Shropshire Premier Division

Wem underlined their credentials to defend their Shropshire Premier Division Crown when they thrashed last season's main rivals Quatt by nine wickets on Saturday.

Their hosts chose to set Wem a target and skipper Craig Jones must have soon regretted his decision when his side lost two wickets almost immediately as Ryan Whedon was trapped lbw by Ben Parry from four balls and Kishawn Richardson was caught behind Harry Chandler off the bowling of Danny Cohen, also for a duck.

Wem were ecstatic and their joy increased when James Ralph was caught by Oliver Cooper off Parry's bowling as the opener ripped through the Quatt top order.

It was soon 12-4 as Oliver Plank was another of Parry's victims but Scott Furber and and skipper Craig Jones put on 20 for the fifth wicket to take Quatt to 32-5.

However, Parry claimed the last of his four for the day to leave Quatt reeling.

Raj Biswa then entered the fray and the overseas professional cleaned up the tail with three quick wickets for just 12 runs from his six overs while Tom Astley claimed 1-20.

Parry finished with 4-21 for his efforts as all four Wem bowlers took wickets to dismiss Quatt for 80 at the end of the 32nd over.

In reply, Wem did not hang about to let any other factors interrupt their flow as openers Biswa and Chandler laid siege to the hosts' bowling attack.

Biswa was the only man out as he was bowled by Terry Hughes for 34 from 25 balls while Chandler finished 43 not out from 33 balls with two sixes.

Copper finished with a red inker alongside his wicket-keeper as Wem sealed a third straight win.

Meanwhile the second XI were left to rue what may have been as they fell two wickets short of a good win at home to Alberbury's second XI.

Batting first, an outstanding unbeaten century from Jack Davies set the platform for a solid Wem performance as he scored 104 not out to carry his bat through the Wem innings.

Marcus Bruce chipped in with a fine 44 with Alex Hughes grabbing both wickets for the visitors.

In the second half of the game in Wem, it was David Barnett's time to shine as he 4-42 despite Alberbury's solid start with number three James Herle scoring 44.

However, the visitors hung on for the draw – the third XI game was abandoned.

Shropshire Division One

Each of Ellesmere's three sides tasted defeat on the weekend in what has proved to be a difficult start to the season so far.

Ellesmere first XI remain bottom of the table as their search for their first victory of the season continues.

Thy travelled to take on Shrewsbury second XI in their fourth Shropshire County Cricket League Division One fixture of the season.

The hosts were inserted to bat as Ellesmere won the toss.

An excellent innings for the hosts set Ellesmere a target which they knew would be extremely difficult to reach.

Shrewsbury skipper Daniel Manders was caught out by Max Smith after just seven runs, while Will Baker caught out Jon Anders after he added 23 runs.

A respectable innings for James Hulton-Harrop added 22 to the score, but then up stepped Adam Keen who really stole the show at the London Road ground.

Keen hit beyond a century, managing 108 in an innings when he looked untouchable.

Alongside him was Bradley Thornton who racked up 85 runs of his own to put the home side in a very comfortable position.

The unstoppable partnership hit 193 runs without being caught out, declaring a score of 261-3 for Ellesmere to chase.

The visiting Ellesmere struggled to match the consistent batting excellence of their opposition, and had a tough time trying to chase the target.

Laurence Ashley was first up to the crease with Fraser Duncan, but both were dismissed after putting just five runs on the board, all courtesy of Duncan.

George Austin managed 14 runs, before Max Smith and Felix Ashley were both dismissed without making any runs.

An eight from skipper Graeme Cowey, before he was caught out by Mark Jenks, meant Ellesmere desperately needed some big scores from the tail-end of the batting lineup.

It was not to be however, with the final five batsmen scoring just 33 runs between them, making a total of 89 not out.

Ellesmere second XI were also beaten despite Lee Davis making 85 not out.

Shifnal fourth XI proved too much with scores of 47, 48 and 32 scattered across the batting order.

Ellesmere third XI were also beaten by Sentinel third XI in their fixture.

On Saturday, Ellesmere first XI will continue to search for their fist season win when they take on Pontesbury first XI.

Shropshire County Cricket League

Division Four

Calverhall followed up last week’s impressive display by collapsing to a crushing defeat at the hands of Bishops Castle in Division Four of the Shropshire County Cricket League.

After being inserted to bat on a damp wicket by their hosts, Calverhall made a calamitous start as a mix up between openers David Hares and Ben Oakley saw the latter ran out early on for nine.

Hares soon followed him back continuing his early season struggles with the bat, departing for just six, and Oliver Griffiths was dismissed for six.

It was not to be for last week’s centurion Kareem Yarde as he was out for just nine while Chris Rowe also came and went for just one run, as the innings never really got started.

