The rest of the cricket round-up, starting with a bumper Bank Holiday for Wem...

Wem are perfectly-placed in their bid to retain their Shropshire Cricket League Premier Division title after they secured consecutive wins across the Bank Holiday weekend.

Same Peate's men have moved into second spot with wins over Sentinel and Newport on Saturday and Monday respectively, and are just seven points behind Worfield.

On Saturday, Wem were made to work hard for their victory at first when Sentinel won the toss and decided to have first go of the track.

Opener Malcolm Serplet posed the biggest threat of the day with a fine 91 at the top of the order but he was not given enough support around him.

While Serplet scored runs, Wem focused on the other end and pick up wickets at important intervals as Alex Ollerenshaw and Danny Cohen made the important breakthroughs.

Opener Ed Davies made 20 before was dismissed by Ollerenshaw with the score on 46, but Sentinel looked set for a big score when Serplet and Connor Cheshire put on 48 for the fourth wicket.

However Raj Biswa stepped up to take the all-important wicket of Serplet, who faced 133 balls for 14 fours, but only after he had put on 44 with George Cheshire.

Sentinel finished their 50 overs on 202-8 with Biswa finishing with figures of 4-52 from 14 overs, while Ollerenshaw took 2-34, Cohen 1-41 and Tom Astley with the run out.

In reply, Biswa proved to be the star turn once more but would have been disappointed to not see the job home with a century as he was dismissed for 92 from just 88 balls.

Harry Chandler was first man out on 36 as he was run out for 10 but Harry Astley gave important support with 30 before he was dismissed by Matty Cliffe, caught by home skipper Joe Yapp.

And it was left to Peate to see his side home with Tom Astley.

On Monday, they edged home past Newport, who were bowled out for 107, with three apiece for Biswa and Cohen, while Tom Astley's 44 secured the four-wicket win.

The second XI picked up a thumping 10-wicket win over Knockin & Kinnerley at home.

But it was the Josh Gough show as he returned figures of 7-35 as Knockin were all out for 108.

In reply, openers Jack Davies (51 not out) and Rhys Mellings (41 not out) guided Wem to a 10-wicket win.

Wem face Bomere Heath in a league and cup double header at home, with Saturday starting at 1pm and Sunday at 10.30am.

Shropshire Cricket League Division One

Ellesmere were humiliated in their home clash against Pontesbury in the Shropshire Cricket League Division One.

Tom Davies’s men were beaten by a mammoth 191 runs as they were bowled out for just 36 chasing 228 to win.

The visitors opted to bat first and 50s for Dan Walker and Patrick Cudmore, with 51 and 56, respectively, after solid starts from the top order, set the platform for Pontesbury to post 227-8 from their 45 overs.

Robbie Hartshorn finished with a red inker too as he posted a quickfire 30 not out but the star man for Ellesmere’s bowling was Ashley Thomas.

He finished with figures of 7-86 from 14 overs as he carried the home attack, with Davies getting the other visiting wickets.

Any thoughts of an Ellesmere win dissipated almost immediately as both openers were out for a duck and number three batsmen George Austin was out for one.

None of the home batters reached double figures, while the Pontesbury bowling was so tight that only five extras were conceded.

Will Baker’s nine was the highest score on a sorry day for the Mere men, with Pontesbury only using two bowlers as Stephen Wilson took 5-9 and Matt Ramsay 5-23.

On Saturday, the first XI make the trip to Alberbury while the second host Llanidloes, both at 1pm.

Shropshire Cricket League Division Four

Iscoyd & Fenns Bank are without a win in three after they came off worse in a high-scoring draw with Trysull & Seisdon on Saturday at the John Faulkner Ground.

The visitors decided to have first use of the track and set their hosts a challenging total of 218 for Iscoyd to chase after finishing 217-5 from their 45 overs.

The Trysull innings was anchored brilliantly by a fine 102 not out from number three Simon Cross.

He was ably supported by wicketkeeper batsman Burhan Bari who scored 50 before he was caught by Duncan Chaplin off the bowling of Tom Lea, who finished with 2-60. Skipper Duncan Wright grabbed 3-61 in a day of struggles for the Iscoyd attack.

In reply, Iscoyd made a solid start as openers Chaplin and Ryan Jones put on 54 for the opening wicket before Chaplin was bowled by Nathan Williams for 27.

He was followed shortly after by Jones for 18 and Wright for three, bringing Tom Wynne and Lea to the crease.

The pair then put on a fine stand of 112 for the fourth wicket, but amazingly, Wynne contributed just 17 as Lea pulled out the big guns.

