Shifnal duo net nine for county

The pair, who play for Birmingham League Division One high-flyers Shifnal, did the damage on day one of the Unicorns Championship match.

Wyatt took 4-77 off 20 overs while McIver returned figures of 5-166 after an energy-sapping 35-over spell in the sweltering north Shropshire heat.

Dan Bowen took the other wicket to fall for Shropshire in batting-friendly conditions as Hereford fell just short of passing the 400-mark.

For Herefordshire, Peter Burgoyne top scored with 92, but he fell short of his century when he offered up a catch to Bowen off the bowling of McIver.

Then when Shropshire went out to bat in the evening at Heath Road, skipper Steve Leach and Omar Ali moved the reply on to 75-0.

Leach moved confidently on to 30 not out, while Ali progressed to an unbeaten 41 in the 20 overs Shropshire had to negotiate before the close of play in their opening home Unicorns Championship match of the season.

And former Leicestershire seamer Wyatt must just loves playing at Whitchurch – he made his Championship debut for Shropshire at Whitchurch last June when he played a starring role in a 10-wicket victory over Dorset.

He claimed six wickets in Dorset’s first innings as Shropshire completed a convincing win with a day to spare.

It was the start of what proved to be a successful first season with Shropshire for 6ft 7in Wyatt. He took 32 wickets in six Championship matches at 18.13 apiece after making the impact that captain Steve Leach hoped he would in his first summer playing Minor Counties cricket.

Shropshire picked up eight points from a rain-affected draw at Wales in their opening Championship Western Division match of the new season earlier this month.

The sides met in a Unicorns Knockout Trophy group game at Brockhampton last month when Shropshire, despite an unbeaten century from skipper Leach, were beaten by nine runs.

Play continues at Heath Road until tomorrow with play starting at 11am with admission free.