ASTWOOD Bank will play in the Birmingham League Division Three next summer after being given a reprieve.

Bank finished last season in the bottom four and were destined to return to the Worcestershire League after two years in the higher tier.

But they live to fight another day in the Birmingham League after Pelsall had 40 points deducted following an incident in a game against Worcester CC.

Following a disciplinary hearing convened at Fordhouses CC, a penalty of 40 points was imposed on Pelsall CC, which was applied to the table as they stood at the completion of matches played on Saturday, September 12.

A suspension of 14 league matches was imposed on the Pelsall captain, Daniel Pennell, a figure which was reduced to 12 after an appeal.

Wicketkeeper Tom Chew will also miss 13 league matches as part of a lengthy suspension.

The panel also handed Stephen Blews, Paul Grainger and Todd Henderson six-match suspensions.

However, Pelsall failed in an attempt to reduce the 40-point deduction and suffered relegation to the Staffordshire Club Cricket Championship.

Bank will be well aware they need to improve with the bat after a disappointing 2015 campaign.

While the bowling line-up proved to be consistent, the batting order was among the lowest scorers as Astwood accrued just nine batting bonus points all season.

Bank had won nine games this season, which compared favourably with the teams who finished above them, but a poor mid season slump saw them finish in the bottom four.

Last summer, Astwood had made a fine start and won their four of their first five matches and were second in the table.

However, they struggled with the traditional win, lose and draw format in the league and in the middle of the season and won just twice in 11 games thereafter.

Bank ended the season with some promise, beating Kings Heath, Streetly and C&R Hawks but it was not enough to prevent a bottom-four finish.

Captain Steve Adshead hoped the momentum from the last few games would stand them in good stead for the 2016 campaign.

He said: “In hindsight we’d have done a few things differently.

“But I must say, we ended the season well which ensured we were able to take advantage of the situation, so it’s credits to the lads for that.”