Sat 1st XI vs Bloxwich - Away

Bloxwich 198 for 7 wks in 50 overs Won 25 pts
Rushall 80 all out Lost 1 pts

Rushall suffered a heavy defeat to local rivals Bloxwich.

The whole nature of the game could have changed early on if the Rushall bowlers had been able to remove Scott; they didn’t and he went on to be the mainstay of the Bloxwich innings, hitting an impressive 87, the only other Bloxwich batter to get going was McAree with 26 as they posted a respectable 198 for 7 wks in their 50 overs. Alan Dunn completed another excellent season with the ball, picking up 2 of the Bloxwich wickets to bring his season total to 43.

The Rushall reply seamed to be following the same pattern with Ian Clayton, dominating the Rushall reply scoring 48 out of the first 65 runs. This ensured Ian finished leading run scorer for Rushall this season. Once Ian departed it all fell apart for Rushall very quickly as they then lost 8 wickets for just 15 runs, to collapse to 80 all out. McAree was their main tormentor finishing with figures of 5 for 18, with Langston chipping in at the end with 3 wickets in just 2 overs.

Rushall 2nd vs Bloxwich - Staffs League 3A

Rushall 251 for 8 (dec) in 45 overs Won 25 pts
Bloxwich 206 all out in 41 overs Lost 6 pts

Rushall maintained their ruthless streak to the end of the season, but a couple of dropped chances made the sweat on their way to the win against Bloxwich.

Rushall skipper Mick Cooke won the toss and elected to bat in search of another maximum point win, the top order then added a few extra years to Mick, as they slumped to 14 for 3 wickets in just 5 overs. Arshad Mohammed the led the fight back, and when he shared in a 112 run partnership with Mick Cooke, Rushall were back firmly in the driving seat, Arshad was first out for 57, shortly followed by Mick for 61. Andy Calahan, who thumped the Bloxwich bowling, provided the final flourish to the innings. He was dismissed by Birch for 42, and Birch finished with figures of 4 for 43.

Rushall quickly set about the Bloxwich batting, with Paul Hopkinson leading the way, taking 5 of the top 6 batsmen, and when he dismissed Alan King (who had been persuaded out of retirement for the game) for a golden duck, with the score on 83 for 8, the game seemed over. But Birch and Passey had other ideas, as they then put on a 104 run partnership, they did ride their luck at times with several easy chances being put down, but a well taken catch at deep square leg, of the bowling of Mick Cooke, saw Birch go for 60, and Mick then quickly wrapped up the final batsman, to finish with figures of 3 for 49. Paul Hopkinson meanwhile had wrapped up the leading wicket taker for the seconds with his figures of 6 for 35, to bring his tally to 37 for the season.

Even though they secured the maximum 25 points this was not enough for promotion, with Codsall piping them for 4 points to the 2nd spot.