Smethwick lose their grip on Birmingham League cricket crown

Smethwick were forced to settle for second as they failed to make it a three-peat in the Birmingham & District League this season.

Knowle & Dorridge were instead crowned as champions for the third time at the mid-innings interval of their visit to Kenilworth Wardens, having clinched the three batting points which took them out of the reach of 2025 and 2024 winners Smethwick.

The outgoing champions did finish on a high as a five-wicket home win over Barnt Green left them 20 points ahead of third-placed Halesowen.

Smethwick's triumph was once again inspired by a stunning innings from Division One's leading scorer Viken Kedaria, who finished 2026 with 1,164 runs.

Kedariya smashed 139 off 115 balls including three sixes and 17 boundaries, and with Khatri plus Bilal Shafayat offering useful support Smethwick cruised past Barnt Green's 254/9 with 3.2 overs remaining. Opener Ben Chapman-Lilley top-scored for the visitors with 59.

After finishing behind only champions Smethwick in 2024 and 2025, Halesowen completed another consistent season by finishing third on the back of a 62-run home win over Black Country rivals Himley.

Wes Griffiths' team posted 292/8 as opener Joe Porter capped a fine first Birmingham League campaign with 105 while Fin Goodman added a quickfire 67.

Ollie Walker and Dinuk De Silva took three wickets apiece for the visitors and Walker also impressed with the bat, scoring 86 off 70 balls, but his side were dismissed for 230 with Arun Kalsi finishing with 4-36.

Meanwhile, Division Two champions Attock rounded off their season by claiming a remarkable 16th win of the year by a narrow margin at Wolverhampton.

Skipper Joe Stanley’s 3-32 was the pick of the home bowling as they skittled Attock for 241.

Set a revised target of 229 from 42 overs, Wolves were going well at 185/5 from 33 overs thanks to Sri Lankan pro Rishin Upamal, who completed 1,000 runs for the year on his way to 101.

However, a late collapse saw the hosts slip to 222 all out and a six-run reverse with 15 deliveries unused.

An excellent ton from Hasan Ahmed helped Old Hill to a convincing seven-wicket home win over already-relegated Kidderminster, for whom skipper Liam Weston finished as the league's top wicket-taker with 52 scalps.

Ahmed hit 134 off just 103 balls while adding 153 for the first wicket with Hamza Khan (69). Sayf Hosein then chipped in with a useful 46 as the Black Country side reached their 276-run target with 14 overs unused.

Earlier, an unbeaten 55 from Nathan Jukes plus a useful 76-run partnership between Luke Stynes (45) and Ali Latif (43no) had taken Kiddy to 275/5.

West Bromwich Dartmouth recovered from 147/7 to post 277/7 at Stourbridge thanks to an outstanding unbroken 130-run partnership between former Warwickshire all-rounder Ateeq Javid (126no) and skipper Danny Cox (52no).

JS Johal responded with 101 for the hosts but with Tim Maxfield claiming 3-34 Stourbridge were bowled out for 255 in the 46th over to finish 22 runs shy of their target.

And Milford Hall went down to Tamworth by four wickets - despite the best efforts of Jordan Bulpitt (52) and Dominic Afford (56).