Alcester & Ragley 1st (189-7) beat Bidford 1st (158 all out) by 31runs

Ragley were asked to bat in this local derby after Bidford skipper Richard Nichols won the toss and elected to bowl on a wicket that looked to offer some assistance to the bowlers. Opening bowler Richard Layton took full advantage of this as he produced a superb spell to dismiss Coombs(0), Lee(6) and Warbrick(22) to leave Ragley wobbling on 44-3 after 11 overs. Gary Strain and Lewis Clark then set about a recovery job for Ragley with Clark to the fore as he hit 3 sixes in his 32 before he was caught in the gully off the bowling of Neil Edkins. Strain then had valuable partnerships of 37 with Adam Peachey (16) and 46 with Sam Westwood (25) to lift the score to 150-6 after 41 overs. Some good batting in the final few overs by Steve Capron and Strain lifted the score to 189-7 after the 45 overs with Strain unbeaten on an excellent 53 on a pitch that was still not an easy track to bat on. Layton was the pick of the Bidford bowlers as he finished with 3-24.

In reply Bidford came up against some very good opening bowling from the Ragley new ball pair of Julian Reader and Westwood. Reader dismissed opener Page for 10 after 2 chances had gone begging off the same batsman and Westwood had the other opener Tom Edkins caught at mid off for 13. The usually prolific Pickles was the next wicket to fall after he had been tied down to some more good tight bowling as he was caught by Morris again at mid off in Reader’s last over. This bought Ragley old boy Dipple to the crease to join Layton. They had lifted the score to 74-3 when the game was turned on its head with both of them going in consecutive balls, Layton lbw to Woolley for 16 and then Dipple being comprehensively bowled by Capron for 5. Taylor was the next to go for just one after a good catch in the gully by Lewis Clark. Capron and Woolley continued to bowl excellent spells and took regular wickets as Bidford subsided to 108-9. At this point Ragley took their foot off the gas thinking the game was in the bag, but some excellent hitting from number 11 Ben Cooper and number 10 Tom Coles took Bidford up to 158-9 with 32 needed from the final 4 overs as panic set in to the Ragley fielding and bowling. Spinner Tom Morris was introduced into the attack to bowl the 42nd over and it proved an inspired choice of bowling as he enticed Cooper into holing out at long off as Reader clung onto the catch to win the game for Ragley. Cooper was out for 31 and Coles was unbeaten on 26 as they added 50 for the 10th wicket and almost led Bidford to an unlikely victory. Capron finished with 2-20 and Woolley 3-28 as Ragley chalked up their 2nd win of the campaign to leave them just 4 points off 2nd place in the league.