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Shropshire name squad for Sunday’s T20 matches against Staffordshire at Whitchurch

Whitchurch-CC

Staffordshire provide the opposition for Shropshire’s opening home group matches in this season’s National Counties Cricket Association Twenty20 competition on Sunday.

The teams will face each other twice at Whitchurch’s Heath Road ground, with the opening match getting under way at 11am.

A second game between the sides will follow later in the afternoon, with admission free for spectators to watch both matches.

Shropshire’s T20 campaign started with two defeats against Cheshire at Oxton last weekend, while Staffordshire opened with two victories over Northumberland.

Sam Whitney, Shropshire’s T20 vice-captain, said: “Staffordshire are always very strong. It’s a really good challenge for us and I think we are hopefully just going to get better and better as the competition goes on.

“We had a good chat after the two Cheshire games last weekend about how we want to approach T20 cricket.”

Shropshire will select from a squad of 12, with Bridgnorth seamer Charlie Walker, Sentinel all-rounder James Shaw and Shrewsbury seamer Harry Darley, who recently joined the London Road club from Oswestry, added to last Sunday’s team.

From last weekend’s squad, Michael Robinson and Sam Ellis are both unavailable, while David Laird is injured.

Whitney said: “James came into our Championship side last season and did well. He bowls with a lot of control.

“Charlie played a couple of Championship games last season. He’s still a young lad but he’s played a lot of first team cricket.

“Having captained him last year at Bridgnorth, you can give him the ball in pressure situations.

“Harry’s another young player who has really impressed in the last couple of years. He’s played a lot of cricket for Oswestry and has done very well.

“He’s also been doing a bit of work at Worcestershire’s Academy and has gone from strength to strength. He’s a very exciting talent.”

Meanwhile, Shropshire’s T20 captain Graham Wagg will be presented with the Wilfred Rhodes Trophy by Nick Archer, the chairman of the National Counties Cricket Association, during Sunday’s lunch interval for having the highest batting average in the NCCA Championship last season.

Wagg struck 453 Championship runs, including two hundreds and a half-century, at an average of 56.63 in his first season playing for Shropshire.

Shropshire, from: Andre Bradford (Swarkestone), Ben Lees (Bridgnorth), Graham Wagg (Wem, captain), Ryan Lockley (Bridgnorth), Tyler Ibbotson (Shrewsbury), Matty Simmonds (Bridgnorth), James Shaw (Sentinel), Sam Whitney (Bridgnorth), Ben Roberts (Bridgnorth), Martin Boyle (Madeley), Charlie Walker (Bridgnorth), Harry Darley (Shrewsbury).

Pictured: Shropshire will face Staffordshire in two T20 matches at Whitchurch’s Heath Road ground on Sunday.