Pilot project to get cricket played at secondary schools
A pioneering project devised by Cricket Shropshire to get the game played and enjoyed in secondary schools will see a special series of games taking place next month.
Broseley edged out in Furrows League Stocking thriller
There were some thrilling finishes in the Furrows East Shropshire Mid-Week League in round two – with Wheaton Aston claiming victory at Broseley by just one run at The Stocking.
Batting first in the Division Two clash, Wheaton Aston were indebted to an eighth wicket partnership between Edward Hargreaves (32 not out) and Greg Lawley (16 not out) to see them to 109-7 from their 20 overs.
Bowling honours went to Chris Lloyd who took 3-10 from his four overs with Levi Humphreyson chipping in with 2-22.
Thomas Holcroft held the Broseley reply together with 52 in a tense run chase but he had little support as the Wheaton Aston attack chipped away with Joe Marson claiming 3-6 from his four overs.
With the hosts on the brink of claiming the win, Hargreaves took the final over and claimed two wickets in two balls including that of Holcroft caught and bowled to seal victory for the visitors.
There was also a close contest at Lilleshall as they edged to victory over Albrighton with four balls to spare.
Batting first, Albrighton skipper Sam Wood hit 42, Hasibullah Shah Gasi retired after reaching his half century and Jack Wood 21 as they finished their innings on 153-4.
In the reply, Adam Binfield made 34, Chris Birkett 32 and Conor Steele a crucial 27 off 17 balls before he was dismissed trying to hit the winning runs off the first ball of the final over.
But new batter Hafeez Rehman hit the next ball for four to claim the win.
In the other game in the division, Codsall maintained their unbeaten start to the season when they beat visitors Newport by seven wickets.
Batting first, Newport made 138-4 with Kyle Hodson unbeaten on 49 and Ryan Jones hitting 23.
Karandeep Singh Aulakh got the Codsall reply off to a fast start with 22 off ten balls, Monti Kunner made 21 and Liam Raby then steered his side to victory with an unbeaten 32 as they claimed the win in the 18th over.
In Division One, Forton claimed their first win of the season with victory over visitors Harpers with an over to spare.
Harpers finished on149-4 with Vivian John and Rama Chaitanya Bammidi both hitting unbeaten half centuries before retiring.
Skipper Joe Roberts hit 39 at the top of the order in the reply for Forton and Ben Yates-Ward chipped in with 35.
But with the game in the balance, it was the fifth wicket partnership between Sam Gill (18 off nine balls) and Chris Hughes (24 off nine balls) which steered the hosts to victory.
Yaswanth Avula claimed 3-21 for Harpers.
Last year’s champions St Georges claimed a comfortable first win of the season when they hosted Priorslee.
The visitors were bowled out for 94 with Raja Janga claiming 3-14, Bobby Gill 2-25 and Jagdeep Singh 3-8. Abhay Srivastava and Siju Thulaskdharan both made 22.
In the reply Ibrar Ahmed hit 22 and Ashish Ashish 24 as the Dragons knocked off the winning runs for the loss of four wickets.
Church Eaton beat visitors Allscott Heath in the other game in the division.
Batting first, Luke Thornton hit 50 off 27 balls for Allscott and Callum Edwards chipped in with 22 as they made 123-7 from their 20 overs.
In the reply, Jason Summers took 2-17 and Isaac Harper 2-20, but Douglas Hughes’ unbeaten 50 ensured the hosts claimed the victory for the loss of five wickets.
U17s competition EOIs invited
There’s still time to nominate teams to take part in a competition for Under 17 teams in Shropshire this Summer.
We now have seven teams expressing an interest in taking part in the competition which will be scheduled in July once the school exam season is over.
Cricket Shropshire’s Lead Officer Steve Reese said: “During discussions, a number of teams expressed an interest in an Under 17s competition.
“We already have a record number of teams taking part in our Junior Leagues this season, and it would be great to be able to expand that offer with an Under 17s competition.
“It would run after the school exam season is finished in July. We have seven teams registered to far – it would be great to make that eight.
“So if anyone is interested in entering a team, please contact us as soon as possible so we can start making plans.”
To enter a team, please fill in the form below.
Anyone with any questions can contact Steve via steve.reese@cricketshropshire.co.uk
Furrows league debutants start with wins
Three of the teams making their debuts in the Furrows East Shropshire Mid-Week League recorded victories in the opening round of fixtures.
All systems go for 2026 Furrows Mid-Week League
This year’s Furrows East Shropshire Mid-week League received its official launch when teams gathered at Wrekin College.
Record numbers for Shropshire Junior Leagues
There will be a record number of teams taking part in Cricket Shropshire’s Junior Leagues this Summer.
Picture gallery: Women & Girls softball festival
Cricket Shropshire launched the Women & Girls outdoor season with a brilliant Astroturf Festival at Wrekin College.
Young Ambassadors get down to work
The latest group in Cricket Shropshire’s popular Young Ambassadors Programme have successfully completed their latest training sessions.
They will now go back to their clubs during the Summer to complete volunteering sessions before they graduate.
The latest group of youngsters began their volunteering journey during the February half-term with a First Aid course and a session on officiating.