Wickets continued to fall around Ian Millard (32) before a ninth-wicket stand between Millard and Will Charman, who finished with 10, as they attempted to raise the visitors towards a competitive score.

Calverhall were eventually all out in the last over for a disappointing 94, as A Lewis finished with figures of 3-15 while J Perry returned 3-36.

Calverhall needed early wickets to have any chance of upsetting the odds.

However they were denied by a dogged opening partnership between Lewis (27) and J Price (23).

Chris Rowe (2-21) eventually removed both to give a glimmer of a chance but Perry (20 not out) finished the match with a flurry of boundaries to hand the hosts a seven-wicket victory.

It was the second defeat in a week for Calverhall as the midweek XI also lost their 20-overs clash with Column, scoring 1260-8 from their 20 overs but lost by four wickets.

On Saturday, they are on the road again as they travel to Madeley's second XI.

Shropshire County Cricket League Division Four

Iscoyd's struggling start to the season continued as they came off second best in a draw with Cae Glas in Oswestry on Saturday.

Duncan Wright decided to give his hosts first use of the facilities and they set Iscoyd what has been a challenging score on the Gatacre track during recent years, finishing 110-8 from their 40 overs.

Iscoyd made a promising start as Wright removed opener Andy Griffiths for seven while Tom Lea did the same with Ian Holgate – both were bowled, while Lea removed home danger man George Candler for 24.

Ray Dale picked up his only wicket when he removed Ben Hipkiss for 10 before Lea added two further wickets later on.

However, it was Matthew Coulson's 48 not out that set the platform for Cae as the slow nature of the pitch took its toll on scoring.

Tom Wynne also took two wickets as Cae finished on 110-8.

In reply, the 10 men of Iscoyd made a solid start as both openers reached double figures but Gareth Edgerton soon struck to have both removed.

Wright was only able to make six runs before Gary Davies had him caught by Coulson, but Wynne's 18 and Gordon Bebbington's 16 were the only highlights of an innings that saw Iscoyd shut up shop to avoid defeat.

The second XI picked up 20 points at the John Faulkner Ground as their clash with Much Wenlock's second string was conceded by the visitors.

This weekend, they host Trysull & Seisdon CC at 1pm.

Prees

Prees suffered a third straight defeat as they were squeezed out in a thriller at Church Stretton on Saturday.

Batting first, the Rec Men were dismissed for 105 in just the 25th over on a damp pitch.

Stephen Williams could not keep up his good start to 2019 when he was dismissed for just eight, when he was caught by home skipper Peter Lee off the bowling of Keith Yapp, but still managed to score a boundary, showing his eye is still in.

James Hopley picked up some good form on Saturday as he raced to 29 with five fours before he was bowled by Saif Khalid.

Yapp then added Matthew Smith to his growing list of victims but John Groom showed he was not horsing around as he added 18.

Philip Richards finished 15 not out while Peter Richards, standing for Chris Ruscoe, was out for two as Lee hoovered up the tail.

Lee finished 36 as Stretton started well but once and was out, they just about got over the line with Yapp's 11 not out to win by one wicket in the 35th over.

On Saturday, they host Acton Reynald at the Rec (1pm).

Shropshire County Cricket League Division Seven

Coton Hall made it two wins on the bounce as they strode home past Quayside by eight wickets in a fine victory for lowly club.

Skipper Alex Cadman chose to bowl first and he was rewarded when Coton restricted their hosts to 131-9 from their 40 overs, with Dan Thomas's 3-7 the pick of the bowling, as Cadman grabbed two as the Coton bowlers chipped in.

In reply, Cadman proved why he is so highly-rated as he carried his bat for the victory, finishing a fine 57 not out as Coton Hall reached their target in 24 overs, with Thomas finishing 26 not out ion what proved to be a good day for Coton.

Cheshire Cricket League Division Four

Malpas returned to form in the Cheshire Cricket League Division Four after last week's humbling with a four-wicket win over Trafford Metrovics on Saturday.

Skipper Keith Rickett chose to field after winning the toss at Wrexham Road and he was rewarded by his bowlers' tight display when they bowled out their visitors for 107.

Callum Southall was the man of the moment at the top of the innings when he took all three wickets at the top of the innings, aided by catches from Rickett – who was behind the stumps – and Lewis Charlton.

Andy Harrison top scored for the visitors with 30 before he was caught and bowled by Ben Rogers will Mike Parry dismissed two batters who had made good starts.

Jordan Roberts came on to clean up the tail as Malpas finished the job in the 29th over.

In reply, parry's fine 31 at number four gave Malpas the platform for the win after a poor start, and he was supported by Tom Lyes's 20 and Charlton's 24 not out as the Wrexham Road side reached their target in 29 overs.

On Saturday, they travel to Saughall.