Shelton CC v. Much Wenlock CC, 2/8/08

Result: Much Wenlock CC - 1st XI won by 20 runs
Much Wenlock First XI: 116/9 (50 overs), Shelton First XI: 96 all out (25.2 overs)
Highlights: Shelton – Sam Griffiths 24, Andy Wigginton 4/27, Rhett Williamson 4/35.
Much Wenlock – Hayden Burling 6/45, Richard Bill 4/25.

Shelton Cricket Club faces a challenging end to the 2008 season in the Marston’s Shropshire Premier Cricket League. A narrow defeat to a utilitarian Much Wenlock side, bottom of the league for much of the year, was not what the doctor ordered. The real difficulty for Shelton’s players after the match was that there had been a number of outstanding performances, Sam Griffiths plundering a quickfire 24 with the bat at number nine, after Andy Wigginton had taken his customary four wickets, and Rhett Williamson had claimed a joyous four of his own.

Williamson’s leg-spin, an action rarely seen on the playing fields of Shropshire, was honed on the hard, turn-friendly wickets of Western Australia. For once, the Shrewsbury weather did a passable impression of Perth, drying out the pitch and helping Williamson greatly. His fellow spinner, Mark Davies, also claimed a scalp in a confident spell. As Shelton’s wicketkeeper Matt Morris put it, Davies was ‘turning the ball as much as you’d expect on a day-five pitch in Bangalore.’ Amid the falling of stumps, equally notable was Griffiths bowling six overs, conceding only five runs with two maidens. Wenlock’s batsmen seemed rudderless, unable to overcome the onslaught, with no individual scoring more than 20.

It was unfortunate that Shelton’s batting could not provide a fitting compliment to their bowling. Matt Morris looked like he and Rhett Williamson would set a good foundation, until Morris became the second of Hayden Burling’s victims, the fast bowler having already trapped Ben Matthews LBW. Williamson, so often Shelton’s saviour with batting heroics, could only manage 11. Griffiths, ably supported by the experienced captain Neil Salisbury, grafted at the crease. The two seemed to have contrasting styles at times, Salisbury gracefully stroking the ball to the boundary, while Griffiths went for every shot, his runs coming from a Twenty20-style show of strength. The excellent Richard Bill had the last say, dismissing Griffiths and Ben Chambers, and ending Shelton’s hopes of clawing back a result. Only the Shelton Second XI’s latest win, away at Much Wenlock, helped lighten the mood, with Ross Griffiths taking the wickets of three batsmen, and Sam Jones two in a good spell. The astonishing Tom Ellis, at the age of 12, took two wickets in four overs at the cost of two runs.

Second-team photographs by Richard Martindale (top to bottom): Tom Ellis, Sam Jones, Ross Griffiths.