Griffiths and Hales ready for Harborne showdown

The rivals meet at Seth Somers Park separated by one point and one place in the middle reaches of Birmingham League Division Two.

Extra spice should be added by the fact Halesowen were deducted 30 points last season following several incidents at the end of the sides’ first meeting.

But Griffiths, who is looking for Hales to bounce back from a disappointing defeat at Stratford, says the game is a big one for both sides regardless of what may have happened in the past.

He said: “They are our local rivals in this division but as far as what happened last season, that’s all done and dusted.

“Having said that, it’s a massive game for both sides.

“We know the quality they have in their side and we also know if we finish above them this season, we will be right in the mix for promotion.

“I still don’t feel we’ve played anywhere near our best and we it’s time we started putting a few results together.”

Griffiths was honest in his assessment of Halesowen’s showing at Stratford, admitting his side had been “outplayed from the first ball.”

After winning the toss in a game reduced to 34 overs-a-side, Griffiths sent the hosts into bat but his bowling unit came up against strong resistance in the shape of opener Rob West, who hit 71 in Stratford’s total of 169-5.

In reply, Hales just simply couldn’t stem the regular fall of wickets and despite 30 from the skipper they were bowled out for 101.

Griffiths believes his side need to be more consistent with the bat.

He said: “In hindsight, it was probably a good toss to lose.

“I don’t think any captain would have decided to bat given the conditions but the pitch actually played better than we were expecting.

“Having said that, we were simply not at the races and can’t have any complaints about the defeat.

“It seems at the moment we are struggling to get runs. We are bowling pretty well but we have no consistency with the bat.

“The only solution is to keep working hard.”