Well done to monmouth for beating us saturday, good hard game and played how cricket should. I see its getting tight at the top now with monmouth wormlow and colwal slugging it out.
Have Colwall left it to late. Old Virgonians may sneak a result against one of you and if at full strength Dominies may push Wormlow in september, and Rushwick are dangerous if they get it right. Is it one up or two up this year. I reckon it s time for a Herefordshire and Worcestershire cup to.

Looks like being only 1 up if Birm League 3 carries on as it is at the moment, with at least 2 and maybe 3 Worcs sides looking like coming down. If 2 come down then the winners of Worcs 3 North and South plus the best 2nd placed team from the 2 divisions (currently Monmouth) would go up. If all 3 Worcs sides in Birm League 3 come down then only the winners of Worcs 3 North & South would go up. I hear that Colwall's bar-takings are up tenfold this year even if their 1sts might not make it up in the end. Some good players at Old Vigornians, and Dominies could be dangerous if their skipper swapped his Kashmir Willow bat for an English Willow one.

There will be 3 massive games as I see it. Colwall v Wormelow which is this Saturday, and then Monmouth v Colwall and Monmouth v Wormelow. Wouldnt say Colwall have left it late, if they win both these games they'll be streets ahead. COME ON THE DRAW for Saturday!!!

oh statto I would love an English willow. My bat is ****. What do you reccommend.

Best players in the league.What do the herefordshire boys think. Teague is class as is McKinnley and Dan Head looks good.Powell and Wolfendale from Colwall. Boulter and Tom Herbert from Wormelow to. Elsewhere I rate Trigg Saj and my Jamie w from us, bibby from Martley,Fiaz from OVs and Turner from rushwick.

Teague might well be class and McKinnley and Dan Head are also good players. Powell and Wolfendale from Colwall are good journeymen. Boulter and Tom Herbert from Wormelow, well they were average players last year and no better this year. The bowling is just a tad weaker in Worcs 3. I don't know much of Trigg Saj and bibby from Martley, Fiaz from OVs and Turner from rushwick. But I know your Jamie and he is a decent player but not in the same league as our Kinga.

Say what you want about the Marches League and it's players but Kinga would walk into any of the Worcs Div 3 side and dominate. The guy is just class. And he is very loyal too unlike some of the jumped up youngsters who have left the Marches League to ply their trade in the second teams of Kington and Brock. For the record B&T comprehensively beat Brock's seconds earlier in the season in a friendly. Mind you they had a few first teamers as well. If you can pay your pro £250 a game, of course you will have a strong first team. Take away Kington's and Brock's pro's and they are average sides.

Kinga stop writing about yourself again

and tom herbert didn't play last year... well done

Statto recommends an English willow bat with a good light pick-up from any of the respected English makes: Gray Nicolls, GM, Slazenger etc.

Arti Fiaz from OVs was a quality bat and a more than useful bowler last time i saw him play about 10 years ago. And Kington and Brock would still be more than decent sides if you took out their overseas players. The same could also be said of Eastnor and Bromyard, not so sure about Lucs at the moment seeing as they look to be heading for Worcs Div 3 next season.

you're up late statto, or should that be early. studying form i guess.

Whatever happened to STAC bats. anyone know if they are still around?

Nice one! Bring on the Black Prince!

Yep, still around, chap called David Banks from up Stourbridge way makes em. Check out galaxycricket.com.

I have to laugh at this message. Young players should test themselves early and play the highest standard they can achieve. A move this season to brockhampton or kington coudl see them playing in the birmingham league next year whether for the first's or second's, both of which are hugely superior in standard to any other herefordshire side. How are youngsters going to learn and improve by standing still? I do agree that in some cases soem young players may make the wrong move and not get as much cricket as they shoudl do due to competition for places, however the better players in herefordshire of a certain age thrive on the challenge which can only improve their own game and herefordshire cricket in general!

Some youngsters may be talented enough to play Bir League cricket Div 3 but they are few and far between. I don't see any Herefordshire youngster that would make it in Div 1 of the Bir League. Its a myth 'this improving your game' lark. If you are consistently scoring tons or taking fifers in the Marches or Worcs League then that's fine. But name me one youngster who is good enough to play Bir League Div 1 cricket. The answer is zero. Youngsters only move because it is fashionable and because their mates are playing for the Brocks or Kington's of this world. Tell me a Herefordshire player that made a decent pro career in the last 50 years and I'll buy you a pint and may even laugh with you. Cricket is all about enjoyment. Playing on an artifical wicket for Brock thirds when you are a reg second team player is no way to improve a youngster. But then again you most likely drink at saxty's rather than the red lion because it is fashionable.

