Birmingham League Previews 10/07

West Bromwich Dartmouth will be looking to erase the memory of their opening day nightmare when they face Knowle & Dorridge.

Dartmouth were rolled out for just 28 when the Premier Division swung into during what was a testing start to the campaign.

Yet Harshad Patel's men have shown encouraging signs of improvement in recent weeks, culminating in a victory over Wolverhampton and a dominant display in last week's rain affected clash with Moseley.

"What happened on the first day of season will be in the back of our minds on Saturday," admitted Patel, whose side reduced Moseley 99-5 chasing 242 before the weather brought an early end to proceedings.

"We are not a 28 all out side and we will be out to prove that tomorrow.

"Man for man we shouldn't be where we are in the table. But we had a bad start and it takes time to get over that. We have started to do that and played better in recent weeks.

"On a positive note sides are now looking at us and thinking we face a challenge here."

Himley will be banking on home advantage to help them end their barren run against Walmley tomorrow.

Greg Wright's have suffered two defeats and a washout against Walmley since they gained promotion to the Premier Division and will be keen to get back to winning ways, after the rain halted their victory push against Kenilworth last weekend.

He said: "I think we owe ourselves a good performance against Walmley. We haven't beaten them since they gained promotion.

"Hopefully we can end that run tomorrow. I think we can steal a bit of a march on most sides playing at home.

"Our record at home has been very good since we gained promotion to the top flight and we have been playing well here this season.

"There is a bit of seam and bounce in our pitch with the new ball and I think we have the bowlers that suit our wicket."

Walsall captain Paul Wicker has challenged his champions to produce 'that final 15 per cent' extra as they chase an historic Premier Division title treble.

The Gorway side moved up to the shoulders of leaders Barnt Green and Wolverhampton with a winning draw against the latter last week.

He said: "I still think we can play better but I'm reasonably pleased and hope we can put in that final 15 per cent.

"It's about putting totals and complete innings together – we're getting ourselves in positions but we're not really capitalising on them.

"We need to be a bit better in the last 20 overs. We've got some good players and there is self belief in the team.

"It's been a 'stage' thing – we've had to get ourselves in a position to have a go at it. We've looked at it and we want to make sure we're in a position to challenge with six or seven games to go."

Walsall racked up 212-8 but Wolverhampton held on for the draw of 86-7.

Wicker added: "It was a key result. They were struggling with some of their bowlers being injured but we played particularly well.

"We got 20-30 runs more than what we thought the wicket was worth. We got in a great position to bowl them out and had to settle for a winning draw, but looking at our relative positions it was a big game."

Wolverhampton captain Simon Lycett is bracing his side for another massive test against Kidderminster- admitting they were given a reality check by defending champions Walsall.

Lycett's men remain second in the premier division despite last weekend's losing draw at the hands of Walsall.

But Lycett is all-but writing off their title chances and setting his sights on consolidation.

He said: "Walsall are a very good side and, if it wasn't already, the match against them last week put our season in perspective.

"We have played some outstanding cricket in the early part of the season and we are delighted with how it's gone.

"Last Saturday showed us exactly how far we still have to go to live with the teams at the top of this division.

"We have been very realistic for the last few weeks about our chances and the match against Walsall showed why that was the case.

"We are delighted to be in the top three in the table and obviously we will try to stay in there for as long as we can.

"It is our first season in this division and if we can be in the top half of the table by the end of September.

"That will represent a very successful season for us."

Lycett is preparing to make late decisions on team selection, with several players facing fitness tests ahead of tomorrow's game.

Kidderminster captain Jonathan Wright believes his side will learn from past mistakes when they tackle Wolverhampton spinner Sairaj Bahutule for the second time.

Indian Bahutule goes head-to-head with South African Mario Saliwa tomorrow in a clash of two of the Birmingham League's best overseas players.

Wright is confident his side will cope better second time around with Bahutule, who led the way with the ball, as Wolverhampton dismissed Kidderminster for 110 earlier in the season.

Wright said: "When we played there we didn't do ourselves justice. We thought we had done well to bowl them out for 145.

"In the end we were bowled out for 110 and we ended up well beaten. Bahutule is a good bowler and we struggled against him last time.

"Hopefully we will be better equipped to handle him. Last time we had never seen him or played against him before do it was difficult to know how to play him.

"That gave us a good look at him and that should enable us to play him better."

Bahutule and Saliwa have both starred in their maiden seasons in the Birmingham League.

Wright believes overseas stars could have a significant impact on both tomorrow's match and the final league table.

He said: "I think the overseas players at a lot of clubs are having a bigger impact this year than normal.

"There are some excellent players in the league from overseas. I think the internet these days allows clubs to do a lot more research on players."