His counter-attacking 86 contained just 12 ‘ran’ runs as he sent the ball over the rope seven times, added to eight fours in a fine display of big hitting.

However, Lea went for one big hit too many and was caught by Andree Kirby off the bowling of Usman Bari, sparking a mini collapse as Iscoyd lost five wickets for six runs, but they clung on for the draw at 205-9 at the end of their 45 overs.

On Saturday, the first XI travel to Wheaton Aston while the second XI face Allscott Heath seconds.

Prees’s early-season struggles in the Shropshire Cricket League Division Four on Saturday when they lost at home to Acton Reynald.

The visitors decided to chase a target down by inserting their hosts and that decision was rewarded when the 10 men of Prees were bowled out for just 76 in the 28th over. Owen Silvester scoring 20 and ‘last man’ Andrew Reeves making 15 as top scorers.

The Rec Men struggled to put runs on the board, helped in no small way to their total by wayward bowling from Acton who conceded 27 extras.

John Cotton and Johnathan Evans grabbed four apiece for Acton.

A fine from 35 at the top of order from Paul Evans was enough to keep Prees at arm’s length in the Acton Reynald reply, despite Stephen Williams’s early breakthrough, and a flurry of late wickets.

On Saturday, Prees will travel to Bishops Castle.

Calverhall sit in mid-table of the Shropshire Cricket League Division Four after they were beaten comfortably by Madeley’s second XI on Saturday.

The hosts batted first and despite an early breakthrough from Oliver Griffiths at 7-1, a 60 from number three bat Chris Hodson was enough to keep Madeley ticking over as they reached 137-6.

But with Kareem Yarde taking two wickets and skipper Akeel Ahmed one in the middle order – dismissing Lee Standell for five, Alex Holland for 13 and Callum Hodson for a duck – Calverhall would have felt they were still in the game.

But an explosive seventh-wicket partnership of 94 from Ben James (56 not out) and Matthew Stuart, who finished 44 not out, took the game away from Calverhall and allowed Madeley to finish on 231-6 from their 45 overs.

James took just 51 balls for his score while Stuart fell short of his half-century, while Mark Rowe and Alex Parker were the other Calverhall wicket takers.

In reply, Calverhall made a solid start as opener Yarde and number three Andy Green guided Calverhall to 63-1 before Green was dismissed for 22.

His wicket sparked a middle-order collapse as four batters went for single-figure scores and when Yarde went for 37 from 53 balls including three fours to reduce Calverhall to 73-5, all seemed lost.

However, Ahmed’s 18 from 40 balls offered some resistance to Madeley and along with Parker’s 34 gave them some hope of potentially securing a losing draw instead of a defeat.

But both men were ‘Hodson’d’; Ahmed to Chris, and Parker to Callum – and it meant that Calverhall’s 10 men were eventually bowled out for 147.

On Saturday, they make the trip to Chelmarsh for a 1pm start, with a midweek friendly against Iscoyd tonight (Wednesday).

In the Shropshire County Cricket League Division Seven, Coton Hall sat out this weekend but will return to action on Saturday when they make the trip to Forton for a 1pm start.

Alex Cadman’s men have made a solid start to 2019, sitting in second spot, and will be looking to keep up their good form when they make the trip to outside Newport on Saturday.

Cheshire Cricket League Division Four

Malpas are finding the step up to the Cheshire Cricket League Division Four tough going as they were beaten comfortably by early-season leaders Saughall.

The hosts decided to have first use of the facilities and they made hay while the sun shone with opening pair James Huxley and Martin Huxley putting on 155 for the first wicket.

James was first out when he was trapped lbw by Tom Lyes for 66 before Martin followed him four runs later when he was dismissed by Callum Southall for 75.

Southall and Lyes added another wicket apiece as Saughall finished 198-4 from their 45 overs leaving Malpas with it all to do when they came out to bat.

Malpas used seven bowlers in their quest to bowl out Saughall with Lyes’s 2-23 the pick of the action.

In reply, skipper Keith Rickett showed a small spark of a return to form at the top of the innings when he scored 25 but once he and fellow opener Mike Parry (15) were out, as well as number Mark Jones with 18, the Malpas resistance crumbled and they were bowled out for 76.

Tony Roberts, with 5-21, did the damage in the middle and lower order with Malpas only picking up two points for their efforts.

On Saturday, Malpas return to Wrexham Road to host Winsford, who are just one spot above them in the division.

The Wrexham Road side are second from bottom.