Moving forward

The Stourbridge Road outfit showed plenty of improvement against their visitors and could have won if it were not for a rain break .

Bowling first the hosts dismissed Knowle and Dorridge for 193 with overseas star TP Singh the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-39.

In reply the hosts finished 30 runs short of victory on 164-7.

Wright said: "This performance was a step in the right direction and will give us confidence."

This Saturday Himley will travel to champions Walsall (1pm start) with the skipper hoping to have Worcestershire fast bowler Chris Whelan available.

Last Sunday they made it through to the next round of the Staffs Cup without bowling a ball after Penn conceded the fixture.

This Sunday, Wright will take his side to Leamington in the National Knockout.

Stourbridge firsts retained their top spot in Division One of the Worcester Crusader League by beating Netherton by 65 runs.

Put into bat, the hosts reached 217 in the 50 overs. Richard Bradley scored 93 and put on a 117 partnership with James Musk (47) in 25 overs.

Nigel Davonport starred with the ball for the visitors after picking up a five-wicket haul.

Stourbridge bowled well enough to keep Netherton under pressure led by Keith Jones, the newly appointed first team skipper.

Overseas star Hanssar Nadeem captured four wickets and Oli Hill, back in the side after a three-match suspension, worked hard for his three wickets.

The seconds were away to Colwall.

Put into bat ,Stourbridge posted a good score of 216.

Young Sam Manton scored 56 and was well-supported by Ryan Willetts (28), Mikesh Patel (30) and Shabir Butt (28).

The Stourbridge side lacked bowling depth and were no match for the hosts batsman who reached their target with five wickets in hand.

The thirds faired no better against Amblecote and Wollescote as the home side romped home to a victory after scoring 243.

16-year-old spinner, Gareth Edwards did have a day to remember, however, after bagging eight wickets.

Stourbridge were bowled out for 96 runs in just 23 over.

The fourths were also beaten by Amblecote and Wollescote.

Hagley slipped to defeat at home to Cookley on Saturday in Division Three. Once again the Hagley batting line-up failed to fire, with the only resistance coming from Ian Moss (46) who helped Hagley up to 141-8 from 50 overs. Cookley gave a couple of early chances but Hagley failed to cling on and despite the odd wicket, The visitors eased to a six-wicket victory.

Captain Joe Lennon said: "This was a poor day for us, we never turned up.

"Again our batting failed but most disappointing was that our bowling and fielding also dropped."

Hagley travel to Cutnall Green next week hoping to get the season back on track. However, they face Neil Fletcher who scored 320 runs at Hagley in two innings last year.

The seconds travelled to Bromyard and picked up a respectable winning draw to leave them fifth in Division Two. Hagley batted first and the returning Rob Lightfoot hit a steady 62 to give Hagley early momentum which was continued by Steve Treadwell who hit 71 off 50 balls. The rest of the Hagley line-up chipped in and they reached 204. An exciting game ensued as Bromyard set about chasing the runs with Paul Tomkins (78) the mainstay, but they fell just short of the runs and Hagley failed to get the last wicket as the innings ended 199-9.

Captain Neil Allport said: "I am happy with the performance, it would have been nice to get over the line, but everything is looking good with the strong squad."

They entertain Chaddesley Corbett on Saturday.

On Saturday Amblecote and Wollaston firsts hosted Stourbridge on a green Kinver wicket and picked up a comprehensive victory. After losing the toss the hosts were put into bat and the openers batted superbly. New signing Yassar Waseem hit a very patient 27 but the highlight of the innings was vice captain John Pearsall's marvellous innings of 109 to guide his side to a formidable total of 243.

The bowlers made quick work of the Stourbridge batting lineup. The returning Shahed Zia took 2 for 22.

Matt Pearson made sure the Stourbridge tail did not wag, taking a brilliant 4 for 15 which saw the visitors bowled all out for just 70.

Oldswinford suffered a heavy defeat away at Redditch after a batting collapse left them at 158 all out chasing the home side's 276-9. At one stage 'Swinford were looking comfortable at 92-2 but lost five quick wickets to leave themselves with no chance despite another good knock from acting skipper Dave Hayward (54). On a promising note, 15-year-old Connor Gator bowled superbly taking 5-47 with Seb Soukup 3-69 (pictured) proving to be a good foil. This Saturday Oldswinford entertain Stourbridge for the first time ever in a league encounter and will be looking for a much-improved performance.

Enville picked up their first win of the season away at Rushwick.

The hosts lost the toss and were asked to bat. Tight bowling kept the scoring rate down, although a combination of missed chances and bad luck meant few wickets fell.

Rushwick accelerated in the second half of their innings to post 206 for 5 from 50 overs. In reply Enville scored freely from the outset with Greg Tomkins (28) and Jono Howells (36) setting the foundations for a successful chase. Jimmy Smith (75) again looked good as Enville continued to score at will. Once he fell it was left to Paul Clarke (27no) to see Enville home to a five- wicket win.

At Enville Hall, Rushwick seconds were invited to bat first on a hot sunny day.

The visitors reached 189 which was a very competitive score on a energy sapping day.

In reply Enville produced a very mature display which was controlled by Brendan Smith who saw the team home with an impressive 86 not out. Enville won the match by five wickets to carry on an unbeaten start to the season.

This Saturday the firsts entertain Stourport with the seconds travelling to Stouport.

Thethirds play at Cleobury Mortimer in their first league game.

On Sunday the firsts travel to Wroxeter and Uppington to play the quarter-final of the National Village knockout.

LYE seconds enjoyed a great away win at Redditch last Saturday.

On a good batting track, Lye won the toss and put the home side into bat.

Redditch batted well and reached a respectable 249 -6.

The visitors responded with two excellent batting performances from Mark Mantom (50) and Gulbar Hussain who completed a marvellous 102.

Solid back-up from Jake Hanson, Rob Chance and Mark Webster saw Lye home by four wickets.

Next Saturday they travel to Coombs Wood.

Meanwhile, the firsts lost to Malvern last Saturday.

Lye won the toss and put Malvern in to bat first and made 201-5.

It was poor batting from Lye as they were all out out for 134 with Jat Dhaliwell top scoring with 33.