLEY lost to Kings Heath by 146 runs.

Poor performances with the bat and ball cost Studley as they crashed to a heavy defeat at Washford Fields.

A solid opening stand by Kings Heath's G Shepherd, 38, and Lloyd, 67, was followed by an impressive knock of 107no from S Shepherd, who severely punished the Studley attack.

Heath went on to score 255 for 5, Brandon Miller and Mark Lewis taking two wickets apiece.

In reply, Studley never recovered from the early loss of Adey Smith, Stuart Harris and Miller all for single figures as the side tumbled to 109ao, Williams top scoring with 23.

Feckenham 1sts lost to Brockhampton 1sts

by 4 wickets

FECKENHAM were asked to bat first in showery conditions and openers Rhian Bray and Andy Kings got off to a good start putting on 54 for the first wicket. Rain interruptions stopped the flow of the game and Bray was stumped for a fine 54 immediately after a break. With the game reduced to 44 overs, Feckenham ended their overs with the score at 144.

Brockhampton's openers put together a match winning century opening partnership, but with overs running out wickets began to fall. Feckenham grabbed six wickets before the visitors reached their target with two overs to spare.

Brockhampton 2nds beat Feckenham 2nds

by 7 wickets

IT was a similar story at Brockhampton, where the 2nds were restricted to 142 despite a brisk knock from keeper Nick Reddish who scored 45.

Brockhampton's opener won the match with a fine score of 103no as the home team lost only three wickets in reaching their target.

Worcester Nomads beat Feckenham 3rds

by 8 wickets

WORCESTER won the toss and put the visitors into bat on a green wicket. Their seam bowlers took full advantage of the conditions to dismiss Feckenham for 89 with Simon Dunn top-scoring with 28.

Two quick wickets by Saghir and Haines had Worcester reeling at 8-2 but then Carr with 35 and James, 33, steered their side to a comfortable victory.

ASTWOOD BANK 1st beat Tenbury Wells 1sts

by 7 wickets

Tenbury won the toss and elected to bat on a good dry wicket. The visitors made a steady start and the Bank bowlers struggled.

Sam Churchley was then bought into the attack and soon had the Tenbury batsmen in trouble, taking the first six wickets with his brisk seamers. Steve Clarke returned to the attack and with 3-7 he finished off the Tenbury innings for 115ao.

The Bank reply got off to a good start with another fine performance from the openers, with Summers, 38, and Clayton, 18, putting on 50 for the first wicket. Clarke continued his good all round form with 31, taking the score to 116-3 for Bank to be worthy winners.

Tenbury 2nds beat Astwood Bank 2nds

by 4 wickets

ASTWOOD Bank were put into bat on a green track that favoured the early bowling.

Home skipper Reynolds made a good start, accounting for Jessup and Douglas before Jagielski, 67, and Adams, 36, swung the initiative in Bank's favour. Unfortunately, the lower middle order collapsed in the face of tight bowling from Yeamons with 6-42. A quick wag of the tail from young prospect Chris Parsons saw Bank to 164ao.

In the field, Astwood Bank again let themselves down as extras top-scored helping Tenbury cruise to victory. Changes will need to be made if this trend is to be reversed in the second half of the season.

Among the bowlers, Douglas deserves mention, toiling for 14 overs from the Discotheque end, taking a hard-earned 2-45 to the sound of the Venga Boys!

Next Saturday sees the 2nds take a break from league fixtures with all bowlers encouraged to practise wide-free deliveries at the home ground nets.

Winning draw for Redditch 1sts over Droitwich 1sts

REDDITCH, put into bat, were given an excellent start by Chris Gibson, 43, and Dan Protherough, 46, putting on 92 for the first wicket.

The innings impetus was carried on by Marcus Busfield, 55 and Luke Wells, 29, adding 72 for the third wicket, leaving Redditch to total 216-6 off their 50 overs.

Droitwich, in reply, lost an early wicket to Guy Muspratt but with 16 overs remaining needed 95 to win with seven wickets in hand and looked set for victory. But John Lostitch turned the match, taking 3-27 off nine overs, leaving Droitwich at 179-6 off their 50 overs.

Winning draw for Redditch 2nds over Droitwich 2nds

REDDITCH, put into bat, lost an early wicket but Luke Davis, 42, and Spencer Cox, 25, anchored the innings, adding 68 for the 2nd wicket and with Geoff Eley 53 in a positive mood plus Chris Taylor, 24, and Richard Young, 17, Redditch posted 215-8 off their 50 overs.

In reply Droitwich lost two quick wickets to Richard Young and Robin Biddle, but solid batting saw Droitwich to a challenging position, until Fiaz, 2-22 from 14 overs took the game away from Droitwich who finished at 146-6 to draw the match.

Redditch 3rds beat Stratford 3rds by 77 runs

BATTING first on a lively wicket, Gary Horwood, 45 in a watchful innings, held the batting together, then Paul Morris, 22, Nick Hadley, 30, and Steve Rose with 10 enabled Redditch to total 151-9.

Stratford were always struggling once Matt James 2-17 and Axel 2-17 got amongst the wickets. Then the guile of Paul Lees 5-12 and Dan Young 1-3 saw Redditch to an easy 77 run victory.

Lapworth 1sts beat Wythall 1sts

Wythall could not repeat the victories of last week, when they faced a strong Lapworth side. Lapworth, batting first, managed a total of 211 - 8 with quality bowling coming from Marriot 4-40 and Priest 2-40.

In reply, Wythall never looked like reaching the total, but looked to play for a draw, only to lose their final wicket with four overs to go, finishing on 109ao.

A victory is essential this week against Wolvey, who are struggling in the league.

Wythall 2nds lost to Lapworth 2nds

Wythall were put into bat against Lapworth, making 174 - 9 off 50 overs(Nicholls 44).

In reply, Lapworth made steady progress, but in a fairly tight finish thanks to some good fielding by Wythall, managed to reach the total with four overs and seven wickets to spare.

Wythall oudoor nets are every Tuesday night 6.30 - 8.30pm at Woodrush school.