Ed Ashlin felt there were plenty of positives as Shropshire’s final home match of the season ended in defeat by 55 runs against Wiltshire, the NCCA Cluberley Championship Western Division Two leaders.
Chasing a target of 361 on the third and final day at Bridgnorth, opener Harry Chandler and all-rounder Joe Stanley both hit half-centuries as Shropshire were eventually bowled out for 305.
The result leaves Shropshire, who picked up seven points, fourth in the table ahead of their final Championship match of the season against Wales at St Asaph, which starts on August 31.
“Obviously, the end result is frustrating,” said Ashlin, Shropshire’s first team coach. “But I think overall we played some good cricket. It was a good game of cricket, a good cricket wicket.
“Wiltshire are a strong outfit, they’ve done well. We’ve enjoyed the three days of tough cricket. Ultimately, going into the last session of the match, three results were possible, so I think that’s good.
“It’s just disappointing we didn’t quite come out on the right side of it, but we were pleased with plenty of aspects of the game.
“We knew that we had to win the game to still have any chance in terms of the group, so we were always going to go for the runs.
“We know that Bridgnorth is a fast-scoring ground, the wicket was still playing pretty well, there was a bit of spin. We were confident that if we got some good partnerships together, which we did, that we would be close.
“There were just one or two moments that didn’t quite go our way and someone didn’t really kick on and get that big score that would have taken us home.
“Possibly the first innings, just not quite getting up to their total, not batting our 90 overs, was maybe where the game was won and lost.”
Wiltshire started the third and final day on 215-7, leading by 294 runs, with Will Naish completing an impressive century to end unbeaten on 113 from 114 balls, with four sixes and nine fours.
Naish helped Wiltshire extend their advantage to 360 before the last wicket fell to leave the visitors 281 all out, with much of the damage inflicted by George McCormick (3-40), Cameron Jones (3-75) and Stanley (2-63).
Shropshire started their chase positively, openers Ollie Parton and Chandler putting on 69, before Parton was out for 43 from the last ball before lunch.
Wem’s Chandler went on to share useful partnerships with Tom Fell (29) – who captained the side with Charlie Home unavailable – and Seb Scott (31), before he was the fifth wicket to fall for 71, which came off 146 balls and included a six and 11 fours.
The second highest partnership of the innings – 65 for the seventh wicket – was between Stanley and Ben Lees (23), with Stanley, who played well for 61 from 78 balls, with eight fours, eventually last man out as he became the fifth wicket claimed by Wiltshire spinner Joe King, who took 5-79 from 30.3 overs. Charan Chahal and skipper Ed Young both took 2-36 for the visitors.
A very determined cricketer
Ashlin highlighted the contribution of Stanley after he did well with the bat in both innings while he also took five wickets during the match.
“I said to Joe after the game he showed what he is as a cricketer at the end,” said Ashlin. “He’s a very determined cricketer and for such a young player he knows his game really well.
“He plays for the team all the time and it was a fantastic knock under pressure. We know what he’s like with the ball – he’s an excellent performer.”
Ashlin added: “The opening partnership between Harry Chandler and Ollie Parton was very good in both innings. Ollie, for such a young cricketer, looks at home at this level, so that’s really pleasing.
“Harry’s performed very well in three-day cricket. We know what a talented cricketer he is and he’s showed that.”
Wiltshire had elected to bat first in the Bridgnorth sunshine on the opening day after Young won the toss, with the captain playing the lead role with the bat as the visitors accumulated 388-9.
Young struck a fine, unbeaten 123 from 148 balls, which included two sixes and 15 fours. He put on 177 for the fourth wicket with Jake Goodwin (75), while Josh Kelly (76) and opener Jonathan Sadler (41) earlier shared a second-wicket partnership of 115.
Shifnal seamer Jones plugged away with the ball to take 4-69 from 22 overs, spinner Stanley claimed 3-102, while there was a wicket apiece for McCormick and Theo Wylie.
Shropshire ended the first day 87-2 with Chandler (43) and Parton (25) the two wickets to fall.
Fell and Stanley moved the score along to 169 the following morning before their third-wicket stand of 86, the best of the innings, came to an end when Stanley headed back to the pavilion for 47.
Shropshire went from a promising 214-3 to 237-8, with the departure of Fell for 71 from 89 balls, with 13 fours, leading to a flurry of wickets.
Warrick Fynn, making his first Shropshire appearance since 2019, was then joined in the middle by Ben Roberts and the former Oswestry team mates put on 67 for the ninth wicket.
Roberts contributed a useful 28 down the order before Fynn went for 55 as Shropshire were bowled out for 309 in the 71st over, with Thomas Vermaak (4-89) and King (3-32) the pick of the visiting attack.
Wiltshire were soon in trouble at 3-3 in their second innings and were then reduced to 56-5, but Naish, supported by William Brown (49) and Chris Aubrey (41), led a revival to set up their final-day victory.
Pictured: Bridgnorth hosted Shropshire’s final NCCA Championship match of the season against Wiltshire.