Bridgnorth CC 1st XI v Newport XI (Home)
Bridgnorth 1st XI (184-9) lost to Newport (185-4) by 6 wickets
Batting: T. Whitney 105*.
Bowling: M. MacPherson-Lees 1-, Andy Leather 1-, Shafiq Ahmed 1-, M. Martin 1-.
Bridgnorth 1st XI lost their final pre-season match by 6 wickets at home to Newport on Saturday.
Batting first, the home side struggled along to 95-7 with only opener Tom Whitney providing any real resistance. He found some late order allies first in the captain Mark Macpherson-Lees and then all rounder Ian Baldwin as Whitney completed a brilliant 105 not out in taking Bridgnorth to 184-9 off 45 overs.
Newport's reply was based around solid contributions from all the batsmen and they reached their target losing just the 4 wickets with 19 balls remaining. For Bridgnorth, MacPherson-Lees, Andy Leather, triallist Shafiq Ahmed and Matt Martin all picked up a wicket a piece.
Bridgnorth begin their Birmingham League Division 3 campaign next Saturday with a home fixture against Shropshire rivals Whitchurch.
Bridgnorth CC 2nd XI v Newport XI (Home)
Bridgnorth 2nd XI (51) lost to Newport (52-3) by 7 wickets
Batting: A. Carson 16.
Bowling: S. Caine 3-6.
Bridgnorth 2nd XI crashed to a heavy 7 wicket defeat away at Newport in a friendly on Saturday.
Put into bat on a very wet and green Newport track Bridgnorth progressed without much fuss to 17-0, with no sign of the impending carnage. With some disciplined bowling, the innings then imploded with the team falling to a meagre 51 all out in 34.2 overs, with top scorer Andy Carson (16) being only one of two batsmen to make it to double figures.
With the ball Bridgnorth showed some spirit in making Newport work for the runs, although it came as little surprise when the hosts reached the required total for the loss of 3 wickets in the 22nd over. Offspinner Steve Caine was back in the groove with figures of 3-6, and the highlight of the day came when young debutante Will Buxton held on to his first senior catch.
Bridgnorth 2nds will look for a big improvement ahead of next week's long trip to Kenilworth Wardens for the first league game of the season.
Bridgnorth CC 3rd XI v Grove (Away)
Bridgnorth 3rd XI (45) lost to Grove (163-9) by 118 runs
Batting:
Bowling: L. Brown 4-40, M. Weston 2-30, K. Osborne 2-35.
A very youthful Bridgnorth 3rd XI completed a miserable Saturday for the club as they went down by 118 runs away at Grove.
Bridgnorth captain Liam Brown won the toss and chose to bowl first, and it was the skipper along with fellow opener Josh Jones who restricted the Grove scoring in the first 13 overs, conceding just 30 runs. Good support from Kieran Osborne (2-35) and Mark Weston (2-30) kept Grove's total to 163-9, but Brown was the pick of the attack, finishing with excellent figures of 4-40.
The bowlers were well supported in the field with good catches from Ben Taylor, Osborne, Weston and Graham Baldwin.
In reply Bridgnorth struggled throughout their innings, with Josh Jones and Dan Taylor the only batsmen to get going. The result was a disappointing 45 all out in just 22.2 overs, and defeat by 118 runs.
The 3rds will hope to improve their start to the season with a home game against Wellington IVs next week.
