The Annual West Midlands Police Sports & Social Club Cricket Match

A somewhat gloomy Thursday saw the return of one of the most eagerly anticipated cricket matches of the year – the Women’s Ashes. Unbeknownst to them, on a ground not too far away, an equally competitive and just as important game was scheduled to take place in the evening at the West Midlands Police Sports & Social Club – the annual BLS -v- WMP game.

The evening kicked off with the BLS skipper, Mohammad Abdullah (Shoosmiths), winning the toss, and electing to bat. He was joined at the crease by Jonathan Nosworthy (St Philips Chambers), with the pair both reaching the maximum of 25 runs before having to retire. BLS continued to pile on the runs, with Abdul Hafeez (No5 Chambers) also retiring after some lusty blows, and others chipping in with valuable contributions down the order. Bad light resulted in the game being shortened to 16 overs, with BLS eventually posting a target of 153.

In response, although the BLS opening bowlers – Tom Hadden (Pinsent Masons) and David Evison (Anthony Collins Solicitors) bowled well and gave little away, some good hitting from WMP saw some acceleration in the middle overs. However, it was too little too late, with BLS eventually winning the game by more than 60 runs. The Chief Constable was gracious in defeat and announced his retirement from captaining the side prior to his stepping down from the force. We would like to thank CC Chris Sims for his efforts both on and off the field, and wish him all the best for the future.

Many thanks to all those who played a part in organising and participating in this year’s event. A special thanks to Tony Rollason representing one of our main sponsors Landmark who kindly umpired for the evening.

 

TEAM BLS

 

TEAM WMP