Birmingham Premier League

STUDLEY'S promotion hopes were kept alive at the weekend when they claimed a winning draw at fellow high-fliers Wolverhampton.

But it could have been even better for the Washford Fields side who were just one wicket away from beating their Black Country hosts.

Studley had Stuart Harris back in the side to lead the bowling attack and he turned on the style with an impressive display that had Wolverhampton reeling.

And skipper Richard Gregory admitted that his five-wicket haul had helped keep his team's season alive.

"We knew we needed a result of some sort to maintain our hopes, a defeat would have brought our season to an end," Gregory explained.

"Stuart has come back fired up after his holiday and bowled his socks, taking five wickets from around 20 overs, and we had Mark Lewis tying them up at the other end.

"It was an excellent game, swinging one way then the other. With eight overs to go they needed 30 runs with just one wicket in hand."

Penn are the visitors to Studley on Saturday and Gregory is hoping for a victory to maintain his side's promotion push.

And with Adie Smith unavailable, the skipper is set to open the innings with Simon Stamenkovich, keen to bolster his own run tally.

"I have been scoring 20s and 30s so I'm hoping I can go on and get a 50," Gregory added.

n Redditch skipper Dan Protherough is hoping influential run machine Simon Allison is fit in time for this weekend's vital round of matches.

The Aussie hurt his back while keeping wicket on Saturday and was taken to hospital as a precaution.

But doctors decided he had suffered nothing more than a back spasm and his captain hopes to have him back after a week of rest.

An impressive 55 not out from teenager Adam Gailey helped Redditch grab a draw at St Georges. Hugh Humphries also chipped in with a useful 33 while Nev Mason (5-69) was the pick of the bowlers.

Mason undergoes an operation on his knee this week, ruling him out for the remainder of the season while Steve Rose and Russell Southwick are on holiday.