CAPTAIN Alexei Kervezee says July will be a key month for Halesowen.

Hales suffered a losing draw at Himley last Saturday despite a century from Ed Kilbee.

Their opponents showed a return to form by compiling 299-6 before Halesowen responded with 288 for five.

Oliver Westbury compiled 104 from 165 balls for Himley and debutant overseas player Shehan Fernando chipped in with a brisk 87 from 63 balls.

For Halesowen, Ed Kilbee scored a round 100 and Hassan Quami hit 65 as he and Kilbee put on 113 for the second wicket. Eventually, Halesowen finished 12 runs short of an unlikely victory after Charlie Hartley clattered 37 not out from 20 balls at the end of the innings.

Speaking after the game Kervezee said: "It was a tough afternoon for us. Having lost the toss on a good wicket and a rapid outfield Himley seemed rejuvenated by the arrival of their new overseas player Fernando which we expected but chasing a total of 300 is always going to be a huge challenge.

"However, we stuck to the plans of building a good base through Ed and Hassan to be able to put ourselves in with a chance of winning it. We just needed that extra bit of power in the middle of the innings to take us closer and Charlie nearly provided us with that but in the end it was not to be.

"It seems a cruel game to come within 12 runs of scoring 300 and only get eight points but we remain on a good run and we are tough to beat and at this stage of the season that’s good news.

"July is going to be crucial for us and we know it. We have four games where we play two teams rooted at the bottom of the table and two teams that lie above us. We need to be playing our best cricket this month to reach our goals for the season."

Halesowen fall to fifth but just nine points from third ahead of their trip to Brockhampton this Saturday.

Meanwhile, the second team demolished Shrewsbury thanks to 5-37 from young leg spinner Archie Reeves. Batting first the Shrews collapsed to 109 all out with Hales passing the total for five wickets to win comfortably and remain second in the table.

The third team will be looking to get back to winning ways after two consecutive defeats. On a flat pitch with small boundaries Halesowen worked their way to 239 all out but Alveley 1st XI passed the total with two overs to spare to win by two wickets.

Finally, the fourth XI picked up their second win of the season to move off the bottom of the table chasing down 184 to win by three wickets. Vinny O’Grady (51*) backed up by 2 wickets each for Bilal Khan, Sam Butt and James Knowles.

In other news the club are reporting record sales for the Halesowen CC Beer Festival on July 13 14 and 15 where already 100s of tickets have been sold. Starting at just £10 for the day – tickets available on line at is halesowenbeerfest.co.uk