Tom Collins is not underestimating Walmley
Shifnal, Bridgnorth and Wellington all head into this weekend’s Birmingham League Division One fixtures desperately needing points for various reasons.
Only 12 points separate leaders Moseley from Shifnal in second, whilst they themselves are being chased down by Tamworth in third.
With Bridgnorth one place and 10 points below Tamworth, they must win to keep on the tails of the Staffordshire side. Wellington, however, face a different battle as they stand only one point above the drop zone. Shifnal captain Tom Collins and his men have fared well since the introduction of the win-lose format, coming out victorious in four of their last five contests.
They host Walmley and, despite their lowly position of fourth bottom, Collins will not be underestimating them.
“They’ve got some good players, such as Aaron Thomason from Warwickshire, and their overseas player (Iandev Chauhan) who plays First Class in India,” he said.
“I’m sure they’re not too happy with where they are in the league, so they’ll be fighting to get the points.
“We only just beat Smethwick and we expect them to be up there, so we can’t take them lightly.”
As for Bridgnorth, they welcome Barnards Green to Cricket Meadow with the Worcestershire club lying four points adrift in fifth.
Skipper Sam Whitney sees comparisons between their last game, a resounding 10-wicket success over Walmley, and the one facing them tomorrow.
“It’s similar to last week, Walmley were one point behind us, so if we can get a win then it builds a gap between us and Barnards Green,” he said.
“We’ve won four out of last five and we’ve been brilliant, we’ve got on a roll so we need to keep that going”
Wellington, who have lost four of the last five, go to fifth-placed Smethwick.