Division One

Halesowen clinched the 2024 runners-up berth behind champions Smethwick after Matt Pardoe’s unbeaten 92 secured them a comfortable seven-wicket win at Ombersley.

In pursuit of 172, Pardoe struck 12 fours and three sixes in an excellent 95-ball knock and with Simon Gregory adding a fluent 41 Halesowen cruised home in the 33^rd over.

James Rudge claimed three top-order scalps as the visitors seized control early in proceedings and their target would have been substantially lower had George Panayi (36) and Jake Howl (50no) not made good contributions from Ombersley’s middle-order.

George Rhodes and Jonathan Dovey combined to good effect to hurry Barnards Green to the nine-wicket home win over relegated West Bromwich Dartmouth that secured third place.

Rhodes continued his recent run of good form with the ball by claiming 4-12 from eight overs and with Dovey snaring 3-21 the visitors were bowled out in 28 overs for 91.

Barnards' skipper Ryan Tongue then did the rest from the top of the home order by smashing an unbeaten 64 off just 39 balls as his team raced to their tenth win of a productive season in just 9.2 overs.

Multiple recent champions Berkswell finish fourth despite slipping to a 20-run defeat in an entertaining local derby at Moseley.

The home side’s top-order dominated the early stages through Abdullah Awan’s 96 plus 34 from his opening partner Ali Awan and 43 from Abraash Khan.

However, Moseley then slipped from 187-2 to 230 all out against a visiting attack in which Nick James claimed four late wickets.

While skipper Neil Dexter (56) was going well the visitors looked favourites but once he fell to Ali Awan – who took off the keeping gloves to claim 3-23 – Moseley were able to close out a win.

Barnt Green paceman Adam Hines saved the best until last by claiming 5-13 from eight immaculate overs to bowl Himley out for 109.

James Clark top-scored for the Black Country outfit with 40,  but batting looked altogether more comfortable after the break as Ed Pollock (48) and Ben Chapman-Lilley (35no) eased Barnt Green to a comfortable seven-wicket win that ensured they finish one position above Himley in fifth.

Knowle & Dorridge have suffered a really poor second half of the season after at one point looking likely to push Smethwick all the way for the title.

Their slump into the bottom half of the table was confirmed by a 114-run setback at Kenilworth Wardens whose relegation was confirmed last week.

The Glasshouse Park outfit will hope to retain their core of talented young players in Division Two and top of that list will be Reeve Evitts who made an excellent unbeaten 102 and Harry Johnson who finishes with over 700 top-flight runs following his 58.

Their efforts left K&D chasing 257 but once former Warden Jamie Harrison fell for 47 the rest of their batting folded to 143 all out in the 35^th over.

Smethwick finished 52 points clear at the top of the table after the outstanding Deepak Khatri made a brilliant 104-ball 145 that set up their 69-run win at Wolverhampton.

Indian all-rounder Gurinder Singh made a huge contribution to Smethwick’s 2022 title win – their first since the 1960’s – but it is possible two years on that fellow countryman Khatri has eclipsed him by topping 1200 league runs and making five centuries.

With Raj Beniwal adding 57, Smethwick closed their 50 overs with a sizeable 309-8 despite the best efforts of Charles Jackson who took 4-36.

Ramanjot Jaswal (54), George Margetts (70) and Joe Stanley (39) then all responded well for Wolves but Smethwick’s experienced attack kept things under control to secure a 14^th win of a wonderful campaign.

Division Two

Shrewsbury (pictured) underlined their status as convincing winners of Division Two by leaving Kidderminster with a 40-run final day success.

In a match played at breakneck pace, the champions recovered from 95-7 to 191 all out through Will Jenkins' 68-ball 79.

With Pat Brown taking 5-50, Shrewsbury only used 29.4 of their 50-over allocation but their bowlers then responded by bowling Kiddy out for 151 in the 42nd over of their reply.

Alex Ollerenshaw took 4-28 and skipper Lewis Evans 3-35 for Shrewsbury while Zeshan Bashir top-scored for the hosts with 30.

By winning 17 of their 22 games Evans’ team broke the 400-point barrier and finish 25 points clear of Harborne who next year join them in the elite ranks of West Midlands’ cricket.

Tom Arnold’s team clinched an 85-run win at Tamworth after Oliver Davidson’s third ton of a productive campaign set them on the way to 282-4.

Arjun Nahal (49), Tejas Wagle (42) and Matt James (37) also made useful runs for Harborne who then saw Davidson make a second decisive intervention by claiming 4-41 to bowl the hosts out for 197.

George Land provided the slow left-armer with good support by taking 3-38 while Suraj Chauhan top-scored for Tamworth with 60.

This result in Staffordshire means Shifnal’s reward for a solid season that ended with a five-wicket home win over Old Hill is a third-place finish, 17 points ahead of Tamworth.

Andre Bradford has topped 800 league runs this season and fittingly it was his half-century that steered Shifnal to their 178-run target with nearly ten overs in hand.

Oliver Parton earlier tore through Old Hill’s lower order to finish with 5-16 after Waqas Ahmed had got the visitors off to a good start with a fluent 67.

Old Hill end a creditable first campaign back in the BDPCL in sixth place where they finished one spot behind Coventry & North Warwickshire who registered a comfortable 109-run round 22 win over relegated Bridgnorth.

Sohaym Maddekar grafted his way to a 152-ball 101 containing just five boundaries during a CNW innings that eventually reached 201.

And the value of this old-style knock was shown when the visitors collapsed to 92 all out in 23 overs against George Neal (5-38) and Lee Golding (3-25).

Rahul Kaushal has provided a few bright spots during Bridgnorth’s largely troubled campaign and he did so again at Binley Road by carrying his bat for an unbeaten 50 as wickets tumbled around him.

By contrast with their county neighbours, Wellington's latest stay in the Birmingham & District Premier League ended with a bang after Will Lewin's unbeaten 84 steered them to an emphatic eight-wicket home win over county rivals Worfield.

Chasing 151 Lewin's fine knock ensured Wellington raced home in just 29 overs. Ben Parker had earlier hit five sixes while top-scoring for the visitors with a 25-ball 51 as Matt Simmonds and Oliver Smith shared six wickets for the hosts.

Dorridge also finished strongly against Leamington on the back of a fine 104 from skipper Joe Dodd who promoted himself to the top of the order from where he added 138 with Luke Horgan (58).

With Daanyaal Mahmood then lashing five sixes and seven fours in an unbeaten 61-ball 89 Spa were left to chase a substantial 303 – a total which eventually proved beyond them as they closed on 232-8.

The next two weekends see Handsworth, Fordhouses, Whitchurch and Stourbridge – the respective champions of the Warwickshire, Sout Staffordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire County Leagues do battle in six play-off games for two places in next season’s Division Two.