Bewdley on the summit

5:50pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

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BEWDLEY rose to the top of the Worcestershire Crusader League Division Two after defeating Alvechurch and Hopwood by six wickets on Saturday.

After losing the toss and being asked to field first, Bewdley started well with tidy bowling from Mike Harris and Callum Wilson who made the breakthrough with his first wicket for the first team.

Jack Mills and Mark Venross came on to bowl and initially suffered at the hands of big hitting from John Clifford (57) and James Spavin (78).

At 173-3 Alvechurch looked set to post a big total, but then wickets began to fall as Mills hit his stride.

Aided by four smart stumpings by Simon Mauger, and two good catches by Ben Jones Jnr at slip and Martin Flack, Mills recorded his best figures of 7-87 off 20 overs.

The precision bowling and strong fielding saw Alvechurch only make 212-9 in 50 overs.

Bewdley recovered from the early loss of opener Paul Beard (8), with Flack and Jones Jnr forging a 62 run partnership.

After Jones was caught on 23, Mauger and Flack added 118 runs in 19 overs as Bewdley made 213-4 with five overs to spare.

Elsewhere in Division Two Chaddeslsey Corbett suffered a seven-wicket loss to Monmouth.

Chaddesley openers Matthew Yardley and Nigel Middleton worked hard to put on a stand of 50 against the accuracy of the Monmouth bowling attack.

Middleton was to depart just before drinks and Yardley soon after, leaving Chaddesley at 60-2.

The wickets of Sam Boden and Bob Bond were soon to follow leaving the villagers in trouble at 69-4.

Rob Stephens and Tom Boden steadied matters, both batting nicely and taking the score to 116, before Stephens departed caught off the bowling of Roberts. With Boden falling to a good catch, it was left to Thomas Mole Jnr and Christopher Mole to take the score up to a respectable 150 off the alloted 50 overs.

Chaddesley failed to make early inroads into the Monmouth batting. However, when Jones was bowled by Tom Boden with the score on 31, and Dave Perry had Fisher stumped ten runs later, Chaddesley had a glimmer of hope they might be in with a shout.

These hopes were dashed when sensible batting from David Teague saw Monmouth to 150-3 with a solid 64 not out.

Stourport's derby clash against Cutnall Green was rained off.

In Division Three newly promoted Cookley recorded their first win of the season when they got the better of Birlingham by 42 runs on Saturday.

Having been inserted to bat at Lea Lane, Cookley were bowled out for a disappointing 112 all out, with only Simon Cook (26) contributing significantly.

But the hosts put in a fiery bowling performance to skittle the visitors for just 70, as Gary Mill starred with 4-24.

Skipper Mark Bennett and veteran spinner Brian Davies were also amongst the wickets.

Kidderminster Victoria's third team went down heavily to Harborne on Saturday.

The Birmingham side made 316 declared and despite 78 runs for Kevin Amos, Kidderminster were bowled out for 119.

Chainwire made a losing start in Division Five against West Malvern.

After making 178-6 in 45 overs, their opponents replied with 182-1.

Cleobury Mortimer battled out a draw with Brintons in their first game of the season.

Nick Griffiths top scored with 38 runs as reigning champions Cleobury made 128-9 in 45 overs.

Three wickets each for James Manley, Oliver Rowland and David Shorter, as well as braces for Thomas Griffiths and Rob Evans, saw Brintons kept to 128-7 to make sure the points were shared.

Fixtures - Division Two: Bewdley v Chaddesley Corbett (all matches 1.30pm start unless stated).

Division Three: Birlingham v Cutnall Green; Hagley v Cookley; Stourport v Belbroughton; Wormelow v Kidderminster Victoria.

Division Five: Cleobury v Badsey; Highley v Chainwire.