Roman Walker played a starring role for Shropshire against one of his former teams as he helped the county complete a six-victory over Wales in the NCCA Cluberley Championship.
Walker, the former Leicestershire and Glamorgan all-rounder, bowled Shropshire into a strong position on the opening day by taking eight Wales first innings wickets. He then followed it up by being one of four Shropshire players to hit a half century as the hosts took control of the game at the halfway stage.
Inspired by a century from Rhodri Lewis, Wales fought back well when they batted for a second time to take the match deep into the third and final day at Bridgnorth.
Shropshire were eventually set a target of 170, and half centuries from Joe Johnson and Seb Scott, his second of the match, helped guide them home and secure 24 Western Division Two points.
“They’re always knee-knockers, aren’t they, that’s the thing,” smiled Walker, referring to Shropshire’s run chase on the final afternoon. “I think we did really well. Joe Johnson put his foot down when he came in and fought fire with fire, especially with the short ball plan that they came with.
“Then it was a brilliant innings from Seb Scott. I think it was a 27-ball 50. That just put us well ahead of the game. Those two contributions in terms of that chase were absolutely perfect and exactly what we needed.”
On Shropshire delivering their first three-day win of the season after impressively bouncing back from defeat in their Championship opener at Cornwall earlier this month, Walker added: “The lads are very, very happy, which is good to see as a team.”
Wales regularly lost wickets on the opening day as they were bowled out for 166 inside 63 overs, despite useful contributions from Sami Khan (43) and skipper Cameron Herring (36), with Walker inflicting much of the damage as he claimed an excellent 8-44 from 18.5 overs.
Has he had better bowling figures? “No, that goes up to the top of the list for me,” he said. “I’m very proud of it, very happy about that, but I think it’s mostly that we managed to get the lads off the field prematurely and get our feet up for a little bit! But, yes, I’m really happy with that performance.”
Walker’s are the fifth best by a Shropshire bowler in Championship cricket dating back to 1957, only bettered by Andy Gray’s 9-56 against Cornwall in 2008, Joe Stanley’s 9-83 against Wiltshire in 2023, DS de Silva’s 8-41 against Cheshire in 1982 and Geoff Othen’s 8-42 against Bedfordshire in 1969.
He was quick to ask Kevin O’Connell, Shropshire’s scorer, where his opening day efforts placed him on the county’s all-time list: “Well, I did ask Kev the question,” added Walker. “He’s got all the stats. I thought I may be up the top. They’re half decent figures at the end of the day, and he came back and I was fifth on the list. I thought they’ve had some good performances then in the past! Well, there we go, I’ll have to try again.”
Impressive first-wicket partnership
Shropshire moved past the Wales total as they closed day one on 204-2, helped by an impressive first-wicket partnership of 115 between Finn Jones and Harry Chandler.
Promising Shrewsbury batter Jones, who has just turned 17, hit 14 boundaries as he struck 78 from 79 balls in his first Championship innings. Chandler was the first wicket to fall on the second day, heading back to the pavilion for 71, as his second-wicket stand of 101 with Scott came to an end.
Scott was also soon out for 60 as Shropshire slipped from 251-2 to 256-5, before Walker’s rapid 52 ensured the hosts claimed maximum batting points as they were dismissed for 348, with Jonathan Davies (3-58) and Ollie Rayner (3-63) the pick of the visiting attack.
Trailing by 182 runs at the halfway stage, Wales cut the deficit to 18 by the end of the second day, with a sixth-wicket partnership between Rhodri Lewis and Luke Griffiths moving to 146 as Shropshire chased an all-important breakthrough.
It eventually arrived just before lunch on the final day when Walker – who enjoyed playing for Wales earlier in his career when he was with Glamorgan – removed Griffiths, caught and bowled for 89.
Lewis went on to complete his century, making 108 from 199 balls, including 12 fours, and Wales were eventually all out for 351 in the 120th over of their second innings.
Ben Roberts took 3-102 while George McCormick (2-45), Warrick Fynn (2-48) and Joe Stanley (2-77) also played their part with the ball.
That left Shropshire requiring 170 to win and, after losing opener Jones for 24 from the final delivery before tea to leave them 52-2, Johnson played some big shots to take the game away from Wales during an entertaining 64, which featured four sixes and six boundaries.
Shrewsbury’s Scott, back in familiar surroundings as a former Bridgnorth player, then went on the attack, sealing victory with his second towering six as he ended unbeaten on 58 from just 28 balls, leading Shropshire to 175-4 from the first ball of the 28th over.
It also ensured Shropshire wicketkeeper Ben Lees was on the winning side in a memorable match for the Shifnal player in which he completed 100 dismissals across all three National Counties formats for his home county, with 80 catches and 20 stumpings.
Victory sets Shropshire up nicely for their next Championship match against Cheshire, which starts at Nantwich on Sunday.
Pictured: The Shropshire players are all smiles following victory in their NCCA Championship match against Wales at Bridgnorth.