HIMLEY are sweating on the fitness of Dan Smith after the opening bowler suffered a back injury.

The left-arm seamer, coming off a six wicket haul in the season’s opener, pulled up after only three balls into Saturday’s win at Wellington and is unlikely to be risked in this weekend’s home clash with Berkswell.

Skipper Stuart Wedge revealed Smith will see a specialist on tomorrow to try and determine the extent of the injury.

He said: “Dan is not in great shape at the moment.

“We will probably have a clearer picture once after he has seen the doctor.

“I think it is very doubtful he will play on Saturday.

“It’s a long old season and you want your opening bowler playing in as many games as possible so we won’t risk him.

“We don’t want him aggravating anything and being out for longer than he needs to be.”

Despite losing Smith at such an early stage, Himley still went on to record their first win of the season and keep their place at the top of the Birmingham Premier League.

Ashfak Hussain took 5-32 as Wellington were restricted to 149-9 from 55 overs.

Openers Greg Wright (61) and Chris Tranter (27) then gave Himley a solid base in their reply but a middle order collapse saw them slump from 79-1 to 100-6, before the cool head of Mike Jones (17 not out) helped them edge over the line with two wickets to spare.

Wedge believes Hussain’s performance with the ball demonstrated the bowling attack’s strength in depth.

He said: “We have a good variety in the bowling attack and the people capable of taking wickets when it matters.

“From my perspective that’s very encouraging.”

He added: “It was a very interesting game. It ebbed and flowed.

“We clawed it back with the ball when it looked like they might make 20 or 30 more runs than they did.

“The with the bat we got off to a great start before losing our way. It got a bit tense in the end.”

Netherton finally got their season underway in Worcestershire League Division Two but it proved a day to forget as they lost to Feckenham by seven wickets.

Simon Oseland (41) and Russell Oseland (16) were the only players to reach double figures as the hosts were bowled out for just 110.

Jamie Griffiths top scored for the visitors with 37 as they chased down the total.