Defeats leave Himley hopes in tatters

The Bank Holiday weekend turned into something of a nightmare for the Stourbridge Road side as defeats to Wellington and leaders Barnt Green left them 46 points behind with three games to go.

They now face a fight to hold second place with Shrewsbury, Wellington and Knowle and Dorridge breathing down their necks but Wedge is determined to finish the season with a flourish.

He said: “We don’t want to fall flat just because we can’t now win the league.

“Finishing in mid-table would be nothing to shout about and we want to make sure we are the side who finish second.

“We are playing a couple of teams who are down fighting against relegation which won’t be easy by any means.”

Himley went into Monday’s top-of-the-table clash with Barnt Green already under pressure following Saturday’s defeat to Wellington.

In a game heavily affected by the weather, Himley’s innings was twice interrupted as they could only post 118-7 from 32 overs, which the visitors chased down for a seven wicket win.

It was a similar story on Monday, when they were bowled out for just 130 as Green recorded a five wicket win. Their disappointing weekend was perhaps best summed up by overseas star Wasim Jaffer, who in his final games for the club, was dismissed for a pair of ducks.

Wedge added: “It’s disappointing how things went. We were always up against it on Saturday and the weather didn’t really help.

“On Monday you could argue we were never really at the races after getting off to such a poor start. 130 was never going to be enough but we at least put them under pressure with the ball - if we had added another 40 to 50 runs it could have been a different outcome.

“It’s important we don’t get too down about it as we’ve had a very encouraging season on the whole.

“In some of the games we have fielded 13 and 14-year-old players which is almost unheard of in the Birmingham League.

“Their development has been really encouraging and is testament to the club.”