Jamie Fletcher to win debut for county
Shropshire will hand debuts to eight bowling prospects when they open their British Junior County Championship campaign against North Midlands on Sunday (2pm).
Promising Sir John Bayley Club member Jamie Fletcher is among the new faces for the under-18s fixture, which is being played over two legs at Nuneaton's Griff Colliery and Donnington Bowling Club.
Shropshire were runners-up in the Championship last year and county selector Dennis Lewis is convinced the infusion of new talent can go one better this year once they have negotiated the group stages.
"We're fairly confident we can beat North Midlands. We should have more experience," said Lewis, who has challenged his home team under the captaincy of Aaron King to build a 50-shot advantage.
"We were outclassed last year when a very good Yorkshire side beat us easily in both legs in the final," added the selector.
"We've got high hopes of our reserves, like Jamie, who we've promoted."
