Birmingham League round-up: Himley survive as rain washes out the final weekend
Director of cricket Chris Boroughs said it was a ‘massive relief’ for everyone at Himley after they maintained their position in Birmingham League Division One at the weekend.
The Stourbridge Road side travelled to Malvern to take on Barnards Green on the final day of the season, while their relegation rivals Wolverhampton welcomed Halesowen.
Himley had an 11-point advantage heading into the game after a brilliant seven-wicket win against title-hunting Shrewsbury the week before.
That turned out to be a pivotal weekend in the race for survival, as Wolves lost a crucial away clash at Berkswell.
In the end, the race was decided without a ball being bowled. Heavy rain in the lead up to the weekend’s action meant conditions were already poor, and further rain on Saturday meant only three overs and five balls were possible throughout the whole league.
With Himley’s survival, Boroughs said they are going to use this as a platform to kick on from.
He said: “With various availability issues and a couple other things it meant we didn’t really hit our straps and we only just managed to stay up in the end.
“It was a massive relief and is something we are going to use to hopefully push on next year.
“We will be better for the experience and hopefully we can show a lot better performances both with bat and ball going forward.
“We will just build on what we have been doing for a successful 2026.”
Ollie Walker was not just Himley’s, but one of the league’s best players in the 2025 season.
The hard-hitting all-rounder compiled 716 runs and 27 wickets, something Boroughs praised.
“The stand-out performer was Ollie Walker,” he continued. “He troubled other bowling attacks with powerful innings from the beginning of the season through to the end.
“The bowling was shared around. Nobody was an absolute star, but various bowlers delivered at crucial moments of the season. We will now build on this moving forward.”
Halesowen paceman Ed Bragg (43 wickets) was the league's third highest wicket-taker as his club finished as the nearest challengers to Rawait Khan's champions Smethwick for a second consecutive season.
The Black Country outfit finished two points ahead of ECB National Club Championship semi-finalists Knowle & Dorridge.
In Division Two, West Bromwich Dartmouth finished fourth behind Leamington - batter Ismail Mohammed finished the season with 837 runs.
Old Hill backed up their brilliant T20 campaign with a top-half league finish. Hasan Ahmed (802) and Saad Naseem (881) have prolific campaigns with the bat.
Stourbridge were promoted at the end of last season, and they did very well on their return to the Birmingham League. They finished seventh, and Dan Wale ended as the division’s leading wicket taker with 46 poles.
Kidderminster had a disappointing campaign, and they finished eighth on 225 points.
The Birmingham League play-offs get under way this weekend with Attock, winners of the Warwickshire County League, Wellington, winners of the Shropshire County League, Milford, winners of the South Staffordshire County League, and Stourport, winners of the Worcester League all competing for promotion.
