Alcester & Ragley 1st 184 all out lost to Bidford 1st 185-7 by 3 wicketsD

Ragley’s disappointing start to their league campaign continued as they lost at home to Bidford on Saturday. On the morning of the match they lost captain Ben Lee and overseas player Colin Devincentiis to injury.

In the match Ragley lost the toss and were asked to bat. They were given an excellent start as Shaun Quirke and Gary Strain put on 81 for the first wicket in only 16 overs. However when Quirke was first out for 47 a rash of wickets fell in short time to leave Ragley on 84-3, Strain going for 31 during this time. There were no major contributions to the total from any of the Ragley batsmen after this, as they struggled against some tight Bidford bowling and limped to 184 all out from 42 overs. The pick of the Bidford bowlers was Chris Wyatt who finished with 3-32 from his 10 overs.

Bidford started off well in reply until Edkins was out with the score at 32, the other opener Taylor was taking the attack to Ragley and when he was out for 40 the score was 74 for 3 with the asking rate creeping up as opening bowler Steve Capron bowled an excellent spell of 2-30. Bidford continued to lose wickets at regular intervals but captain Andy Pickles (58 not out) and Rich Nicholls (25) shared in a crucial 5th wicket partnership to put them in touching distance of winning before Nicholls was caught in the deep by Paul Dipple. Pickles guided Bidford home in the 47th over in a very close finish to the game. Tom Morris (2-31) and captain Gary Strain (2-18) both bowled well for Ragley, but it was not enough to make up for a poor performance with the bat from the Ragley batsmen after such a good start. This home game was sponsored by Autolamps of Alcester, and Ragley’s next game is away to Norton Lindsey.