AUSTRALIAN batsman Lachlan Hartley says he would consider staying at Wormelow if the opportunity arose.

Hartley has been in blistering form for the villagers this season and has scored the most runs in the Worcestershire County League with 815 – 114 more than nearest rival Innocent Kala of Worcester Nomads.

"I've still got a long to go in the season, but if there's demand to play higher cricket, it's definitely an option, but if there's not, then I'm very happy where I am," said Hartley, who is from the central Queensland area of Australia.

"They're a really good bunch of blokes to play with, so when we win, it's an extra bonus and, even when we have lost, we haven't dwelled on it too much.

"My brother [Brent] played last year and we had Lee Watkins come over to Australia and play for our team back home.

"He had contacts over there and one thing led to another and I ended up being invited to come over.

"I'm pretty happy with how the first half of the season has gone, but there's a lot of work to be done.

"But hopefully by the end of the season, we'll be top three if we can pull these wins together."

It looked like Hartley was on his way to another big score last Saturday when he hit three boundaries off his first five balls.

But he was then clean bowled by Cristian Battley for 13 as Wormelow chased down Alvechurch & Hopwood's total of 115.

However, the Kennel Field side never looked in trouble and secured a much-needed five-wicket win in Division Two.

Wormelow went into the game in poor form and were sitting just above the relegation zone.

But good bowling and a fine half-century by returning Luke Sparrow helped them over the line.

Sparrow said he sees no reason why Wormelow can't now start climbing the table.

"The next two games are key, if we get a few victories under our belt, it will be a lot better place for us," said Sparrow.

"It was only my second game, it's going well so far and as a team, we bowled really well.

"Things look positive and hopefully we will now push on for the next few weeks.

"I've been elsewhere for the majority of the season, so it was only my second game, but it's a great place to play cricket and I'm hoping that the next few weeks will bring the club what it deserves - a few better results than the last few have.

"We're not where we want to be, but hopefully in the next month we will be in the top four of five and really pressing at the end of the season for those top few positions.

"I don't believe that the side we've got here should be where they are in the league.

"Now we've got a few people coming back, we can definitely push on in the second half of the season and we should be looking to get promoted from this league in my opinion."

Wormelow got off to a great start when Tom Cutler trapped Matt Hayward lbw with only the second ball.

Alvechurch & Hopwood, who are bottom of Division Two, soon got their act together with Liam Hall and Nick Jones putting on 59 for the second wicket.

But when Hall was caught by wicketkeeper Sam Charles off Alastair Main's delivery, more wickets fell.

To his credit, Jones continued adding runs, but none of his fellow team-mates were able to do likewise.

When he went for 46, Alvechurch & Hopwood were 104-7, with the final three wickets going for just 11 runs; Main finishing with 3-11.

Sparrow's 52 was key to Wormelow claiming the win, with Elliott Williams also finishing unbeaten on 20.