The whole fact that no youngster has had the chance to play in the birmingham league is exactly the point. If they stay in the marches league notching up these runs of which you talk its worthless. The reson herefordshire hasnt made any first class players in the last 50 years is because there are no 'big' teams in herefordshire for them to play for. Scouts from clubs like worcestershire and warwickshire will obviously look at young talent int he birmingham league and be wary of those that suceed at that level, sadly however gd the player is they rnt goign to care about someone scorign 100 int he marches league week in week out and that is fact. Its an attitude like urs that is typical of herefodshire cricket, and we wonder why we never produce any first class players!

Pavilion Sport stock a vast array of bats at unbeatable prices. If you can find a similar bat cheaper than our list price, we will knock it in for you free of charge. The way the gaffer is batting this season and the demise of any decent bowlers in the Marches League means it should only take a week or two before delivery.

Yes, whoever wins the Worcester League Div 1 this season will be playing Birmingham League Cricket next year (barring any mishaps with Kington's pitch availability/Warwickshire sides not wanting to travel that far) and so will be able to attract other Herefordshire players, if indeed a Herefordshire side wins it. Not only Kington and Brock but also Eastnor and Bromyard are still mathematically in with a shout. But to say that playing Birm League Div 3 2nds will be a better standard than any other Herefordshire clubs is balls. Definitely Div 1 and probably Div 2 of the Worcestershire League is a better standard than the Birmingham League 2nds Premier Division.

Heard it on the grapevine that Burghill & Tillington might make the move to the WCL. Hope they do but will there be a space for them?!

Statto went to a very exciting cricket meeting in which not alot came out of. It looks like we will stay north and south for next year. I was under the impresion who ever wins marches one will get invited.
It would e good to see B and T and Goodrich another rumour in cos they could replace someone like Tenbury, Upton or O E s 3s. Then we wold have a division with not one weak side.
I think there is talk of a new division 5 being ormed. All very complicated. No one really knows 100% what is going on. We are aiming for a top 5 finish just to be safe incase of more restruction.

Sorry my spelling and grammer is wank

If 3 sides get relegated from the Birmingham League then there'd be 2 extra WCL sides next year, so there could be 13 clubs in each division 3 and a 24 game season. Or they could re-organise the two Div 3s into 10 team Divisions (plus the top 2 Herefordshire sides in the Marches this year?), and have a new div 4 with the 8 remaining teams plus Barnards Green 3rds and 4ths and Stourbridge Social 1s and 2s?! I think they should go back to Divs 3 and 4, with 10 teams in each, and add on a new Div 5 with 1st and 2nd XIs. Wouldn't want to be the WCL administrator to have to work that little lot out...

Jesus a 24 game season! Does that mean there will be games on Christmas day?

I have to disagree with you statto, if brockhampton or kington picked thier best 22 players the 2nd team would win the marches league div 1. Kington are goign about workign their way up the league and next year will win the first division with their 3rds! As for second team cricket in the birmingham league it is hoped itl be a vast improvement on the worcetser league div 1 2s side's who on the whole are very poor, meaning that its hard to keep gd players interested playing it and therefore at a club.

I wasn't talking about the Marches, i was talking about Birm League Div 3 2nds being better than either WCL Div 1 or Div 2 1sts, which it patently isn't. You may well be right that Kington or Brock 2nds would win Marches 1 if Kington 3rds winning Div 2 this season is anything to go by.

As you are so confident that Kington Thirds are going to win Div 1 of the Marches League next year, I have an offer to make to you. B&TCC are one of the teams in Div 1 and they are playing Kington Thirds in the semis of the cup next week. For £500 I say that B&T will win the game. Put up or shut up.

I said that Kington will win Marches 2 this year. And i haven't got £500 spare.

not you statto but the gentleman that has gone all quiet now that he needs to dig deep to back his convictions.

kington 3rds will win next year, with the funniest thign being im not actually a kington supporter

I have the suspicion that you might, at the least, support Brock though?

so when do i collect my five hundred pounds? looks like next years div 1 champions are going to be this years marches cup winners. Who knows statto, who knows?

Yes fair play to Kington 3rds, the question is will their vanquished opponents Burghill & Tillington, be joining the Worcestershire League along with Goodrich?!

The answer will surely be no. Im not sure how many teams the worcester league would be willing to accept this year following this years league changes. What might count in their favour is the performance of the teams that have joined from herefordshire, tho the feeling of alot of the worcestershire based clubs is negative to too many herefordshire clubs joining the league and addign to travelling etc. we shall have to wait and see.

