The County Times' resident cricket pundit Patrick Cudmore on Newtown's clash with Ellesmere.

Newtown will be hoping for an easy Saturday however they will be facing a resurgent Ellesmere side who are off the back of their first win of the season.

Newtown suffered a tough defeat against Beacon last week on the floodplains of Frankwell.

This can be a difficult pitch to play on as it retains water while others dry.

You always seem to have one short boundary towards the pavilion so it can be an easier place to chase a score because batsman chasing have a release shot that can relieve any pressure.

When Beacon did win the toss and put Newtown in to bat there must have been some murmurs from the top order of Newtown.

Newtown lost regular wickets as Mitchell Lloyd (3-22) and Jack Doyle (2-16) made early inroads.

There was some resistance from Sam Morris (17) and Joe Monk (13) but then it was the turn of Antony Duffy (4-10) to come on and clean up the tail.

While Newtown produced some tight bowling spells in reply, there wasn’t the time or score available to apply the pressure on Beacon and the total was knocked off in 18 overs.

When news broke of Ellesmere’s win on social media last weekend, there were many joyous but somewhat surprised faces.

This is not because anyone wanted Bridgnorth IIs to lose, but because Ellesmere have suffered a difficult season with little success, it was good to see them get a win.

Ellesmere won the toss and elected to bat at home and there was a shared performance with the willow.

Jonathan Mitchell (46) started well at the top and then the middle order fired as Sam Budd (56) and Tom Davies (60) made a majority of the runs as Ellesmere set 258 in 45 overs.

In reply Fraser Duncan (5-19) was the pick of the bowlers making early inroads at the top and then coming back to clean up the tail. The chase must have been on at one point as Charlie Walker (52) and Cameron Wallis (58) both built innings before they were both removed by Tom Davies (4-22).

The way the scorecard reads this must have been a good game of cricket to watch with some good performances with both bat and ball from both teams.

So, what to expect this weekend?

Early weather reports show overcast and muggy conditions perfect for the swing bowling.

We hope that the weather holds off across Shropshire as the pitches have now hardened and scores are expected to rise again.

Ellesmere will be confident and wanting to build on their success last week.

Newtown will be hoping to right the wrongs of last week and either build a healthy total or make early inroads to stop any momentum Ellesmere may have.