Dorridge’s victory against Tamworth in the first match of the season took them to the top of the table where they have remained ever since but Tamworth’s win at Dorridge in the reverse fixture has enabled West Bromwich Dartmouth to draw level with the Warwickshire club following a winning draw at Shifnal. In a roller-coaster of a game, Dorridge slipped to 88 for four, then 115 for six before an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 109 by David Ball (75 not out) and Perry Derrick (32 not out) took them to the comfort of 224 for six in 55 overs. Ben Shepperson’s 48 had held them together during the first part of the innings, but it was his dismissal that brought Ball and Derrick together. Tamworth struggled at the start, slipping to 27 for two before Callum Render (39) and Jason Jakeman (40) came together. Their dismissals saw Tamworth slide to 113 for five before their hopes were revived by Ed Smith (45) and Ben Maddox (40). 191 for five became 197 for eight, then 216 for nine before Tamworth’s last pair of Sam Kinson and James Cooper held their nerve to see them to victory. Ball matched his heroics with the bat with 4 for 38 with the ball for Dorridge. Dartmouth’s visit to Shifnal saw them register 291 for five in 55 overs, with an unbeaten 100 from Ismail Mohammed and 80 from Bruce Thomason. Mohammed’s century came from 92 balls and included nine fours and five sixes, while Thomason faced 99 balls and hit 14 fours. Shifnal’s reply began slowly with Harvey Wakefield scoring 69 in 109 balls. Ben Lees was more positive, striking 43 from 52 balls but they rarely threatened to overhaul Dartmouth’s daunting total. Yusif Khalil was the pick of the Dartmouth bowlers with 3 for 37.

Himley are within four points of the joint leaders following a losing draw against Harborne’s powerful batting line-up. Swapnil Gugale, promoted to open the innings, cracked an imperious 149 from 167 balls with Tejas Wagle adding an unbeaten 51 and Warwickshire Academy tyro Kai Smith falling one short of a half-century on 49. From the outset, Himley were in trouble and slumped to 39 for three before Ollie Westbury began a salvage operation which he achieved, successfully, with 87 from 129 balls. The next highest individual score was 19 from Jeevan Klair as Himley batted out time on 165 for six. Scotland’s Junior International Oliver Davidson took 3 for 44 for Harborne who have moved to the fringe of the promotion race in sixth place in the table. Lichfield’s early season form returned as they brushed aside Coventry & N.W. who began the day in third place. Lichfield’s seam bowling trio of Brinder Phagura (4 for 21), James Wilkinson (4 for 33) and Riley Ward (2 for 16) routed Coventry for 81 in 34 overs before Joe Seager (48 not out) and Will Davies (31 not out) saw the Staffordshire outfit to an easy nine wicket win in 13.4 overs with an unbroken second wicket stand of 71. Lichfield’s success sees them move up to fifth place in the table, 11 points behind Coventry, who trail Himley by 13 points.

Leamington showed a welcome return to form with a resounding seven wicket win against Bromsgrove who fall to the bottom of the table after Bridgnorth earned a winning draw in the local “derby” match with Worfield. Amaan Hassan (45) and Jayden Levitt (39) began well, but slowly, for Bromsgrove and Alex Milton (44 not out) carried on at a similar pace. It was not until Alex Wilkinson joined Milton that the run-rate picked up as the left-arm seamer hit 48 at a run a ball. Tom Warner took 3 for 90 for Leamington but his economy rate took a bashing from Wilkinson. Following the dismissals of Kabir Sodhi and George Maddy, former West Indian test man Shane Dowrich joined Harrison Smith and the experienced duo took Leamington to 176 before the fall of the third wicket. Smith went for 76 but Dowrich continued to an unbeaten 82 in partnership with Hasan Ahmed who finished on 27 not out. Leamington’s victory takes them level with Worfield on 116 points, five points ahead of Shifnal, with Bridgnorth, on 95 points, six points in front of Bromsgrove. Bridgnorth climbed off the bottom of the table with a convincing batting performance at Worfield, reaching 242 for nine from 55 overs. The innings was built around 80 from Matt Martin and 57 from Shropshire all-rounder Matt Simmonds. The pick of the bowlers for their local rivals was Will Weir with 5 for 37. Worfield’s reply, rarely, reached second gear as they idled to 189 for eight in 55 overs, top scorers being the captain Joe Arnold with 38 and veteran former Himley skipper Greg Wright with 36. David Laird maintained the pressure with a mean spell of 16 overs that yielded 4 for 51.