Shropshire County Cricket Club

Shropshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Shropshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy.

The club is based at Shrewsbury and also plays matches around the county at Bridgnorth, Shifnal and Whitchurch.

The Minor Counties play three-day matches at a level below that of the first-class game. At present, Shropshire competes in the Western Division of the Minor Counties Championship.

Honours

* Minor Counties Championship (1) - 1973; shared (0) -
* MCCA Knockout Trophy (0) -

Earliest cricket

Cricket probably reached Shropshire in the 18th century. According to Bowen, the first reference to cricket in the county was in 1794.

Origin of club

A county organisation existed in either 1819 or 1829, according to Wisden. The present county club is quite new, having been formed on 28 June 1956 and taking part in the Minor Counties Championship from 1957.

Club history

Shropshire has won the Minor Counties Championship once, in 1973. This was the first time the county had even finished in the top 10 of the Minor Counties competition.

Shropshire has never won the MCCA Knockout Trophy since its inception in 1983.

Famous players

The following Shropshire cricketers also made an impact on the first-class game:

* Mushtaq Mohammad
* Doug Slade (former Worcestershire slow left-arm bowler)
* Somachandra de Silva
* Andy Lloyd (cricketer)
* Ian Payne (cricketer)

Also professional footballers Steve Ogrizovic and Ken Mulhearn have played cricket for Shropshire.

References

External sources

* [http://www.shropshireccc.co.uk/ Shropshire CCC]
* [http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/NATIONAL/ENG/MINOR/MCCA/ Minor Counties Cricket Association Official Site]

Further reading

* Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development", Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
* E W Swanton (editor), "Barclays World of Cricket", Guild, 1986

* Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions
* Wisden Cricketers Almanack – various editions