Shaping up to be a good battle down to the wire between Monmouth and Wormelow for Div 3 South of the WCL. Game on 2nd September could be big, any Monmouth or Wormelow players got any views on how it'll go, and their experiences of Div 3 South of the WCL this season compared to Div 1 of the Marches?

Actually Wormelow v Monmouth's on 9th September but you get the gist!

Ah I see now that Kington won, good result. what were the scores?

Just out of interest who did win the semi-final between Burghill and Kington 3rds?

Yeah interesting clash is my club Dominies against Wormelow.Well up for it should be a good game. Wormelow played real well last time and deserved thier win as we had them in a spot of bother. Clash of the today between rob Gummer and my Jamie in the banter stakes.Talking to some of the worcester clubs we dont mind some Hereford sides in. Goodrich is pretty easy to get to, we used to have to go all over Birmingham so don t make much difference, I live in ledbury so would be voting for them to go in. We do have 3 poor teams in Div 3, so would be could to have a competetive league 1-12

good game today matty, tables looking interesting now because colwall are only 7 behind monmouth, monouth being 24 behind us and colwall 31 behind, but we have to play monmouth this saturday so things are remaining interesting right to the end it seems!

Seems Wormelow firmly in the driving seat now they're 24 clear from us at the top. Could well be 2 teams up from 3 South as the best runners up of North and South will definately be from here, and Ombersley are only 1 point from the safety zone in Brum Div 3 which would mean only 2 Worcester sides coming down. Just pray the weather doesnt play too big a part in who wins what and who goes where....

I think in fairness Colwall are by far the leagues strongest side, and had the Marches scoring system been in play (i.e averages) would have walked Div 3 South.

Yeah well batted saturday tim and good come back from your lads. How are we seventh I dont know very frustrating. Good luck to Wormlow who should go up. To get to top of the league is good going. Although Colwall and Monmouth are class and in Teague and McKinely and Wolfendale and Griffiths have players who could grace division one.
What do you think Statto.

I dunno, we ask Dominies to do us one little favour and what do they do, lose by 18 runs!!!

Any price on a 24-0 Monmouth win Saturday...?

Div 3 South looks like going down to the wire still, but Colwall need a 24 pointer and then there'd have to be a big upset with either Wormelow losing at Tenbury or Monmouth failing to beat Hanley Castle & Upton, to let Colwall up. Will be interested to see how the promoted teams fare next season, seeing as the winners of Div 3 last year have been relegated from Div 2 this season, and the same thing happened to Hereford City a few years back. Colwall definitely have a few players who would do well in Division 1, but they've been unlucky with the weather and had one unbelievable defeat having scored 310 and declared. I'd like to see Goodrich and maybe Burghill & Tillington join the league, it can only be good for Herefordshire and Worcestershire cricket to have the best teams from the two counties (outside the Birmingham League) slugging it out regularly.

either 3 who go up would survive in the above division guess it'll be interesting to see how it all finishes up though. good luck boys

And it will almost certainly be 2 up from 3 South now as Ombersley won on Saturday and are practically safe from dropping back into the WCL set-up.

Just out of interest do Monmouth have at least 2 youth teams? I know Wormelow do, and as it's a requirement for all Worcestershire League Division 2 clubs, I wondered whether Monmouth do as well.

One currently, but 2 will be in place next year Statto.

Congratulations to Wormelow and Monmouth for getting promoted to Division 2 of the Worcestershire County League. Bad luck to Colwall, those 3 extra rained off games and that loss at Himbleton after scoring 319 came back to haunt them in the end.

Yep, all at Monmouth CC would like to congratulate Wormelow CC on their title success. Surely the surprise package of the Worcester County Leagues this season, and we look forward to some more tough encounters in Division 2 next year against them, where Im sure both clubs will continue do well. Also, as a 2nd XI player congrats to Colwall 2nds on winning the 2nd XI title, in what was an exciting finish right up until the last game.


Roll on April....

I rate div 2 very high. I one day would like to see myself attempting to bat in it. Probably at eleven. are Monmouth and Wormelow considering overseas players for next season.
How are you statto

Considering Matty yes, but also looking to strengthen by bringing more quality local cricketers into the club.

Alright thanks Matt, busy watching the County Championship on Sky. Think 3 teams will have to move from Div 3 North into the South for next season, seeing as Romsley have been relegated 2 divisions and all 4 teams relegated from Div 2 are from the north. Guessing at Kiddy 3rds, Cutnall Green and Stourport. Cutnall Green with their run-machine Neil Fletcher, and Stourport could both give Colwall a good game next year. Guessing Hanley Castle & Upton might move down to Div 4 seeing as someone has to, their 2nds conceded a couple of games, and they only won 1 game between both XIs all year! Where is their ground by the way? Was at Colwall last Saturday and thought i'd pop down to watch Monmouth at Hanley Castle, but couldn't find it.

