Captain Charlie Home believes Shropshire continued to move in the right direction this season with further improvements made in their performances in National Counties cricket.
Shropshire finished second in Western Division Two of the NCCA Championship, responding well to defeat in their opening three-day match at Cornwall, the eventual table-toppers, to then beat Wales and Dorset either side of a draw at Cheshire.
Roman Walker, the former Leicestershire and Glamorgan seamer, made an immediate impact with the ball in his first season with Shropshire, while Shrewsbury’s Seb Scott led the way with the bat for the county in the Championship, including hitting his maiden Shropshire century in the final game of the season against Dorset at Whitchurch.
Shropshire also impressed in the NCCA Twenty20 competition, winning five of their eight group matches in the shorter format, ahead of narrowly losing to Bedfordshire at the Super 12s stage.
Shropshire may have been unable to replicate their excellent run from the previous season in the NCCA Trophy when they progressed to the final, as this time they exited the 50-over competition at the group stage, but there was an exciting win over Cambridgeshire at Shifnal when Andre Bradford, having expertly led Shropshire’s chase, sealed victory off the last ball of the game.
Home said a number of younger players were successfully introduced to the Shropshire side during the campaign, including Finn Jones, Ollie Smith and Morgan Ward, with the Shifnal all-rounder quick to thank his club mate Tom Fell for deputising as skipper after he was ruled out of the opening months of the campaign owing to dislocating and breaking a finger at pre-season nets.
Home said: “It’s never easy as captain when you pick up an injury, as I did in the last pre-season net session at Shrewsbury School, which meant I missed all of the white-ball season.
“But I think everyone pulled together brilliantly and a huge thanks to Tom Fell for taking on the captaincy for all of our white-ball matches in the 50-over and T20 competitions.
“Thanks as well to Ed Ashlin, the first-team coach, and Dave Cartledge, the team manager who was new to the club this season, who have both done a fantastic job.
A successful season overall
“It’s been a successful season overall and we already look ahead to next year knowing it probably comes down to needing to start the campaign slightly better than we did this season.
“If we had started our opening 50-over group game against Cumbria, which we lost at Bridgnorth, better, and also the first three-day game against Cornwall better, it may have been a different situation, but overall we have had a good time of things.
“We’ve improved since the early-season 50-over games. It’s always going to be difficult with the change in personnel and a number of key players no longer playing, so it was a slightly new-look side and we got better as the 50-over competition continued.
“Over the last few years we have probably had a similar side, particularly in 50-over cricket, whereas this summer that probably changed slightly with people like George Hargrave no longer playing and Jacques Banton also not featuring, while Andre Bradford only played in the white-ball games. That leaves some big holes as they are quality cricketers.
“It’s given opportunities to others and they have really stood up and done well, so it’s all credit to them. I think Shropshire cricket is in a very good place as we have introduced some very exciting youngsters to the side and it all bodes well for the future.
“Twenty20 cricket is a format we have probably struggled with over the last couple of years, but we did really well to make it through to the Super 12s where we had a good game against Bedfordshire. We didn’t quite get over the line in that one, but credit to everyone who played in that, and our T20 cricket certainly improved this season.
“As for the three-day campaign, it’s always disappointing to lose the first game, as we did at Cornwall, but after that we were brilliant. I think we were in the driving seat against Cheshire for the first day and a half before they batted well in their second innings to get a draw.
“To win the two other two games against Wales at Bridgnorth and Dorset at Whitchurch was a great effort, so overall it’s been a successful season.
“We have welcomed a few new players into the Championship team, so it’s really encouraging signs moving forward.
“We have improved throughout the season and, looking ahead to next year, I think we’re in a really good place to try and contend for some silverware and also promotion in our Championship campaign.”
Home thanked club officials for all their help and support behind the scenes throughout the season, including “unsung hero” Kevin O’Connell, the club’s scorer and statistician.
“Thanks as well to all of our supporters,” added Home. “We are very well supported and I think they are happy with the progress we have made and were pleased that we ended the season on a high by winning our final game against Dorset.”
Pictured: Shropshire captain Charlie Home.