Ludlow ends 25-year wait for celebration
Ludlow ended a 25-year wait to celebrate Shropshire County League title glory.
The Burway boys just about got the job done on Saturday when they claimed the five points required to be crowned Premier Division champions.
However, having not met specific Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League (BDPCL) criteria, Ludlow will not go into the play-offs to compete for promotion.
Saturday’s final round of league matches saw Ludlow taste defeat away to third-placed Quatt, but they secured enough bonus points to lift the title.
Quatt were asked to bat first and were restricted to 218-8 from their 50 overs. Ben Miller top scored with 63 while Alex Biddle made 36. Joe Williams was the pick of the Ludlow attack with 3-44.
In reply, Jack Griffiths played the stand-out innings as the celebrations started within the Ludlow ranks. He ended unbeaten on 70 as Ludlow finished on 187-5 and a point ahead of Whitchurch in the final standings.
Whitchurch will instead go into the play-offs in confident mood having wrapped up their league campaign with a comfortable six-wicket success at Sentinel.
An impressive bowling display from Whitchurch restricted Sentinel to 155-9 from their 50 overs. Kashif Hussain led the way with the ball, picking up four wickets for 24 runs from nine overs. Ed Ashlin (40 not out) and Malcolm Serplet (35) were the main contributors with the bat.
Skipper Mubeen Rashid then guided Whitchurch to victory with an unbeaten 72.
Madeley signed off with a five-wicket win at Wellington.
Hosts Wellington batted first and were looking set to post a challenging total as Daniel Vaughan(51) and Dan Lloyd (33) took them to 127-1. But Madeley then rallied and dismissed the home side for 199, with Imesh Udayanga and Oli Davis both picking up three wickets. Madeley were reduced to 36-3 but Udayanga (55) and James Ralph (70 not out) saw Madeley over the line.
Shabbir Khan and Sam Davies teamed up to fire Newport to a resounding 153-run triumph at St Georges.
Ed Fowler (55) and Saqib Akbar (31) helped Newport post 198 before Khan and Davies took centre stage with the ball.
They skittled the hosts out for 45 with Khan picking up 6-18 and Davies 4-25. Newport had been 22-8 before number 10 Ben Byram hit 21 not out.
Allscott Heath may have finished in the bottom two but they signed off with a win.
Skipper Jack Case led by example with 91 at the top of the order as Heath were dismissed for 178 by Oswestry – Charlie Morris returned fine figures of 4-15 from 10 overs. Overseas star Te Shawn Zyun Alleyne then took 6-31 to help roll over Oswestry for 169. Opener Josh Darley made 55.
West Indian Shavon Brooks ended an impressive season with a man-of-the-match display for Shelton against Shifnal seconds.
Brooks took 3-32 as Shifnal fell for 147 – Johnathan Mountford top scoring with 47 – and then hit an unbeaten 54 as Shelton eased to an eight-wicket win inside 16 overs. Sam Griffiths made 41 off just 18 balls.
