Shropshire ready for bank holiday double-header in One Day Trophy

Joe Stanley bowling against Cumbria at Bridgnorth

Shropshire face a busy bank holiday weekend as they look forward to their next two group matches in the NV Play One Day Trophy.

After opening their National Counties campaign with defeat by 73 runs against Cumbria at Bridgnorth last weekend, Shropshire welcome the opportunity presented by the fixture list to play twice over the next few days.

Cambridgeshire will provide the opposition at Shifnal on Sunday, with Shropshire also in action 24 hours later when they play their first away game of the season against Cheshire at Oxton Cricket Club on Monday.

Both matches in the 50-over competition will start at 11am.

Shropshire captain Charlie Home, who is currently sidelined with injury, said: “The result sadly didn’t go our way last Sunday. I was at the game and Cumbria played very well. They out performed us in all three disciplines, but the great thing is that we’ve got two goes at it now to try and change things around.

“We started with a win last season, but in previous years gone by we’ve lost out first group game in this competition and then gone very close to qualifying regardless, so it would be nice to have positive results in these two games.

Two changes

“Cambridgeshire and Cheshire are both good sides, so we will need to be at our best, and there’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the case.”

Shropshire make two changes from the team which faced Cumbria, with Shrewsbury skipper Lewis Evans and Worfield seamer Ravan Chahal, who both played regularly last season, replacing Matt Simmonds and Clark Haddrell.

The same XI has been selected for both the Cambridgeshire and Cheshire matches.

Home added: “Lewis featured a lot last year and did well. He offers us something different bowling left-arm leg spin and he’s also a dangerous customer batting in the middle order.

“It’s also great to have Rav back involved. He played last year in all formats and you know what you’re going to get from him whenever he plays. He bowled well at winter nets and can also get valuable runs down the order.”

Admission is free for spectators to attend Sunday’s home match against Cambridgeshire at Shifnal.

Shropshire: Joe Johnson (Shifnal), Harry Chandler (Wem), Tom Fell (Shifnal, captain), Andre Bradford (Hallam), Theo Wylie (Milford Hall), Roman Walker (Leicester Ivanhoe), Ben Lees (Shifnal), Lewis Evans (Shrewsbury), Joe Stanley (Wolverhampton), Ravan Chahal (Worfield), Ben Roberts (Shifnal).

Pictured: Joe Stanley bowling for Shropshire during last weekend’s NV Play One Day Trophy match against Cumbria at Bridgnorth.