After winning their first two matches in the end of season County League Play-Offs to determine the two sides who will be promoted into Premier Division Two of BDPCL for the 2024 season, National Village Champions Milford Hall travelled to ECB National Club T20 Plate winners Wellington requiring four points to achieve their goal. When Wellington lost two needless wickets in the final over of their innings, their task became simpler and, with Net Run Rate heavily in their favour, Milford needed 88 runs to earn promotion, after the home side closed on 197 for five in an innings reduced to 44 overs after a delayed start and an interruption for rain after 18 overs.

On an easy-paced pitch, this appeared to be a formality, even more so after Jordan Bulpitt opened the reply with a jaunty 34 from 35 balls. What followed was, scarcely, believable, as Milford pressed the “self-destruct” button, notwithstanding some excellent Wellington bowling from Dan Lloyd (3 for 12 from nine overs) and Wendell Wagner (2 for 8 from nine overs). Even at 48 for two, then 57 for four, there was no hint of the drama to come but the Milford batters were unable to cope with the pressure exerted by Wellington and the scoreboard. Apart from Ejaz Nawaz who was left “high and dry” on 15 and Sahal Malvernkar (11), none of the Milford batters were able to impose themselves and, eventually, they were all out for 86, two runs short of their initial target. As Milford closed in on the final hurdle, it became apparent that net run rate could, yet, play a part but the last dismissal, that of Rob Firth, leg before wicket to Stephen Brooks (2 for 3 from two overs) meant that calculators were not required. Hugh Morris (2 for 26) and Ben Pilkington (1 for 25) also played their part, as did Dinesh Perera who bowled a seven-over spell at a cost of nine runs. With four overs remaining, Milford were all out for 86 to hand promotion to their hosts. Earlier in the day, openers Dan Lloyd (91) and Dan Vaughan (71) put on 129 for the first Wellington wicket but Lloyd’s dismissal off the first ball of the 44th over and the run out of James Flynn (18) three balls later, looked as though it had handed promotion to Milford. Their final total of 197 for five left Milford with a revised DLS total of 207, in 44 overs, to win but a response of 132 or above would have been sufficient for the Champions of the South Staffordshire County League to clinch promotion.

Meanwhile, at Olton & W.W., despite their setback, the previous day, a win for Old Hill would be enough to see them to promotion whatever the outcome at Wellington, thanks to the six bonus points they gained in their defeat to Milford. Due to a delayed start, the match was reduced to 42 overs per side and, after winning the toss, Old Hill elected to field. This proved to be a wise move as winless Olton lost wickets at regular intervals with four Old Hill bowlers taking two wickets each. Junead Zaman (39), Jackson Darkes-Sutcliffe (37 not out) and Gary Hawkins (34) were the only batters to reach double figures before the home side closed on 165 for nine. Having paced their response against Milford poorly, the previous day, Old Hill made no mistake, this time, and cantered to a six wicket win with more than 10 overs to spare, thanks to 79 from Waqas Ahmed and 38 from Suhayl Iqbal. Jade Richter took 3 for 36 for Olton but it’s Old Hill who will join Wellington in Premier Division Two next season in a competition that will include five Shropshire clubs. Old Hill will return to a League to which they have contributed so much since their original election in 1921 while Wellington, Champions of the Premier Division in 2003 and 2004, also return to a familiar arena!