Green puts troops on red alert for next test

The boys from the Bratch have made a superb start in the Staffs Club Premier Division with three wins, the latest of which was a Leigh Passmore-inspired victory over Aldridge on Saturday, and two winning draws from five games lifting them into pole position.

But they face a tricky encounter at the weekend against a Coseley side who have wasted little time making an impact on their return to the top flight.

They are up to third after beating Bloxwich on Saturday and Beacon skipper Dan Green certainly won’t be taking the challenge lightly against a side he expects to be mixing it at the top end of the table.

“One or two sides might have underestimated Coseley this season, but we certainly won’t be doing that,” said Green.

“Jimmy and Nathan Howell played here for a few years and we know what they are capable of with the bat as well as their skipper Stuart Jones.

“They have a solid-looking team and they are going well. Everyone contributes and I think they will be one of the sides competing at the top end of the table.

“They have already beaten us in the League Knockout this year, so there is no way we will be taking them lightly.”

Seamer Passmore was the star of the show with a stunning seven-wicket haul as Beacon beat Aldridge.

Jason Swan then continued his fine form with the bat with an unbeaten 40 as Beacon chased down the visitors’ 145 for the loss of five wickets.

Swan will miss this weekend’s game but opening batsman Ash Hartshorn is set to return.

“I’m really happy with our start. Before the season, and given the early fixtures we had, I would have bitten anyone’s hand off if they had said you will be unbeaten after five games and top of the table.

“I knew we had the potential to beat anyone in the league and we have started really well.

“Leigh bowled really well on Saturday. He was making things happen every over.

“In the end it was a comfortable victory.

Ben Robinson left Springvale in a spin as Brewood climbed into second place.

The off-spinner returned fine figures of 5-13 from nine overs to help skittle Springvale for just 68 in reply to Brewood’s total of 227-8.

Seamer Jamie Lunn (3-13) also impressed with the ball with Springvale skipper Eren Ranu (29) the only visiting player to offer any real resistance.

Jake Cartwright was the main contributor with the bat for Brewood, top scoring with 78 while Ravi Raja made 44.

An impressive all-round display saw Whittington to an 81-run triumph against Hammerwich.

Opener Daniel Wilks was in the runs again with a half-century while solid contributions from Dexian Urquhart (49 not out), Rich Ashworth (39) and Omar Ali (34) helped Whittington to 259-9 in a rain-affected 41 overs.

Hammerwich made a solid start to their reply with Patrick Knott (46) and Ben Mcleod (33) taking them to 83-1.

But Whittington then started to chip away and took wickets at regular intervals as Hammerwich were dismissed for 178 in the 39th over. John Jennings made 30.

Jono Allcock was the pick of the Whittington attack with 4-51 while Sajid Nazir and Ali bagged two wickets each.

Saturday’s fixtures: Aldridge v Whittington; Cannock v Penn; Coseley v Beacon, Hammerwich v Brewood; Rugeley v Bloxwich.