Actually having consulted a map Avoncroft is further south than Kidderminster Victoria III & IVs, so they should be playing in Div 3 South next year instead. Could be another useful side having just come down from Division 2.

Will all probably be irrelevant anyway Statto, as I'm suspecting they will go with a Div 1,2,3 and then 4N and 4S next year to try and appease Colwall that they have achieved a promotion of sorts.

Well i hope they'll go back to Divs 3 & 4 after next year, with a possible new Division 5 with 1st and 2nd XIs. There was talk of even regionalising Division 2 but that got given very short shrift by the Division 1 and 2 clubs. Colwall would get more of a game if they went to a single Division 3/4/5 or 3/4N/4S set up year but i can't see it happening before 2008.

Latest news on the grapevine is that there may be a Div 2 North/South split next year. I think it'd be a bad move but it might have something to do with Colwall moaning about not going up...

If we, Wormelow, dont go up next year then, we will moan and get the whole League changed to suit us as well. Poor old Colwall. Fancy not going up when others had the audacity to. What were we thinking of?? Lets hope it doesn`t rain at all next year so we cant blame Michael Fish and his mates!!

Quite agree. Heard the new Travis track..'Why does it always rain on Colwall..'

How about some odds on Div 2 placings next year Statto? What price for Monmouth/Wormelow safety, and what price Colwall to win Div 2 after a back door entry!!?

I'd say there's a good chance Wormelow and Monmouth will stay up, not sure who'll win the league but if either Barnards Green or Alvechurch & Hopwood have a good overseas then they'd be a good bet. Currently even money on Colwall sneaking up 'via the back door'. I'll be very disappointed in the league if they change the whole structure just to suit one team, have to wait and see what happens at the AGM in two months' time.

The bloke from Monmouth who suggested there may be a Div 1/2/3/4N/4S split next year was on the money, as that's been suggested and seems to be the most likely option to be put forward at the AGM. Thus Colwall would have achieved a promotion of sorts to Division 3, but Dominies would be in Div 4 South, possibly with any new teams out of the Marches that will be joining the Worcestershire County League. Did i hear someone say Goodrich, and/or Burghill & Tillington? I can't see any other clubs being happy for them to start in a Division above them so Matty and Dominies might be playing against some old Marches foes next season?!

Whose coming over from the Marches then? Deadline for entries is approaching...

Actually i meant Iron Gloves, but good to see another Monmouthite responding anyway. Don't think anyone from Goodrich is ever on here but there are a couple of blokes from Burghill & Tillington who should be able to say whether they've left the Marches or not...

No unfortunately we (B&TCC) will not be joining the worcs
league for season 2007 but very much hope to do so the following season. Losing some key players this season has
set us back a year but hopefully we should be stronger and
ready to go in 2008. Nothing about leaving was mentioned at
marches meeting by goodrich a week or so ago so id assume they
are staying put for now.

Who have you lost mate?

We lost Clive Chadhani,Bruce his mate and mid season Pete Bailey
to Brockhampton. We have a couple of new recruits hopefully joining so hopefully we can challenge Goodrich next season and
make our way to worc league soon after.

Very surprised that Burghill and Goodrich arnt joining, apparantley 3 teams have applied to join but no one has said who.Maybe Red Marley but all speculation. More speculation is 5 leagues of ten. Surely Colwal cant be throwing thier toys out of the pram about not going up. We had the same ammount called off as them to maybe we should go up to. When s the indoor starting

Red Marley? They're from Gloucestershire?! I think if 3 teams are joining, together with Redditch and Worcester Taverners being relegated from the Birmingham League, that'd leave 52 clubs, ie. Division 1=12 clubs and Divs 2, 3, 4N and 4S, or 4 and 5, =10 clubs. However that'd mean Netherton and Lucs being relegated from Division 2 months after the season ended, so they'd be quite right to kick up a fuss. I can see Division 2 therefore staying as 12 clubs and someone like Barnards Green 3rds and 4ths, or Halesowen or Evesham 3rds and 4ths, or Stourbridge Social 1sts and 2nds, moving up from Divs 4-8 to one of the new Division 4s to make up the numbers, and 54 clubs playing in the top 5 divisions next season.

If i was in your position Matty, and had to go down to div 4 South so that these new clubs could join in Division 3 (a likely scenario) i'd be pretty pissed off. Going to the Worcestershire League AGM to complain about it?