The 1st XI hosted Tamworth CC in the first weekend of the new two-division Birmingham and District Premier League. This first league game was sponsored by Holborn Adam Solicitors.

Captain Ryan Tongue won the toss and chose to bat and he opened the batting with Andy Ford. This pair had put on 31 when Ford was trapped lbw by Josh Bowker for 12. Mahaz Ahmed came and went for 2 - bowled round his legs by Edward Smith. George Rhodes came in at 4 with the score 50-1in the 12th over. A further 30 runs were added before Tamworth took the key wicket of Tongue, caught behind by keeper Ben Maddox for 49, which included 8 fours. 80-3 became 85-5 with two quick wickets as Tamworth turned to spin. Rhodes fell lbw for 5 off Jason Jakeman and Rehaan Edavalath was bowled for 2 by Jacob Flower.

This brought together Phil Harris and Josh Blunt who had to show concentration with both Tamworth spinners bowling well. Harris had reached 20 including 4 fours when he was caught behind by Maddox off Flower. This brought debutant Taylor Pugh to the crease. Yet again a promising partnership was cut short when Blunt was bowled by the returning Josh Bowker for 14 – leaving the Green 130-7 in the 39th over. Pugh and his new partner Josh Dickenson played sensibly rotating the strike and keeping the scoreboard ticking over. With less than five overs remaining Pugh was run out trying to take a second run by a smart throw from David Fisher. Dan Bowker took the wickets of Josh Dickenson (6) and Ash Brewer (4) both clean bowled, leaving Job Dovey 1 no. The Green were bowled out for 162 in the final over.

Tamworth’s innings couldn’t have started any worse; as they slumped to 5 for 3. Jon Dovey began with a double wicket maiden, with Sam Kinson clean bowled for 1 and Stuart Burrows lbw without scoring. Phil Harris struck next, in the following over, trapping Jacob Flower lbw for 4. New batsmen were Scot Daly and Jason Jakeman and the latter began aggressively despite the match situation. Daly fell next lbw for 2 to Harris then Dovey grabbed the key wicket of Jakeman – caught behind by keeper Ash Brewer for 26 (including 5 fours). And Dovey’s fourth cam soon after as David Fisher departed lbw without scoring.

This left Tamworth 38-6 in the 12th over, with captain Ben Maddox and Josh Rudge at the crease. Josh Blunt replaced Harris and in his third over he trapped Rudge lbw for 8. In his 10th and final over Dovey got his just reward for a fine spell of bowling as he grabbed his fifth wicket – Maddox lbw for 13. Tamworth rallied with the bottom three all hitting boundaries, Josh and Dan Bowler put on 24 before the former holed out to Josh Blunt at mid-on off George Rhodes for 14. A further 30 was added by Dan Bowker and Edward Smith before Phil Harris returned to end the innings – clean bowling Bowker for 18, Smith remained not out 18 (including 2 sixes and 1 four). Tamworth were bowled out for 116 in the 31st over to give the Green a 46 run victory and 20 points.

Pershore CC v 2nd XI WCL Div. 3

The 2nd XI travelled to Pershore CC for their first WCL Div. 3 fixture and it was a confident batting display from the Green at The Bottoms against Pershore 2nd XI with most batters making a contribution. Tom Banks and Harvey Smedley opened the batting, and after hitting three boundaries it was Smedley who fell first caught for 12 off Holton. Banks was joined by Ollie Halion making his senior league debut. Wiffen took the next two wickets as Banks was bowled for 34 and Halion caught for 22. Wheeler came and went for 4 – clean bowled by Brown. The main runs came from Will Dovey and Ben Brommage but sadly both fell just shy of half centuries. Dovey was caught by Brown off Guthrie for 47 and Brommage was caught off Holton for 43. Further contributions came from Jack Mackintosh (run out for 15) and Callum Morris not out 29. The Green were 248 for 7 at the end of their 50 overs.

In reply Pershore never really got started – Jack Mackintosh and Ben Brommage tore through the top order with only Charlton surviving. Heywood (2) nicked one from Brommage to keeper George Blannin. Mackintosh then trapped Cartwright lbw for 2 and clean bowled Morton for 0 before Brommage bowled Brown for 7. Charlton and Hawes showed some resistance but that all changed with the introduction of Monzur Ahmed. He cleaned up 5 of the 6 remaining wickets beginning with Charlton holing out to Brommage for 19 and Hawes being caught and bowled for 20. Ollie Halion chipped in with a wicket – bowling Wiffen for 1 before Ahmed cleaned up the three remaining batsmen all without scoring. Pershore were bowled out the hosts for just 90 for the Green to claim the full 24 points.