During the Easter holidays they were back at Wrekin College for more sessions on officiating, a coaching workshop, safeguarding and EDI workshops and a practical grounds maintenance workshop.
The original plan was for there to be 24 Young Ambassadors in the current cohort, but such was the popularity of the scheme was expanded to include two cohorts with 47 candidates.
Cricket Shropshire will be looking to run another course later this year – and we already have a waiting list of potential candidates.
Organiser Shannon Aston said: “We had a great couple of days during the Easter holidays and everyone who came along got stuck in which was great to see.
“Now they will all head back to their clubs with their new skills and bolster the volunteer workforce – we ask them to complete a minimum of 20 hours of actively supporting their clubs during the Summer.
“Most get involved in activities such as scoring junior matches, supporting All Stars and Dynamos coaching and lending a hand at club events.
“It is fantastic to hear about the activity the young people get involved in and we hope they continue to support their clubs moving forward.”
Cricket Shropshire is running the programme with the help of former Worcestershire and Shropshire ace Jack Shantry who is now part of the First Class Umpiring panel and officiated at his first international game last Summer.
Jack helped launch the programme back in 2021 when he donated some of the proceeds from his benefit year to Cricket Shropshire.
We are delighted to have Jack on board as our Patron.
Jack said: “I think the programme is a great idea and a fantastic initiative. It is a way of supporting local cricket clubs and getting more people involved.
“The Young Ambassadors who have completed the programme find it valuable and it adds to their competence and confidence and also encourages them to get involved with their clubs.”
Keep an eye on the Board’s website and social media for details of future courses.
If anyone has any questions about the Young Ambassadors programme, they can contact Shannon Aston via shannon.aston@cricketshropshire.co.uk
Scoring courses on offer
Cricket Shropshire and the Shropshire Association of Cricket Officials (SACO) have a series of scoring courses available ahead of the 2026 season.
These are aimed at all levels of scorers.
SACO Scoring Officer Clair Eccleston said: “The electronic scoring workshops at Wellington, Bridgnorth and Wem are free and we are putting on a wide variety of other courses to help scorers be ready for the season. The other paid for courses will include a 12 month membership to Shropshire ACO which covers insurance and entitles members to free CPD throughout the year.”
DLS Course
This module is designed to explain the Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) method of setting a revised target when there has been a suspension in play in a one-day match.
It is taking place at Wrekin College Sports Hall in Wellington from 9.30am-12.30pm on Sunday, April 12.
Cost £5pp (Invoiced)
To book CLICK HERE.
Linear Scoring Course
This course teaches existing scorers how to complete a linear scoresheet, which is an alternative layout of paper scoresheet to the conventional box style scoring record.
The course contains a large practical element of scoring a recorded match, after spending time getting familiar with the new layout of scoresheet. Linear scoresheets make a good back-up system when scoring electronically.
It is taking place on Sunday, April 12, from 1-4pm in the Sports Hall at Wrekin College in Wellington.
Cost £5pp (Invoiced)
To book CLICK HERE.
Electronic PCS Pro Course (Laptop) – 1 Full Day
This workshop covers the use of Play Cricket Scorer Pro (PSC Pro®), which is a free scoring program for Microsoft Windows® based computers, developed in conjunction with ECB ACO scorers and with direct links to the Play-Cricket League Management system.
It is taking place at Shifnal Cricket Club on Sunday, March 22, from 9.30am-4.30pm.
Cost £10pp (Invoiced)
To book CLICK HERE.
Electronic PCS Pro Course (Laptop) – 2 Evenings
This course is run over 2 evenings on 18th March and 25th March 2026 at Shrewsbury Cricket Club 5.30-9pm. Participants need to attend both evenings to complete the course.
Again, this workshop covers the use of Play Cricket Scorer Pro (PSC Pro®), which is a free scoring program for Microsoft Windows® based computers, developed by the ECB in conjunction with ECB ACO scorers and with direct links to the Play-Cricket League Management system.
Cost £10pp (Invoiced)
PLEASE NOTE: For all of the fee paying courses above, there will be an administration fee of £5 if you fail to attend or cancel within five days of the event.
To Book: CLICK HERE.
These workshops are in addition to the electronic scoring workshops that have already been advertised we are running on 14th April at Bridgnorth CC and 16th April at Wem CC, Free of charge.
Booking for those two sessions is still open via the link HERE.
In addition the new ECB Online Scoring Course is also now available and can be found via the link HERE.
There is also a requirement for all scorers to complete the ECB’s Safeguarding – Level 2 online course. This can be accessed via the link HERE.
To qualify for a scorers point for clubs in the Shropshire County Cricket League this season where applicable, club scorers will need to have done the online scoring course and also have the online Safeguarding course certificate.
If anyone has any queries regarding scoring, they can contact SACO Scoring Officer Clair Eccleston via shropshirecso@gmail.com
For any Safeguarding queries please contact County Safeguarding Officer Vanessa Russell via vanessa.russell@cricketshropshire.co.uk
Young Ambassadors get to work
Our latest batch of Young Ambassadors have started on their volunteering journey during the February half-term.